Black Friday shopping spree produces clones worldwide

In the last 30 years, Black Friday has become a major consumer event in and outside the United States. In the 1950s, Black Friday was named thus to describe crowds and traffic conditions on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Today, it’s become a day of deep retail discounts.

These deals could flow to the following Monday – thus giving birth to Cyber Monday when online retailers experience up to 77% spike in sales – and after.

Cyber Monday online sales are about 25% higher than Black Friday’s and just keep on snowballing, according to Statista. In 2014 and 2015, Cyber Monday raked in just about $3 billion; $5.6 billion in 2015; $6.6 billion, 2017; and $7.8 billion, 2018; $7.4 billion, 2019; $9 billion, 2020.

Currently, 50-60% of the world’s 195 countries observe Black Friday in some form. These include the United Kingdom, France, and Germany in Europe; Central and South America; China and Southeast Asia; and nearly half of Africa.

Amazon is the biggest champion of this shopping holiday, with 14 dedicated global markets: the United States, Mexico, Canada, Japan, Australia, the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Brazil, the UAE, India, and Singapore.

E-commerce retailers in Africa have embarked on their own Black Friday interpretation. Jumia, the “Amazon of Africa,” is in 12 countries including Egypt, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, and Ghana. Another is Shoprite, known as Africa’s largest retail chain, which targets Lesotho, Malawi, and Zambia.

Other major sales holidays around the world include Singles Day in China on November 11 every year. The spree amassed $38 billion in sales in 2019, $82 billion in 2020, and $84.54 billion in 2021. Spain and the United Arab Emirates now observe Singles Day despite being an Amazon market.

Meanwhile, the UK, Canada, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, and New Zealand, and other countries formerly under the British Empire, celebrate the Boxing Day shopping spree on December 26th. Its name derives from when tradesmen would collect “boxes” of money or gifts after Christmas