40% on Victoria’s Secret. Flat 50% off on Aldo. 40% off on Levi’s. These are just some of the push notifications that consumers have been bombarded with all week as global retailers prepare for the biggest shopping day of the season.
Using six years of proprietary credit card data and analytics from Pyxis, Bain and Company found that Black Friday has dominated as the No. 1 shopping day in the holiday season for five of the past six years. And it doesn’t seem to be losing steam: 55% of US consumers plan to shop the day after Thanksgiving, up from 51% last year.
In India, while Black Friday is still a relatively new import, consumers have eagerly jumped onto bandwagon, drawn to the deep discounts. Last year, Unicommerce reported a 17% year-on-year growth in order volumes and noted a 24% surge in gross merchandise value (GMV), underscoring the increasing significance of this sales event in India’s retail calendar.
Black Friday has evolved from being a niche, Western-inspired event to a marquee campaign with broad consumer appeal. Over the past 4-5 years, its popularity has risen due to the localisation of the event, a growing customer base of value-conscious Gen Z consumers and innovation in discovery-based shopping.
While Diwali sales remain a cornerstone for festive shopping, Black Friday sales tap a different base, those looking for year-end deals.
The resonance with Black Friday and deep discounts has been largely pushed by e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, Nykaa, Tata CLiQ who have has a massive role to play in putting the Black Friday trend onto the Indian retail landscape.
“Over the past few years, Black Friday has firmly cemented itself as one of India’s most anticipated retail moments. What began as a single-day flash sale has now evolved into a full-fledged shopping week for many brands, signalling not just consumer enthusiasm, but the maturing of India’s retail landscape,” said Nishank Joshi, chief marketing officer (CMO), Nexus Select Malls. Joshi is confident that participating brands will surpass last year’s numbers and that they will see strong traction across their 19 malls in 15 cities.
Last year, Nykaa recorded a 36% year-on-year growth in GMV and 55% growth in new customer acquisition during their Pink Friday sale, according to a report in The Economic Times.
Sumit Puri, vice president – marketing and central operations, Tata CLiQ, noted that their Tata CLiQ Fashion and Tata CLiQ Luxury sales, which began on November 20, have already seen strong traction with the daily run rate surging to 3-4x compared to regular business days. Interestingly, on both TataCLiQ platforms, more than 50% of customers are from T1-T4 markets, showcasing how the appetite for Black Friday has moved beyond the metros to smaller towns.
“Black Friday gained popularity in India as global shopping trends became more visible through online platforms and social media. E-commerce growth, international travel, and increased exposure to global sale events familiarised the Indian consumers with the concept,” Puri told Campaign, adding that rising digital adoption and the accessibility offered by online platforms have contributed to making Black Friday a nationwide shopping occasion.
Tapping the weekend is a good way for brands to create an annual IP for themselves.
Following a 40% spike in dine-in traffic during their Black Friday Wok Feast last year, Chinese Wok brought back its nationwide sale (November 28 – 30), where the entire menu is priced at just INR 149.
“Black Friday has quickly evolved into a cultural retail moment in India, with consumers entering the market already primed to spend,” said Aayush Madhusudan Agrawal, founder and director, Lenexis Foodworks. “Last year, we saw a noticeable uptick in new customer acquisition, indicating that the event helped us attract a wider audience beyond our regular customer base.”
A retailer’s moment to shine
Brand strategist Harish Bijoor says Black Friday is primarily a marketer-driven activity. “The marketer is forever looking for days, opportunities which can be showcased,” he said, citing how Valentine’s Day, another borrowed Western concept, is another big shopping day in India. “Of course, that took possibly 30 years to happen. Black Friday is making inroads, but it is early days for it.”
Falling right in the middle of the wedding season, and shortly after the festive season, Black Friday is primarily an excuse for retailers and e-commerce platforms to offload post-Diwali unsold inventory.
Black Friday provides a timely surge in November [sales], which tends to soften when Diwali falls in October, Joshi shared.
And it helps that the biggest discounts often come from luxury brands themselves, giving consumers that final push to purchase items that may have been sitting in their cart all year.
To create buzz for the Black Friday sale on Tata CLiQ Luxury, the platform launched a Black Friday social media campaign film featuring Twinkle Khanna, where she delivers a masterclass on how to navigate and delightfully surrender to Black Friday temptations. Additionally, loyal customers of Tata CLiQ Luxury were sent personalised hard-copy invitations along with gift cards, encouraging them to shop during the sale event. “We are seeing a good response for this, not only in the number of gift cards redeemed but also in terms of feedback, with customers expressing their appreciation for the gesture,” Puri said.
A day for (mindful) consumption
Over the years, Black Friday has become synonymous with a global spike in compulsive purchasing, driven by attractive discounts, urgency messaging and FOMO-led marketing. But some brands are deliberately going the opposite route.
Assam-based Woolah Tea recently announced an Anti-Black Friday Sale – For the Planet, under which the brand will remove all discounts and reinstate full MRP pricing exclusively on Black Friday. “Black Friday has become a global invitation to buy without thinking. [But] Woolah was built on the belief that consumption should nourish, not harm. Instead of contributing to a cycle that ends in landfills, we want this day to end in a forest,” said founder Upamanyu Borkakoty.
All revenue from the day will go toward planting 10,000 trees in partnership with Padmashri awardee Jadav Payeng.
Over the years, the Black Friday sale has become one of the most profitable shopping days with big retail giants pushing high discounts and limited-time deals to draw in crowds.
Analysts predict that, as the value-conscious Gen Z becomes India’s largest shopping base, Black Friday sales in India will only grow in size and scope in the coming years, making it a key event for both online and offline retailers and a fixture on the retail calendar.
