Black Friday is pretty much the unofficial start to the Christmas shopping period. From the late 19th century and early 20th century, several retailers started making a big advertising push to get their Christmas sales soon after Thanksgiving to make the most of the purchasing season. While many employees are given the day off to the day following Thanksgiving Thursday to lead in the weekend, the Friday after Thanksgiving soon became one of the greatest shopping events.
The term “Black Friday” has several suggested sources, together with one of the earliest references to the phrase appearing in 1966 at a Philadelphia novel, in which it had been said that the Philadelphia Police Department used the term in a negative approach to refer to the enormous traffic jams and mobs of shoppers plaguing the town on that day.
Another popular theory is it refers to how retailers would soon be”in the dark” or profitable – as opposed to being”in the red” or incurring declines – because of the start of the Christmas buying period, based on accounting conditions.
Subsequently, since online shopping became popular, Cyber Monday came around as the day when online retailers could offer plenty more discounts and bargains, as an alternative to the crowds at the stores on Black Friday.
It is clear shoppers are looking for options to avoid the manic rush and crazy lines out the stores on Black Friday, so exactly what are a few strategies to save from the comfort of your own home?