The day after Thanksgiving should be a calming, stress-free time spent with friends and family. After eating a big meal the day before, and sharing what everyone’s thankful for, we all deserve to get some rest. However, for some people, Black Friday is considered the most stressful day of the year. Every store is having a sale, everyone is out shopping, and the only peace people can find is in the Christmas music playing over the speakers. How did this day come about, how did marketing communications amplify it, and what can you do to make Black Friday more relaxing?
Stores earn more money during the holidays than at any other time of the year because customers are aiming to purchase all of their loved ones’ holiday presents at the same time. Because of this, many falsely believe the term “Black Friday” originated since these stores operated at a loss (“in the red”) throughout the year then supposedly earned a profit (“went into the black”) on the day after Thanksgiving. To ensure that customers would make more purchases, the stores needed to offer better deals than their competitors while advertising them to the public.
“Black Friday” actually comes from the 1950s, when police in Philadelphia used the term to describe the chaos that ensued on the day after Thanksgiving, when hordes of suburban shoppers and tourists flooded into the city in advance of the big Army-Navy football game held on that Saturday every year. While the negative connotations of the day’s namesake were attempted to be forgotten, Americans began to put more emphasis on the retail aspect of the day. Now, instead of flooding the streets in search of the parade, they’re flooding the streets in search of the best deals.
To generate the influx of shoppers around stores, they needed to utilize marketing communications tactics. Everything is strategically planned months in advance, ultimately turning the Thanksgiving holiday into a channel for commercialism.
Customer segmentation is useful during Black Friday advertisements. This is the process of sorting customers into different groups based on their shared characteristics—like preferences, behavior, or demographics. This helps stores better understand their customers and serve them in a way that will meet their individual needs.
Psychological tactics can be used to strengthen marketing strategies, too. The sense of urgency customers feel when they see deals labeled “today only” or “while supplies last” can cause them to feel pressured into purchasing items immediately, instead of pondering on them for prolonged periods of time.
Influencers and social media have been increasingly utilized in marketing communications, and this year is no different. While branded content is being made for social media, some users take it upon themselves to discuss their Christmas wishlists online or recommend what others should put on their wishlists. This causes a stir in the algorithm to direct users to the specific products they’ve been interacting with, encouraging them to make a purchase as soon as possible.
Some stores stick to the old-fashioned TV and magazine ads, while others are unlocking the more contemporary targeted ads. These are ads sent to individual users’ phones based on their online interactions. While this mainly helps customers shop for themselves, the targeted ads can also give them ideas for what to buy others.
Artificial intelligence has changed how shopping works, leaving some customers to stay in the comfort of their homes on Black Friday. The AI in the eCommerce market grew from $6.63 billion in 2023 to an estimated $7.57 billion in 2024. It is projected to reach $8.65 billion by the end of 2025, showing that businesses worldwide are adopting AI solutions at a fast pace.
When shopping for anything at your fingertips is an option, it wouldn’t make sense to fight the crowds on Black Friday. Instead, some customers prefer to wait until the following Monday (aka “Cyber Monday”) to shop. This term originated in 2005 to boost online sales. This gives shoppers more time to spend with their family and friends, enjoy the holiday season, and relax while knowing the same types of deals are accessible online.
Sources:
https://www.history.com/articles/black-friday-thanksgiving-origins-history
https://ecomposer.io/blogs/ecommerce/ai-in-ecommerce-statistics
https://contentsquare.com/guides/customer-segmentation/