2023-11-24 06:43:17
Discounts on bicycle bags, air travel, bottles of perfume, smartphones or sets of screwdrivers… France is no longer escaping the promotional frenzy of Black Friday coming from the United States, where this concept was invented in the 1970s. France will experience a new edition of this commercial operation on Friday, November 24, during which online sales sites, large distributors and local stores display more or less reduced prices.
Originally a simple day of discount sales offered the day after Thanksgiving (the 4th Thursday in November) by American stores, Black Friday has become a gigantic commercial event with the rise of the Internet and sales giants. online. And this Black Friday now lasts several days…
Non-existent in France 15 years ago, the #BlackFriday symbolizes the spiral of consumption that we want to impose on us: incitement to overconsumption, unfair offensive against the local economy, false promotions… Apart from large companies, everyone is coming out of it… pic.twitter.com/CLt19Vcxq9
— Ecologist Senators (@ecologistsenat) November 22, 2023
For its detractors, Black Friday is the symbol of anachronistic overconsumption in a time of climate change. Supporters of more responsible consumption have also responded with Green Friday, which even Christophe Béchu, Minister of Ecological Transition, promoted.
But Black Friday also inspired similar operations, set up to ride the catchy effect of the original model.
► Cyber Monday, prolongation du Black Friday
Since Black Friday was not enough, creative marketing minds in the United States invented its extension after the weekend. This gave birth in 2005 to Cyber Monday, “Cyber Monday”, the Monday following Black Friday.
Here too, France followed suit, with a Cyber Monday on Monday November 27 to continue selling merchandise online.
► French Days and Tricolor Days
Is the world having its Black Friday? France has its French Days, its French Days. The operation was launched in 2018 by six major French e-commerce brands (Boulanger, Cdiscount, Fnac Darty, La Redoute, Rue du commerce and Showroomprivé) to offer French discounts.
The last edition was organized from Tuesday September 26 to Monday October 2. As always, the six initiators offer physical and digital brands operating in France who wish to join the movement.
Still in response to Black Friday, seven made in France players have launched Les Jours Tricolores to highlight French manufacturing. From November 20 to December 20, more than 200 brands are offering discounts of up to -30% or organizing competitions.
► A Single Day from China
For its part, China has transformed Singles’ Day, which celebrates single people every November 11 for around thirty years, into a vast commercial affair for e-commerce platforms, notably Alibaba.
The concept of Single Day was exported to France under the leadership of AliExpress, a subsidiary of Alibaba. A few dozen stores and sales sites, such as Cdiscount and Sephora, took it over on the same day.
► Sales, again in January
For those who missed Single Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, there are still sales. In other words, “sales accompanied or preceded by advertising and announced as tending, through a price reduction, to the sale of goods in stock”, explains the website of the Ministry of the Economy. It is the only commercial operation where traders have the right to sell at a loss, for less than they bought.
The practice has existed in France since the 19th century, when ingenious traders began selling their unsold goods at low prices. For this winter, the sales will start (in most departments) on Wednesday January 10, 2024 and end on Tuesday February 6.
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