Black Friday in the world attracts a sea of shoppers to shopping malls, eager to shop at discounted prices and save some money. People save money all year round and look forward to discounts on Black Friday. Often the pictures are miles of lines in front of stores, waiting for stores to open, the crowds are huge. Therefore, this is the day of the year when a large turnover of money is realized. People then spend a large amount of money.
Black Friday is now known as a day when consumers can save big money on a variety of items, from appliances to shoes. Over the years, the amount spent on Black Friday has increased, with the total holiday shopping season of November and December seeing billions of dollars spent. In 2002, shoppers spent a total of $416.4 billion on holiday shopping. By 2019, that number was up 75%, to $730.2 billion.
A very interesting and exciting event that day, and let's see how Black Friday came about.
The Black Friday history
The day of the biggest discounts, which has its roots in America, where it is still the most popular today, is slowly but surely spreading around the world. "Black Friday" originates from America and is celebrated once a year, on the first Friday after Thanksgiving.
In fact, "Black Friday" was first associated with Friday, Sept. 24, 1869. Two speculators, Jay Gould and James Fisk created a boom and bust in gold prices. A stock market crash followed as prices fell 20%. The disruption in gold prices sent commodity prices plummeting 50%. Corruption in Tammany Hall allowed Gould and Fisk to escape without punishment.
With all the shopping activity that takes place the Friday after Thanksgiving, the day became one of the most profitable days of the year for retailers and businesses. Because accountants use black to signify profit when recording each day's book entries (and red to indicate a loss), the day became known as Black Friday—or the day when retailers see positive earnings and profits "in the black."
How does Black Friday deceive customers?
As the discounts lasted only a day, many customers grabbed the goods, at first sight, not wanting to drop them, but the consumer protection organization indicates that in that hurry, some of them may have fallen for the scam.
Traders and sellers make precise calculations before each sale and in order not to initiate discounts, they cannot profit.
It is possible for sellers to increase the price, so the one with the discount will actually be a completely regular price as on other days.
Keep in mind that this kind of sale definitely pays off for sellers, so they are by no means in the red. On the contrary, they generate huge revenues. So do not fall for the inscriptions 20%, 40%, 50% discount.
There are a lot of fraudulent advertisements, which citizens regularly complain about.
Before shopping and buying, every citizen must clearly check how much the goods cost before the discount and whether the purchase is worth it since there will be more announced seasonal discounts by the end of the year.
Since online shopping also brings with it certain pitfalls for consumers, they researched what to pay special attention to so that shopping, in the end, would not turn into an unpleasant experience.
The biggest mistake that customers make is that they don't see if they are on the original page of a certain brand, so they fall prey to offers within fake ads, which are placed primarily on social networks - Facebook, Twitter, Instagram... They leave their personal data to fake traders, including those strictly confidential from a bank card, which are then used by fraudsters from the Internet in other transactions.
Injuries during Black Friday
Despite attempts to control a crowd of customers, injuries are not uncommon, usually as a result of pushing and large crowds.
A large number of people have been waiting in lines in front of stores every year since the early hours of the morning to be the first to buy the desired products, and conflicts are so common that there is a site that tracks injuries and deaths in the United States on this day.
In the last 12 years, 44 separate incidents have been reported, resulting in 12 deaths and 117 injuries.
The majority of incidents (69 %) occurred in retail outlets, 20 percent at the entrance to the aisle, and 11 percent outside the store. The causes are different and are not limited to crowds, there were also shootings, stabs, punches, and even traffic accidents caused by drivers who fell asleep behind the wheel after a long day of shopping.
The first death was recorded in 2008 when a 34-year-old Walmart chain worker died when a crowd of angry customers broke down the front door and broke into the store. Four injuries were recorded in that incident, among them women in the eighth month of pregnancy.
In 2008, there was a shooting in a toy store in California, when two people were killed.
Black Friday in 2012 marked a tragic event, when a man, after a whole day of shopping and only three hours of sleep in a 24-hour period, caused a car accident in which his two daughters were killed. Namely, four daughters were "squeezed" on the seat intended for three, the victims did not have a seat belt, and a bigger tragedy was avoided by sheer luck. According to the police report, the third row of seats in the car was lowered so that the family could pack everything they bought that day.
In the last few years, injuries are even more common, people openly enter into physical conflict over the desired item from the store. You can find a bunch of videos on YouTube of people fighting and getting hurt during a stampede.
Tips for shopping during Black Friday
Check the prices before Black Friday and compare them with the prices on the day of the discount
Plan in advance what you need to buy
Don’t fall for discounts and don’t buy what you don’t need
When shopping online, take care to shop on verified sites
Beware of crowds and possible injuries during shopping.
What are your tips when shopping during Black Friday? Do you manage to buy something with a good discount?
i'm intending to order something while it's black friday.