(Photo : Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images)
Black Friday is back! Although sales were ongoing throughout November this year, most stores saved their biggest offers for today, with discounts of up to 70% available in several stores.
With Black Friday deals starting early before the day actually starts in earnest, the largest shopping spree of the year has finally here.
Companies stocked up on clothing, toys, and other commodities ahead of the holidays, fearing a recurrence of last year's shortages. Stores are now lowering prices, concerned that they misjudged demand from purchasers who are feeling the pinch of growing living costs.
Black Friday 2022
Sales events have already been going on for weeks, and analysts predict that the reductions will become deeper as Christmas approaches and businesses are under pressure to get things off their shelves.
Globally, the tone as the holiday season approaches is fairly depressing. This is consistent with pessimistic expectations from worldwide retailers such as Amazon, which has warned that Christmas sales will be sluggish, particularly in its overseas division.
This is dampening sales forecasts, especially in the United States, where consumer spending - the key driver of the economy - has performed better than projected this year. The National Retail Federation of the United States anticipates a 6% to 8% increase in November and December compared to last year, which is consistent with their full-year forecast.
This is a significant decrease from 2021, when sales increased by more than 13% but remained higher than the 10-year average, according to BBC.
Gaming is one sector that has seen some good deals, with the newest titles for PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch being discounted by Amazon, Currys, and others. Accessories such as gaming laptops, displays, and keyboards have all seen major price drops, and we've even spotted a deal on one of the most recent generations of consoles.
The sale originated in the United States as a way for businesses to kick off the holiday shopping season the day after Thanksgiving, and it has now become a cultural export across the Atlantic, with most UK-based stores partaking today and over the weekend.
The Black Friday 2022 sale will run from Friday, November 25 (the day after Thanksgiving), through the whole weekend, until Cyber Monday, when all of the finest gaming offers can be discovered, which will mark the conclusion of the sale event, as per Independent.
Read Also: Why Ethereum Becomes the Number 1 Crypto in the World
Black Friday Incidents
Furthermore, between 2006 and 2018, 44 Black Friday events in America left 11 dead and 109 wounded - including one guy who returned home a fractured hip after being thrown into a rack of cheap gifts.
Black Friday's past is also bleak. The name was popularized by Philadelphia police in the 1950s to characterize the post-Thanksgiving mayhem that befell the city when tourists and suburban shoppers, eager for bargains and hard on the heels of the annual Army-Navy football game, descended on the city.
Officers were assigned to work unusually long shifts to deal with the deluge of traffic and crowd control. The retail excitement also encouraged shoplifters to flee with their booty, adding to the sense of chaos.
To deal with the onslaught of traffic and crowd control, officers were instructed to work exceptionally long shifts. The retail frenzy also spurred shoplifters to run with their loot, exacerbating the pandemonium, New York Post reported.
Related Article: China's Economy in Tatters as Officials Enforce Lockdowns To Address Surge of COVID-19 Cases
@YouTube
