Black Friday has become the mirror of the rebates in January, making a sandwich with the christmas shopping. Born in the united States, takes place on the day following the thanksgiving Day, which is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. In the days of Black, the shops offer discounts and offers on almost all its products for a limited time. It has already been institutionalized in Europe, and both the buyers and the stores know what to expect. But its inception was caught by surprise all over the world.

it Is considered that, since 2005, is the most intense of the year for retail sales in the US. In the last few years has been added to the Cyber Monday, the Monday following, focused in the technology offers online. In Europe we have not come to matter the Day of thanksgiving, but Black Friday. Their success has been widespread in recent years: it came precisely in the last years of the worst of the economic crisis, with its discounts bailing out the pockets of consumers.

In the Uk cost something to introduce the term Black Friday associated with the sales, given that traditionally refers to the Friday previous to Christmas day, a day very busy for the emergency services. And when at the end we did, ended up in the pages of events. In 2013, a woman ended up in the hospital with a broken wrist in a fight, crowded in a shop in Belfast and in Bristol, a man was arrested. In 2014, the police arrested several persons for pursuing the products on offer with too much violence, and a woman received a blow by the fall of a tv. Security forces criticised the fact that the establishments did not have adequate security for events that according to them were entirely predictable, given the experience of the previous year.

expand photo A woman sees laptops in the Media Markt. iStock

was Not the only thing notable that happened this Black Friday: 200 shoppers refused to leave a store in Middleton despite being told that there were no stocks; in Oxfordshire, other big stores had to close temporarily because the surrounding streets were jammed with traffic; in Güvenilir Bahis Siteleri London, the city police had to protect the dependents to enter and exit the insurance of the stores.

As said the sergeant, city Paul Marshall, “even though it is Black Friday, throwing people to the ground to save 20 pounds on a coffee maker is still an assault”. In Glasgow and Bristol, there were several altercations between clients, both within the stores as well as on the input queues. A dependent recounted how people ‘ bit, it was punching, kicking… it was horrible”. There were also thefts at gas stations.

Despite all these problems, the shops had sales records, items such as the iPad mini or even food processors. According to estimates by Visa Europe, sales in the Black Friday reached the 360,000 pounds at the minute and there were 8.5 million online transactions.

Black Friday English

In Spain the expansion of Black Friday took place between 2013 and 2015; first online, and then also in physical stores. The German group MediaMarkt participated already in those early years, recalls Walter Schmidt, director of marketing of the company. “We were the first chain of distribution to implement it. Today, in 2018, there is no trade that does not add up to the opportunity to offer special discounts to their customers, and that is why we have decided to give a twist this year, expanding the number of days of the offers. This is one of the key campaigns for the company.”

the French, more reluctant always to the things that come from USA, it cost them more to ride the wave of Black Friday (although they call it so, in English, something unusual in the chauvinist France). There, more than the Cyber Monday, celebrate Cyber Week (cibersemana). We can consider that the first year of massive success of the event was 2017, with posters and announcements, and general participation of the establishments physical. And this year, have created a series of seminars equivalent but in march, the so-called French Days, designed to revitalize the low season of sales, before discounts, of the summer.

In Germany, where he also speaks of Black Week or Black Shopping, the thing began timidly, and even allowed a Hong Kong company, Super Union Holdings, to register the term Black Friday in the German Office of Patents and Trademarks; then we would buy a austrian company. But in 2016, 17 companies reported separately that the term was of general use and could not be the property of anyone, and his claims were treated in the courts.

The distribution companies Spanish are expecting a growth -while slower than last year because the phenomenon is consolidated – above 10%. According to the Observatory Cetelem consumer, 93% of the Spanish you know already what is the Black Friday. Since then, no one can say that is not advised.

This news, sponsored by MediaMarkt, has been developed by a collaborator of The Country