This November we are hosting our annual Black Friday sale.
On the 23rd, we'll be offering huge discounts on all of our Web Design and Web Development services. Black Friday is the best time to upgrade with us as it's the only day of the year we offer these substantial discounts.
See what you could save this Black Friday
In the meantime, we don't recall Black Friday being a phenomenon when Toolkit Websites started so we've done a little homework to find out where this concept originates...
Where does Black Friday come from?
Black Friday originated in the States and is the day immediately after Thanksgiving. As Brits we don't traditionally celebrate this holiday, but Thanksgiving is always on the 4th Thursday in November, meaning Black Friday is always the 4th Friday of the same month.
The term was originally used to describe the chaos and traffic after Thanksgiving, as many Americans would call in sick after having Thursday off as paid holiday, heading to the shops on their now 4-day weekend. 'Black Friday' made its way into the printed media in 1966 in Philadelphia when the Philadephia PD used the name to describe the traffic jams on the roads and crowding in shops.
In 2003, Black Friday became the busiest shopping day of the year, so in the early 21st century, we saw retailers extend their business hours for Black Friday, with some retailers beginning trading as early as 10pm on Thanksgiving day!
Web Related Fact: on 23rd April 2014, .blackfriday joined a growing list of ICANN top level domains (traditionally .com or .net) so traders could create an entire website dedicated to the Black Friday sales. For example: www.companyname.blackfriday
So what about the UK?
Like in the US, Black Friday was originally a term used by the Emergency Services, but referred to the Friday before Christmas. It was the day when emergency services issued their plans on how to cope with the increased workload over the Christmas period, starting with that last Friday before Christmas.
In 2013, Asda (which is a subsidary of the American store, Walmart) announced a Black Friday sale as an attempt to promote the American concept of Black Friday here in the UK.
In 2014, more UK retailers took on the Black Friday marketing scheme, including John Lewis and Argos, who offered discounted prices to draw in Christmas shoppers. Sadly, the Police were called to many shops to deal with large crowds, assaults and threatening customers that year.
For 2015, Black Friday was expected to be the biggest shopping day in Britain with estimates of £2 billion spent in 24 hours. However, many large retailers downplayed Black Friday, probably due to the riot-like behaviour displayed by customers the previous year. That year only £1.1bn was spent on Black Friday.
Come November 2016, the popularity of Black Friday increased. £1.23bn was spent and this is actually the year Toolkit Websites hosted its first proper Black Friday sale.
This year, Black Friday is expected to even more popular, so make sure you've given your Christmas wish-list to everyone before the 23rd November! (Let us know if it includes a Website Redesign though!)
