Black Friday falls the day after the countrys' Thanksgiving celebration, and is the traditional start to the Christmas shopping season.
It has become a discount shopping day when millions of US shoppers are lured by massive savings, both online and at stores around the country.
Some claim the term Black Friday was coined to illustrate the point at which shops and stores start to make a profit, or go "into the black".
Others believe it was first coined by the Philadelphia police department, which had become fed up with shoppers causing crowded pavements and traffic jams on the Friday after Thanksgiving.
In 2012, an estimated $11.2bn was spent by US customers who hit the shops in their droves, while online spending broke the $1bn barrier for the first time. Over the whole weekend a total of $59bn was spent.
The US National Retail Federation expects 140 million people to go shopping over the weekend, both online and in stores.
Although shoppers are increasingly making purchases on Thanksgiving itself, Friday remains the key day for retailers, with the federation finding that 69% of consumers (97 million people) will go shopping.
Retail workers are planning a day of action across the US to protest against poor wages and conditions, with Walmart set to see demonstrations at 1,500 stores.
http://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/nov/28/what-is-black-friday
It has become a discount shopping day when millions of US shoppers are lured by massive savings, both online and at stores around the country.
Some claim the term Black Friday was coined to illustrate the point at which shops and stores start to make a profit, or go "into the black".
Others believe it was first coined by the Philadelphia police department, which had become fed up with shoppers causing crowded pavements and traffic jams on the Friday after Thanksgiving.
In 2012, an estimated $11.2bn was spent by US customers who hit the shops in their droves, while online spending broke the $1bn barrier for the first time. Over the whole weekend a total of $59bn was spent.
The US National Retail Federation expects 140 million people to go shopping over the weekend, both online and in stores.
Although shoppers are increasingly making purchases on Thanksgiving itself, Friday remains the key day for retailers, with the federation finding that 69% of consumers (97 million people) will go shopping.
Retail workers are planning a day of action across the US to protest against poor wages and conditions, with Walmart set to see demonstrations at 1,500 stores.
http://www.theguardian.com/money/2013/nov/28/what-is-black-friday