Chances Are: Black Friday

“Are you getting a good deal on Black Friday? There’s no shame in it!”

Black Friday mania in the US is often depicted as desperate shoppers trampling over each other to get the best deal and the blatant commercialism the day after Americans give thanks for what they already have is somewhat jarring.  In recent years European countries have tried to emulate this push for increased spending by consumers, so we wondered whether Brits are embarrassed to be sucked in to this traditionally American Hallmark Holiday or if we’re happy to make the saving.

Originating in 1932, Black Friday is seen as the first day of Christmas Shopping in the US. With an unwritten rule that retailers will not run any Christmas advertising before Thanksgiving, shops take this opportunity to open early the following day with heavy promotions to encourage spending by consumers. The strong link between Thanksgiving and Christmas shopping in the States even led President Roosevelt in 1939 to move Thanksgiving from the last Thursday to the fourth Thursday in November to placate impatient retailers. Over the past 10 years retailers observed a natural move by consumers to search online for items that they didn’t purchase in retail on Black Friday, and this encouraged online retailers to get in on the promotions.

To uncover the true proportion of the British population participating in Black Friday we used our Unmatched Count Technique (see here for details). The shift of this American tradition across the pond can be seen with 24% of Brits purchasing an item in Black Friday sales last year. Rather than showing any embarrassment about adopting this shamelessly made-up holiday, however, when asked outright the same proportion (23%) proudly stated that they had purchased an item in these sales last year. Next thing you know we’ll be celebrating Secretary’s Day…

The majority of items purchased on Black Friday are high cost goods for which the promotion is most valuable and this was seen in our sample, with 47% purchasing technology and 10% purchasing large household appliances. The expansion of Black Friday to other markets can also be seen with 15% purchasing clothes. One respondent even used this savings opportunity to purchase an engagement ring! Let’s hope there was a good returns policy if this was an impulse purchase.