Black Friday is Coming

Every fourth Thursday in November, Thanksgiving is celebrated in the United States. And the next day in America and around the world comes Black Friday. Behind this gloomy name is nothing more than an opportunity to spend time excitingly and profitably for oneself. On Black Friday - and this year it falls on November 27th - a huge number of stores around the world announce sales. On Black Friday begins the season of Christmas and New Year sales. It is traditionally followed by Cyber ​​Monday - a day of sales in online stores and on online platforms. However, many online stores begin New Year's sales from Friday. At PayOnline We are engaged in the processing of payments from hundreds of online stores and, according to the usual growth rate, which begins on black Friday, we can say that for sellers this is truly a golden time.

Why Black Friday?

For the first time, Black Friday in the United States was the day when Jay Gould and James Fisk, managers of the Erie Railroad, collapsed the value of gold on the country's stock market - this happened on September 24, 1869. If we draw analogies with discounts, then it becomes clear why Friday sales could be called Black according to this version. But she is not the only one.

The second version is more often called the “official” one, although the official one actually did not appear. The term "Black Friday" was introduced in the early 60s of the twentieth century by journalists of American newspapers to describe the crowds of people besieging stores on the first day of New Year’s sales. The analogy is just as simple. The same day - next to Thanksgiving - the police of the state of Philadelphia called Black Friday because of the large crowd of people on the streets and serious traffic jams on the state roads. This was again due to the start of the discount season in stores.

And finally, a third explanation of the term came up with store owners in the 1980s. It is associated with the use of red and black ink by store accountants. Red marks expenses, black marks profits. According to this association, the name “Black Friday” is finally fixed for the first day of sales, in which the store’s revenue reaches its maximum.

What is this all about?

Initially, it’s a day (that's right, because Black Friday often starts at 00:01 a.m. from Thursday to Friday) after Thanksgiving in the USA, with which the Christmas season begins. This is not an official holiday, but many people take day off at work that day to get on sale. At the moment, the tradition of starting New Year's discounts on the fourth Friday of November is widespread around the world - including in Russia.

Black friday in online stores

Despite the fact that many people get a significant part of the pleasure from the “hunt” for goods in stores, more and more participants are switching to online platforms on the Internet. Formally, Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday (the day sales start) are two different events, but in fact they are often combined in time. Almost all stores with Internet analogues, already on Friday give customers the opportunity to make purchases at a discount and via the Internet - both using the “crossed out price” tactics and offering visitors discounts when using coupons and promotional codes.

In addition to the simplicity of online purchases, the lack of queues and crowds (which is so highly regarded by many), the participation of online stores in Black Friday (and Christmas sales in principle) has another undeniable plus. Making purchases online, residents of Russia discover the opportunity to buy products of those brands that are not represented in our country. That is, the business is taking an entirely international turn.

Black Friday Outside the US

According to the analysis of the Russian branch of the international company CUPONATION, based on a study of discount offers in 14 countries, the forecast for the period of Christmas (New Year) sales is extremely favorable for the buyer: discounts on goods in Europe can reach 98%. Russian stores will also take part in Black Friday - 2015. According to the BlackFridaySale project , sales will begin on November 26 at 19.00.

Analytical services of companies that offer centralized coupons and discounts to visitors to online stores often collect information on Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday and submit the data to the public. Sociological service of the company Promakadabradeclares that on the night of November 27, 2015, about 90% of Russians (surveyed by the company) will rush to storm shopping centers and online stores, and in general, twice as many residents of our country will take part in sales than last year.

The confidence of Russians in New Year's sales is growing. If in 2010-2011. the Internet was full of headlines like “New Year's sales - cheating customers”, now the trend has shifted towards positive ratings.

In fact, in Russian realities, sales are often, indeed, more likely to be a way of attracting a customer than providing truly big discounts.. The practice of artificially inflating prices of goods before the sales period and even using the “old” (“crossed out”) price of the unbelievably high cost of goods is widely known. Including this approach extends to the sales of "Black Friday". The last few years, buyers are quite skeptical about sales of this kind , however, this year retailers assure that in 2015 discounts will be much more attractive for buyers.

Despite some prejudice, studies from 2013-2014give hope that these promises are not unfounded. There really were discounts. Really quite significant, but for certain groups of goods, which are far from always of interest to buyers participating in sales. Nevertheless, this year, we have a chance to check whether the situation has changed.

According to generalized research statistics of Internet companies involved in coupon placement, in 2014, men and women over 41 years old became active participants in Black Friday in the online space, and younger buyers chose to receive discounts in shopping centers. At the same time, on average, the size of the shopping basket on online sites last year ranged from 2000 to 7000 rubles. In the same year, about 22% of respondents intend to spend at least 15,000 rubles in online stores.

The expected purchases for 2015 among the respondents were distributed as follows:

• Clothing and shoes - 76.1% for women and 40.1% for men;
• Cosmetics and perfumes - 37.4%;
• Household appliances - 39.1%;
• Mobile gadgets - 39.4%;
• Baby products 31.7%.

What do sellers expect?

Of course, sales growth. The excitement that envelops buyers, at the sight of big discounts, makes it possible to sell more goods - and get more profit. According to the National Retail Federation, sales after Thanksgiving are growing year by year, despite the crisis. For example, in 2013, during this period, 250 million customers made purchases worth $ 61 billion. This gives sellers, including Russian ones, an occasion to expect a good jackpot in 2015.

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