Is Black Friday facing a dark future?

​Black Friday is by far the busiest shopping day of the year - most of which is spent online with Amazon being the top performer. And despite it being the day after Thanksgiving (US), last year consumers actually spent more on themselves than on gifts for others. 

Day by day, the discounts are getting weeker. It’s 2019 and every day is Black Friday. At least, it definitely seems that way! The annual event was traditionally a single day of offers, the Friday after US Thanksgiving but every year, the sales start sooner and sooner. Will we start to see Black November creep into retailers’ campaigns?

Hey, big spender! The UK is expected to spend the most out of any country in Europe - 29% higher than Germany (taking second place) and significantly more than Italy, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands combined.

If the impending UK General Election isn’t enough to put Brits off bargain hunting, what will?

Is the industry in need of a colour change? More than 300 clothing brands are asking shoppers not to buy anything in the Black Friday sales because of environmental reasons. The ‘Make Friday Green Again’ collective argues that discount deals encourage people to purchase things they don’t need - saying such “overproduction” contributes to climate change.

“Avoiding “mindless consumerism” was cited by 26% as a reason to shun Black Friday, and 9% said they were attempting to be more sustainable.”

Streetbees tracks consumer purchasing across all major markets on a continuous basis to uncover new growth opportunities and demand spaces.