Is Black Friday as good as it used to be?

With this years’ Black Friday literally just around the corner, there is little doubt that the frantic searches will have already started. People will be looking up the must-have products and making sure that they know exactly where to go so that they don’t miss out. As researched by Betway Casino, Black Friday 2020 saw some $58 billion being spent and this amount seems to increase every year.

The sceptics amongst us may look at Black Friday and question the value of the deals that are available, but the popularity of the event seems to speak for itself. There is no doubt that Black Friday is big business so why do people question just how good it is?

The Black Fridays of days gone by

Looking back to Black Fridays in the past, it is obvious that there have been changes. That is not to suggest that these changes are by any means negative. It was once that shoppers would be queuing for hours on end trying to be the lucky person who picked up that exclusive item. Nowadays, while bricks and mortar shops have their place, much of the shopping takes place online.

In an interview with Betway Casino, the retail doctor Bob Phibbs had this to say: “The idea that there’s this door buster and there’s a $10 TV, there are only eight of them and you better be one of the ones to line up for eight hours to get it. I think those days are gone. That’ll never happen.”

How this shopping frenzy developed 

Phibbs is keen to point out that no one in retail is looking for a return to those early days of Black Friday. As he says, it is almost impossible to manage and all that happens is that you create a lot of unhappy customers. What has changed massively is that retailers plan months in advance for Black Friday meaning that stock levels are good and there’s enough to go around.

The fact that internet shopping is so popular makes Black Friday deals more accessible regardless of what style you are after. There is little need to physically queue outside of a shop in the hope of picking up that one item that you’ve been craving. The lack of crowds may suggest that Black Friday doesn’t generate quite the same draw that it used to, but the sales figures speak for themselves - Black Friday is more popular than ever before.

It’s no longer about just a day

Originally, Black Friday was just that - a single Friday straight after Thanksgiving. The fact that these amazing deals were only available caused what can only be described as hysteria as we were used to seeing bustling crowds almost fighting over the prized products.

Nowadays, Black Friday has evolved into a multi-day event. The deals come thick and fast and they aren’t simply pulled after a single day. In some cases, they are left to run all the way up until Christmas itself. Black Friday may have seen some tweaks over the years but it is just as good, if not better than it has ever been.