The blackest of Black Fridays
Black Friday 2020 is the most needed in history. This American rite which we adopted in 2012 has always had that Yankee essence that gives everything a touch of being fashionable. As if our traditional sales needed one more incentive.
In the past, the idea was to anticipate discounts in order to start the sales period at the end of November and then "give one's all" in December. Santa Claus and the Three Wise Men have always meant social expenditure. The time when tax-free extra pays flew by with gifts for the whole family. The big shopping malls were getting out their road map: Black Friday, Golden Days, Private Sales and Sales. They kept customers active from November to February. And they smoothed hard January with loans which could be paid back in several months with hardly any interest. Spain, at that time, was doing well.
But the pandemic has wiped out that whole system of sales and discounts. Spain was shut down on March 14 and nothing will ever be the same again. Perhaps, different, but not the same. The summer sales were arranged by appointment, if the shop on duty was still open. Sales plummeted. Mid-season clothes are still on the racks and the winter clothes have hardly been sold.
Black Friday is the plan to de-escalate economy by the end of 2020. Regional governments have to decide what to do with people at this time of the year. Traditionally, the December long weekend is a historic moment for national tourism to come to the capital for a couple of days and buy gifts, eat in restaurants or go to musicals. If all this is limited by perimeter lockdowns, Black Friday will move on to the internet and e-commerce.
Black Fridays, which have been celebrated for almost ten years, are devoted to technology. It is the first major expenditure of the period and marketing shows its most valuable products now that money is in our pockets. Televisions, computers, mobiles, cameras, video consoles, tablets... From 300 euros upwards. Microsoft and Sony will put their new consoles on sale in November 2020 at 499 euros each. Apple will present its new iPhone, Mac, iPad and Apple Watch in the last quarter of the year. In October, GoPro presented the 9th Action camera at around 400 euros.
If consumption increases at the end of the year thanks to Black Friday and Christmas, we may not be so bad in 2021. But consumption depends on work and the fall has been catastrophic so far this year. ERTE, self-employed casualties, shop closures, and even Barça has warned that it could go into bankruptcy. Hunger queues are getting longer. Pablo Iglesias' unnecessary "minimum basic income" becomes a vital and much-needed income for minister José Luis Escrivá. One thing is to live by one's wits and another is to have someone help in order to survive.
Those who have, let them spend. To the extent of their possibilities and their needs. Black Friday 2020 will have to wait until 2021 for the haters of consumerism to manifest themselves. This year it is time to move on to small businesses and large companies. Because they all support the business fabric of Spain and form part of the economic landscape. Because thousands of families, intermediaries, transporters and even the media live off them.
Black Friday has to honour its given name and turn red figures into black ones.
