Black Friday Has Critics, But It’s Here To Stay

This year the US-inspired extravaganza attracted more publicity than ever, with the wider media salivating over the eye-catching deals in the run-up to the event. As one industry source told me: “This is a period of time when PR teams tend to go into overdrive. The hype is ludicrous.” Many retailers opted to take the pressure off their supply chains by extending the length of their Sale events. Big beasts such as Amazon, Tesco and Argos all adopted this approach. Amazon’s tactics, as ever, have been interesting. The e-tail giant ran a 12-day spectacular, then launched a ‘Cyber Deals’ Week. So, in effect, Amazon will have been running Black Friday-based deals for 19 days. All of this begs the question: is giving shoppers such a long period to snap up bargains counter-productive? Is it not taking away from the uniqueness of Black Friday as a 24-hour Sales bonanza? Read more at Retail Week.