Every year, customers anticipate heavy discounts on items for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. These retail events are held the following Friday and Monday after Thanksgiving day, with Black Friday deals typically in-store and Cyber Monday deals online. These globalized concepts were solely formed by companies who caught on to the influx of customers starting their Christmas shopping the day after Thanksgiving.
Black Friday began in the 1980s with the increasing trend of customers Christmas shopping in malls the day after Thanksgiving. Since retailers made the bulk of their annual revenue on that day, they stirred up excitement by heavily promoting it and using “black” in the name of business profitability. Though, the crowd chaos from Black Friday eventually led to the upbringing of Cyber Monday in 2005. Lengthy lines and chaotic crowds were nothing new even before Black Friday was officially established. Stores were overcrowded leading to numerous injuries, violence and even one Walmart employee trampled to death in 2008. The National Retail Federation in the U.S. noticed an increase in online purchases the following Monday as people took advantage of the fast internet connection at work. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, customers were less able to shop at stores, making Cyber Monday prominent and popular.
Both events have big discounts, but which one is more popular? Cyber Monday has become more popular than Black Friday due to the direct increase in online shopping. However, customers tend to purchase expensive electronics, appliances and power tools on Black Friday while clothing, books and toys are bought on Cyber Monday. The high customer demand leaves warehouse workers and store employees dreading the days of discounts with the high-stress environment and long holiday hours.
