What is Black Friday
"Once again we find ourselves enmeshed in the Holiday Season, that very special time of year when we join with our loved ones in sharing centuries-old traditions such as trying to find a parking space at the mall. We traditionally do this in my family by driving around the parking lot until we see a shopper emerge from the mall, then we follow her, in very much the same spirit as the Three Wise Men, who 2,000 years ago followed a star, week after week, until it led them to a parking space." Dave Barry
Black Friday is the day when people start shopping for Christmas ... well most of them, especially those who wait for the interesting Black Friday deals to get some good stuff at discounted prices! It is the day that all shoppers eagerly wait for. It comes a day after American Thanksgiving, when all the retailers advertise on a large scale for discounted shopping!
But do you know when the term 'Black Friday' came into being? Well, here's how it happened ...
Premier Spark!Earl Apfelbaum, a dealer in rare stamps, recorded the term for the first time (1966) in his ad saying, "'Black Friday' is the name which the Philadelphia Police Department has given to the Friday following Thanksgiving Day. It is not a term of endearment to them. 'Black Friday' officially opens the Christmas shopping season in center city, and it usually brings massive traffic jams and over-crowded sidewalks as the downtown stores are mobbed from opening to closing."
How Black Friday Got Its Name
Well, relax; nothing evil happened on this day! Businessmen earn a lot of profit on the holiday season and therefore, use black ink to record their profits in the accounting journal. The deals always start on a day after Thanksgiving, which is always on a Thursday!
The term 'black' in Black Friday refers to the process of earning 'black money' which doesn't mean illegal money -- it just means 'making profit'!
Another aspect of the origin of the term 'Black Friday' is because of the crowd that it gets to the stores due to bargain shopping. And that's because the shoppers are already aware of who has the best sales by keenly following the promotion deals online.
This day is also known as 'Buy Nothing Day' because many people avoid shopping on a Black Friday due to the crowded atmosphere and overfilled parking lots!
On the other hand, there are some people who just like to 'window shop' on that day and look at the collectibles in the stores, which is at the highest during Black Friday sales.
How to Shop on Black Friday
$ Tempt to Promote
Shopping during Black Friday sales could be exciting and fun. Many retailers promote various advertisements highlighting heavy discounts, exclusively for Black Friday. Many online shopping websites like Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, etc., must have already released their advertisements on the Internet! The local stores will put banners, publish huge discounted deals in the newspapers, put hoardings and what not!
$ Striking Gold!
All the retailers, be it local or online stores, consider this day to be one of the most profitable days for them, wherein they can recover all the losses that they had to bear in the previous months! Many of the retailers give as much as 75-80% discounts on the latest items. So you better start researching from now on! There will be many websites and stores willing to give heavy discounts, so you might get a good catch!
$ Minting That Moolah
After reading all this, you must be thinking how the retailers make profit on this day? There is a strategy to this! Many retailers use the heavy 'discount shopping' advertisements to attract the crowd of potential buyers into their retail store. Of course, there are discounts that you can get, but as per studies, retailers believe that the shoppers end up buying things without discounted price along with buying things that are discounted!! This means that they end up selling more than what they have discounted for. This is how Black Friday turns out to be so profitable, both for the retailer and the buyer!
Now that you know what is Black Friday and how you can manage to catch some amazing deals, don't waste any time further and start doing your research on the best Black Friday deals that are available. Happy shopping! :)
