A Black Black Friday

Just a few days left until Christmas and also a time of reflection, perhaps. Last month I seem to remember writing that Black Friday is not that big a deal this side of the pond because “we don’t have Thanksgiving.” The statement about Thanksgiving remains the same, but the bit about Black Friday was almost totally incorrect.

Retailers ramped things up in the U.K. this year with a combination of advertising across different media, heavy limited-period discounting and, well, a degree of consumer hysteria led to a mild bloodbath.

There were fights – yes, fights – at Walmart-owned Asda as shoppers scrambled to get their hands on big screen TVs; and almost all of the online merchants’ abilities to deal with a massive surge in orders were frustrated as servers crashed.

Now it’s all over and predictions are being made that Christmas in the U.K. has come early and that retailers will see their mid- and late-December numbers dented by the consumer enthusiasm, with which the two or three days following your Thanksgiving were greeted by shoppers. Ultimately, there is probably only so much cake to go around and if it’s spent, then it can’t be spent again.

Perhaps it all proves that shoppers remain in search of the new, whether it’s a series of promotions that all retailers act in unison together, or maybe a new format store interior. The notion of the promiscuous consumer, whose attentions will move on to something newer and shinier, remains good and woe betide any merchant who tries to repeat the same old, same old year after year.

In truth, Black Friday U.K. style turned out to be a pretty unattractive affair unless you really think that scrapping, shouting and swearing are spectator sports. Doubtless there will be something new to complain about next year. Happy holidays.

John Ryan is a journalist covering the retail sector, a role he has fulfilled for more than a decade. As well as being the European Editor of VMSD magazine, he writes for a broad range of publications in the U.K., the U.S. and Germany with a focus on in-store marketing, display and layout, as well as the business of store architecture and design. In a previous life, he was a buyer for C&A based in London and then Dusseldorf. He lives and works in London.