With Black Friday quickly approaching, we already know what to anticipate: a 40% Discount, busy streets, a 60% Discount, some drama surrounding doorbuster deals, and what about an 80% Discount?

However, how did we get here?

How come Black Friday is "black"?

When did it start to focus on sales?

In any case, why is it on a Friday?

Here is the background on Black Friday so you can get all your questions answered.

How come Black Friday falls on a Friday?

Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving.

So, before we address the question of why Black Friday falls on a Friday, let's address the question of why Thanksgiving falls on a Thursday.

Early in the 17th century, Thanksgiving first appeared. It is a day set aside for expressing gratitude for the blessings of the harvest and the previous year.

It wasn't until the time of Abraham Lincoln, in 1863, that the event became a federal holiday. President Lincoln issued a proclamation designating Thursday, November 26, 1863, as Thanksgiving in response to the 40-year campaigning of novelist Sarah Josepha Hale. The final Thursday in November of the next year should be set aside and observed as a day of thanksgiving and praise, he urged his countrymen. In actuality, the nationalization was finished in the 1870s because of the ongoing civil war.

Our Black Friday saga resumes in 1939, at the tail end of the Great Depression, two centuries later. On that particular day, President F.D. Roosevelt endeavored to effect change. By prolonging the holiday shopping season, increasing the number of opportunities for shopping by one week, etc., Roosevelt was looking for measures to stimulate the economy.

Thanksgiving was declared a federal holiday in the United States by the president and Congress, to be observed on the fourth Thursday of November.

How did Black Friday get its name?

Like the streets of every other main US city during this prosperous time, Philadelphia's streets were turned into human rivers. The day after Thanksgiving, the streets were overrun with shoppers and tourists. But there was still something going on in Philadelphia: The Army-Navy football game.

On the Saturday of the same weekend, there was an American college football rivalry game. The large crowd's presence was advantageous for shop owners but detrimental for another occupation: police officers. Instead of taking the day off like the majority of people during those joyful times, many officers had to put in extra hours to stop all this violence. As a result, police officers referred to the days following Thanksgiving as "Black Friday" and "Black Saturday," describing them as "living hell."

After the police connected Black Friday to the mayhem in Philadelphia, the retail mania spread every year, drawing throngs of people to the stores.

Philadelphia shop owners and business owners tried to rename the days after Thanksgiving as "Big Friday" and "Big Saturday," which do have a friendly tone to them.

The term became more well-known as Black Friday history went on. The crowds increased in size as Black Friday's anticipation intensified.

The Saturday before Christmas, often known as Super Saturday, used to be the busiest shopping day of the year back in the early 2000s.

However, Black Friday overtook Super Saturday in the 2000s and developed into the mania we are familiar with today.

Statistics for Black Friday

Because you enjoy numbers, it's time for some numbers.

From 2013 through 2019, U.S. merchants produced over $9 billion in online Black Friday sales, with year-over-year growth percentages rising. Sales in 2020 increased 22% (from 2019) to a historic $9 billion in that year alone, demonstrating the extent of the expansion.

But 2021 revealed a different picture. For the first time, it showed a decline in Black Friday sales, which fell just short of the previous record in 2020 at $8.9 billion. Some speculate that this was due to the pandemic's lasting effects (out-of-stock items, extended shipping times, etc.), as well as earlier online sales that may have taken some of the momenta.

• As a result, I lost one arm.
• On Reddit, a Black Friday horror story begins, "I lost an arm." It's not what you think, thank goodness!
• In expectation of a significant discount on some brand-new LCD televisions, my buddies and I had set up camp outside of a major store. Anyway, as soon as the doors opened and we all ran inside, I noticed a vintage childhood memento that would be ideal for my boy (he was five at the time). Stretch Armstrong was it. I simultaneously grabbed the final Stretch Armstrong on the rack with another consumer.
  
  
• Sears Line Jumper
• A line hopper is disliked by all. So it stands to reason that when a guy attempted to cut in front of others in line at a Sears in San Antonio, Texas in 2012, another customer took offense to it. According to the local news source My San Antonio, the line-jumper concluded that punching the opposing customer in the face would be the best course of action. This man allegedly replied by drawing his revolver; he later claimed that this was done in self-defense. This unexpected action, of course, caused the line jumper to run away. It turned out the gun owner was perfectly within his rights because he had a license to carry a hidden weapon. The most bizarre portion of the entire narrative? Just ten minutes after the tragedy, people went shopping again.
  
  
• The person who climbed into a microwave by army crawling
• Trouble on Black Friday isn't just the result of hostility and violence; it's also the shameless actions of buyers who will stop at nothing to get the item they want.
• Asda, the equivalent of Walmart in the United Kingdom, had microwaves on sale for almost 70% off on Black Friday, but the shop was jam-packed with customers, so it was impossible to move around. A person sat down, crawled down the empty shelves in the aisle up to where these microwaves were located, grabbed one, and then crawled back with it.

So, looking at these crazy stories, what better option than going for online shopping on Black Friday?

"Doorbusters" are few throughout the world.

The enormous discounts you hear about before Black Friday may not be that common; it's more probable that they will only be available to customers who camp out for days or arrive unusually early.

There are comparable, if not superior, offers available online.

While large offers could only be available for a short time on the shelves, some other great deals can be found online as early as RIGHT NOW.

As opposed to visiting only one retailer, you can visit many. when you wait in line for a doorbuster, you are exposed to the few best discounts at a single store. Nothing is off limits when it comes to discounts online.

The one store you should visit doesn't even have a physical location: Amazon is running a series of flash sales this week that allows buyers to get significant savings on toys, clothing, and electronics as frequently as every 10 minutes. You'll be a much smarter online shopper if you set price alerts for the item you want and use comparison shopping sites to find the best deal.

This weekend is the most valuable period of the year for an internet retailer, producing significant sales. Lucent Commerce a one stop shop platform for all your needs offers 24/7 support to all its e-commerce store owners.

Contact us at support@lucentcommerce.com