As Black Friday approaches, Amazon and others are preparing for Cyber Monday, perhaps the biggest day in the UK online retail calendar.

Since 2005, Black Friday and Cyber Monday have become two of the most important days in America’s retail calendar.

In recent years however, this phenomena has crossed the Atlantic and has become a huge UK event as well.

These two days put a significant amount of pressure on businesses, as with all the media speculation during this period, retailers must be seen to perform well.

There is now a crush to get deals out for Black Friday with the run up becoming a discount free for all with offers being launched earlier and earlier.

In the UK, Black Friday is a more muted affair than in the States thus, with the increasing dominance of online retail, Cyber Monday is arguably the more important day for British businesses.

Data shows that 1.2% of all the online sales in the UK will take place on Cyber Monday, this is more than four times the national daily average and 2.5 times the average of the pre-Christmas days.

In addition, online retail giants Amazon and Apple started the UK trend, now many major High Street brands are following suit such as Tesco, Asda, Argos, John Lewis and Sainsbury’s, Sainsbury for the first time this year.

The focus of most participants is on consumer electronics and electricals. By providing time and volume limited discounts they force people to buy early when they have their full spending allowance still untouched.

Last year, it was estimated that more than £500 million was processed on Cyber Monday and all indications show that 2014 is set to exceed that figure.

Both Black Friday and Cyber Monday have no logical explanation in the UK. In America they make sense, that is to say, one major event, Thanksgiving has passed, Friday is often a free day so shoppers start to focus on the next.

Because we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, Black Friday will never have the same cultural impact over here as it does in America.

Some of the UK’s top brands have refused to buy into the day. Liberty’s, Selfridges and Harvey Nichols have all said that they are not participating in Black Friday.

Cyber Monday however, falls on or around the start of advent, which for everyone marks the beginning of the build up to Christmas.

However, another huge sales day is beginning to emerge as on the retail calendar, Green Monday, the Monday nearest the tenth day before Christmas.

First recognised by eBay to describe its best day for online December sales, in the States it is the third biggest online shopping day after Cyber Monday.

This year is set to see online sales overtake offline sales for the first time, leading most in the industry to believe that Green Monday will eventually catch up and possibly overtake Cyber Monday in terms of volume of sales.

Ultimately Black Friday, Cyber Monday and now Green Monday are a self-perpetuating cycle of consumerism fuelled by news cycle hungry for stories about how much we spend.

As long as this demand in the media remains these super shopping days are here to stay. 

  • Jacques De Cock, London School of Marketing