What is Black Friday?

Americans’ favourite shopping event has been inching its way across the border over the past few years and it’s easy to see why. Between the deep discounts and ideal timing, Black Friday is the perfect opportunity to cross off all the items on your Christmas list without breaking the bank.

In 2017, Canada is going to experience the madness once again. Most Canadians are familiar with the crazy deals and the sometimes crazier crowds, but where exactly does this unique tradition come from?

Earning nearly $3.5 billion USD in sales in 2016, it’s by far the US’s biggest shopping event of the year. Taking place just about a month before Christmas, it falls at the ideal moment–just in time to let you cross off all the items on your Christmas present list without breaking the bank!

Although our research traced the concept back to the 1950’s, the numbers reveal that it wasn’t until the 1980’s that it began to truly gain momentum. Since then, it’s clear that both retailers and shoppers have embraced the concept and it has become a regular fixture of the festive period. In the 2000’s, we observed that many retailers started offering increasingly impressive deals and began turning the day into a true shopping extravaganza at their stores with events like extra early opening times, special door crasher deals, and flash sales. The event continues to grow bigger and crazier each year, with many retailers taking advantage of every last minute of the day by starting the sales and opening their doors right at midnight! It shouldn’t surprise you that Black Friday Canada has continued to grow in popularity as well.

From the dogged motivation of shoppers queuing up in the middle of the night in the freezing cold to the shocking tales of manic crowds once stores finally open their doors, eager shoppers across the globe have long kept a wary but fascinated eye on their American counterparts and the impressive deals they manage to snag.

Yet the stats show that the event has also taken off online and our analysis reveals that many retailers now actually offer deals that are even better than what shoppers can find in-store.

What’s more, the creation of Cyber Monday, a spin-off, online-only event just a few days later, has turned the entire weekend into a virtual shopping festival that garnered more than $12 billion last year in the States.

In years gone by, Canadians had to venture south of the border to take advantage of the impressive promos, or at least tack international shipping and duties on to their online orders. The landscape in 2017 is totally different: Canadian retailers have jumped on the bandwagon and more and more are offering deals that rival the steep discounts you find in the States. It’s safe to say that there’s now a Black Friday Canada!

While we’ve even come across some truly adventurous international shoppers who have gone so far as to plan trips to the US over the holiday weekend, there’s no longer any need to be on American soil to take advantage of the incredible deals: retailers across the globe have jumped on the bandwagon and started offering local versions of Black Friday deals on nearly every continent.