What is Black Friday? | The history of the world’s largest auction

Black Friday is a big annual sales event that takes place after Thanksgiving in the United States. On this day, many stores offer special discounts on various products and people line up in front of the stores to buy products at low prices.

Today, Black Friday auction has become a big event in the world and is held in most countries of the world. The date of Black Friday 2024 will be November 29, which is equal to December 9, 1403 in the solar calendar. Stay with us to provide you with information about Black Friday.

Learn more about the Black Friday auction:

What is Black Friday?

Black Friday means “Black Friday”, which is also known as “Shopping Friday” or “Black Friday Auction” in Iran, and It is said after the Thanksgiving holiday in America. This day is the beginning of Christmas shopping in America and is considered one of the busiest days in this country. The most important feature of Black Friday, which makes it different from other days of the year, is the use of special sales techniques and major discounts on store items, which sometimes reach 50%.

_{Photo source: deondernemer.nl; Photographer: Unknown}

An important feature of Black Friday is the discount on store items, which sometimes reaches 50%

Black Friday was originally exclusive to America; But after a few years, it was transferred all over the world and today, in addition to America, it is held in Australia, Great Britain, Canada, Germany, Italy, Poland, New Zealand, Greece, Sweden, Norway, Sweden, Mexico, Brazil and in other parts of the world. will be The markets of these countries add to the enthusiasm of buyers by discounting the prices of goods and their auctions and boost sales.

What day is Black Friday?

Black Friday is the last Friday of November, which is the first shopping day for the New Year among Americans. On this day, retailers attract customers to face-to-face and online markets by creating high discounts on their products and make it a prosperous day for sales. Many stores start discounts a few days or weeks before Black Friday with the aim of attracting more customers; So that sometimes these auctions continue until Cyber ​​Monday.

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The date of Black Friday 2024

Black Friday 2024, as the biggest shopping event of the year, coincides with November 29 in the Gregorian calendar and is equal to December 9, 1403.

History of Black Friday

Throughout American history, the term “Black Friday” has been used to refer to various events that always carry bitter meanings. One of the most prominent of these events dates back to 1869; Two partners named Jay Gould and James Fisk, one of the famous Wall Street capitalists, made large purchases in order to increase the price of gold on the New York Stock Exchange in order to gain large profits and control the American gold market. take But their plan was revealed on Friday, September 24, and the New York stock market crashed. With the crash of the stock market, thousands of Americans went bankrupt, and this day in American history is known as “Black Friday”.

There are also different narratives regarding the history of using the phrase “Black Friday” as “shopping day after Thanksgiving”.

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In 1951 and 1952, a magazine called “Factory Management and Maintenance” used this term for the first time; When a large number of factory workers took the day after Thanksgiving off due to illness so that they could turn the weekend and Thanksgiving into a four-day holiday.

On the other hand, the day after Thanksgiving coincided with the beginning of New Year’s shopping and the rush of shoppers and traffic reached its peak at this time. Police in the cities of Philadelphia and Rochester used the phrase “Black Friday” to refer to the chaos of this day; The word “black” was used to mean “disaster” in this situation.

Over time, the use of the Black Friday modification to refer to the busiest and best-selling day of the year by retailers, newspapers, and media flourished. Local retailers, who were spending a year with losses, tried to attract buyers to the stores by creating discounts on goods on this day and achieve significant profits. After this incident, the phrase “Black Friday” was interpreted as retailers passing through critical conditions and achieving profit.

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The term “Black Friday” has become an internet term since 2003 and has gained attention. Before that, people referred to Black Friday as “Sale After Thanksgiving”.

Online stores have been highlighting Black Friday sales since 2003, and retailers have tried to create similar days after achieving high profits on this day; “Small Business Saturday” to encourage shopping at local retailers and “Cyber ​​Monday” to promote online shopping were established as other top selling days of the year.

cyber monday

The extraordinary statistics of the sales of Internet businesses led to the launch of another business event called Cyber ​​Monday or Cyber ​​Monday in 2005. This day, which is usually the first Monday after Black Friday, is known as the day of special discounts.

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Cyber ​​Monday was first proposed in the United States; But it quickly started working in other countries of the world, imitating America. This day is a golden opportunity for people who for any reason missed out on Black Friday special discounts.

