Photos show what 'Black Friday' looks like around the world
Katie CanalesNov 6, 2018, 22:28 IST
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- Black Friday, the day after American Thanksgiving, is one of the biggest shopping extravaganzas in the US.
- Retailers in other parts of the world have also gotten in on Black Friday game, while other countries have their own version of holiday shopping mania altogether.
- Here's what 'Black Friday' looks like around the world.
Black Friday is one of the biggest and busiest shopping extravaganzas in the US.
In American culture, turkey dinner and bargain hunting go hand-in-hand during the third week of November.
Black Friday has become so popular that retailers in other countries that don't traditionally celebrate American Thanksgiving, like in Spain and Canada, have embraced the shopping extravaganza.
The annual event isn't observed everywhere, though - some corners of the globe have their own version of holiday shopping madness.
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Here's what some of the biggest shopping days of the year look like around the world.
Black Friday is one of the biggest — and wildest — shopping days of the year in the US.
Source: Business Insider
... and is traditionally marked by deep discounts and large crowds of eager shoppers.
Source: Business Insider
Although in recent years retailers have begun offering deals ahead of Black Friday and competitive discounts online ...
... many US retailers try to lure customers to their stores post-Thanksgiving dinner with some of the hottest deals of the season.
The shopping holiday has become so popular that it's seeped into cultures that don't even celebrate Thanksgiving ...
... like Spain, which has fully embraced the discount day.
Spanish retailers, like clothing stores Zara and Mango, saw a 35% increase in sales during Black Friday weekend in 2017 from the previous year as the shopping holiday grows increasingly more popular.
Source: Forbes
Black Friday is also a hit with Brazilians, who clammer for deals on electronics like TVs the day after America celebrates Thanksgiving.
Source: The Independent
And though Mexico doesn't celebrate Black Friday, its El Buen Fin, or "The Good Weekend," takes place during the same time as the US's bargain-filled Thanksgiving weekend.
Source: Quartz
But the discounts aren't as striking during El Buen Fin as they are in the US — some retailers only slash 50% off of prices.
Source: Quartz
Amazon introduced the concept of Black Friday to Britain in 2010, and it's since become the biggest shopping day in the UK.
Source: The Telegraph
Stores in the UK began offering Black Friday sales following American Thanksgiving in November, despite it being a holiday unique to the US.
Source: The Telegraph
Stores like English chains House of Fraser and Topshop, as well as Amazon online, are offering Black Friday deals for things like clothing and electronics in 2018.
Source: The Mirror and The Mirror
And, like in the US, bargain hunters have been known to get quite competitive in stores on Black Friday.
Source: Business Insider
In 2014, police were called to stores across the UK as Black Friday sales turned into "mini riots."
Source: The Guardian
The English Boxing Day tradition takes place the day after Christmas, when shoppers return their unwanted "Christmas boxes," or gifts, for other items they prefer.
Source: USA Today
But retailers have caught on, piling on door-buster sales for customers who are already coming in for exchanges, turning Boxing Day into its own shopping spectacle.
Source: USA Today
Britons spent about $4.8 billion USD on Boxing Day in 2015 compared to $2.6 billion USD on Black Friday that same year.
Source: BBC and The Telegraph
Unlike Black Friday, Boxing Day is an official national holiday for people in the UK, Canada, Australia, and South Africa, among other places with British ties. They get the day off ...
Source: USA Today
... though cramming yourself into throngs of mall-goers still seems like a lot of work.
Millions of shoppers spill into stores, such as department stores in London, in hopes of finding bargains.
Source: Mirror
The scenes look very much like that of Black Friday in the US.
The throngs of London shoppers have been called "mobbish" in their quest for Boxing Day deals.
Source: Mirror
One American tourist shopping in the UK on Boxing Day even told The Mirror that the scene was "really a madhouse compared to the United States. I don't think we have this at all."
Source: The Mirror
Unlike pre-holiday shoppers, Boxing Day shoppers have historically opted more so for brick-and-mortar shopping rather than online.
Source: Fortune
In 2015, about 78% of Boxing Day transactions were expected to take place in retail outlets as opposed to online, though the latter has become increasingly more popular.
Source: Mirror
In fact, online shopping around the holidays is gaining traction in many countries.
Even though Thanksgiving isn't widely observed in India, online retailers have begun appealing to shoppers in India, as citizens there have increasingly used Amazon to search for items that are on sale during Black Friday.
Source: Business Insider India
Among the items are electronics, which are especially popular in India.
Source: Business Insider India
But that's just online. Black Friday doesn't have a strong foothold in India when it comes to in-store shopping.
Source: BBC
Their main shopping day is during Diwali, the ancient Hindu festival of lights. During this holiday, millions of lanterns light homes and streets across the world.
Source: Birmingham Mail
The first day of the five-day-long festival is known as Dhanteras and is when the most shopping takes place.
Source: BBC and Birmingham Mail
Thousands of people hit the streets in India for not-to-miss bargains on clothes, jewelry, lights, and more.
Source: Times of India
There have always been slashed prices during this time, but e-commerce has gotten involved in recent years.
Source: BBC
Amazon and Indian online marketplaces like Flipkart, which is owned by Walmart, offer discounted deals on electronics like smartphones during the annual festival.
For example, one of Amazon's Diwali Special Great Indian Festival deals this year was a Rs 2,000 discount, or $27 USD, on the One Plus 6T smartphone, which was on sale for Indians for the first time.
Source: First Post and Business Today
The e-commerce industry, led by Amazon and Walmart's Flipkart, was projected to rake in $3 billion in sales during the five-day Diwali festival alone.
That's still a large amount compared to the $8 billion brought in from online shopping last year in Black Friday and Thanksgiving sales.
Source: Big Commerce
Instead, Chinese citizens have what they call Singles' Day every year on November 11, just days before Black Friday.
Source: Bloomberg
The unofficial occasion began in the 1990s as a way for Chinese youths to embrace their singlehood in a society that emphasizes marriage ...
Source: Bloomberg
... before billionaire Jack Ma and his company Alibaba capitalized on the holiday in 2009, pinning shopping promotions with Singles' Day marketing to draw more sales.
Source: Bloomberg
It has since exploded into the world's largest online shopping day, surpassing Black Friday altogether.
Source: Bloomberg
And more than twice as much product is sold just on Singles' Day than during the five-day period spanning Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday.
Source: Bloomberg
Much of those sales are through Alibaba, which raked in $14 billion USD from 2015 Singles' Day sales alone.
Source: BBC
But other retailers like Alibaba competitor JD.com have also since joined Alibaba in offering customers discounts of up to 70% off on Singles' Day.
Source: BBC
Alibaba also has plans to flesh out brick-and-mortar stores, so Singles' Day could eventually resemble the chaotic in-store stampedes of Black Friday.
Source: BBC
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