The reason for the name Black Friday

Regarding the reason for naming “Black Friday”, there are various narratives that point to the history of this day. Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving and the beginning of New Year’s shopping in America. Until the 1960s, this day was known as “Thanksgiving Tomorrow” and the term “Black Friday” did not have a positive connotation.

In the early 1960s, the use of the phrase Black Friday to refer to the chaos, crowding and traffic of this day was promoted and gradually gained a positive connotation with the efforts of sellers, newspapers and media.

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Some attribute the name of this day to the high sales of retailers; It is said that the sellers made a significant profit on this day, and their losses, which were previously recorded in red, turned into profits on the Friday after Thanksgiving and were recorded in black (in store accounting, losses or debts were shown in red); Hence, Black Friday became known as the concept of “profitability”.

Black Friday best selling products

The Black Friday auction was first held in North America and only included clothing; But after it became a global event and spread to many countries, it included most of the goods and goods needed by the people.

The products that are offered to buyers in the Black Friday market have a high variety and include from electronic devices to toys for children and teenagers, clothes and home furnishings. The goods that are offered to buyers in stores are discounted by 20-34%. Major brands such as Zara, Misoma, Lego, Charlotte Tilbury, Ninja and Nintendo are participating in Black Friday, and major retailers such as Amazon are reducing their prices significantly.

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Mobile smartphones are among the best-selling products on Black Friday

According to statistics, the average discount applied to goods in 2023 was 31%. Meanwhile, electronic devices such as game consoles, smart watches, hands-free, mobile phones, etc. were the most sold. Mobile smartphones have accounted for a large portion of Black Friday sales in recent years and are among the best-selling Black Friday products in recent years.

Black Friday sales statistics

Black Friday sales are different every year compared to the previous year; For example, in 2020, due to the Corona epidemic and to comply with safety conditions, fewer buyers crowded in stores and sales were mostly done online. According to statistics, despite the limitations of in-person purchases; But the amount of purchases in 2020 has grown significantly compared to last year. The amount of Black Friday sales has always been growing in the last seven years, and this amount has reached 9.8 billion dollars in 2023, from five billion dollars in 2017.

Amazon Black Friday

Amazon is one of the largest online retail sites in the world. Every year on Black Friday, the sales record of this website is broken; Because providing great discounts encourages everyone to buy the product they want. Despite all the problems in purchasing goods from foreign sites and sending postal packages to our country; But Amazon’s Black Friday discounts are also welcomed in Iran.

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According to statistics, Amazon has sold about 15 million products on Black Friday 2023. Clothing, photography and camera equipment, software, digital products, and gadgets are the best-selling product categories in 2023.

The reason for the popularity of Black Friday

One-day flash sales make the buyer feel like they’re missing out if they buy quickly. Limited shopping opportunities and big discounts on Black Friday increase people’s desire to buy. This style of marketing creates excitement in the buyer and encourages them to buy.

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The placement of Black Friday, before the beginning of the new year and the existence of brand goods with significant discounts, encourages people to make their Eid purchases on Black Friday, and this is the most important reason for the popularity of this day among people. Retailers, who know that they attract a large crowd by reducing prices, start marketing their products before Black Friday and by sending their offers and discounts to customers, in addition to attracting buyers, they give them time to plan their purchases.

Black Friday in Iran

Black Friday, which was held for the first time in America, gradually expanded and today it is held in 150 countries of the world, including Iran. By promoting the special Black Friday auction in the online stores of Alibaba and Amazon, this event opened its place in the hearts of Iranian sellers and buyers.

Black Friday has no special history in Iran; Rather, it is simply a type of sales strategy that has been often applied by online stores for the past few years. This event started in Iran when an Iranian online store auctioned its products on the last Friday of autumn, and many people attributed it to Black Friday. In the following years, many stores decided to offer their products at a discount on this day, and every year the number of these stores increases; Stores that inform customers of their discounts in advance by sending emails and text messages.

Since the beginning of the new year is close to Yalda night in the solar calendar, many stores and businesses consider Yalda night as the starting point for applying Black Friday discounts. As an effective sales strategy, Black Friday has quickly gained a place among Iranian businesses and the intense competition in the market has made many online and physical stores use this event and offer special discounts to attract more customers.

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Many shoppers buy the items they need at the right price on the day of the Black Friday auction. If you are one of the Black Friday buyers, share your experience with us and our colleagues.

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