Is it possible to do Black Friday Sustainably?

This year feels different.

There’s a few retailers which have dipped out of the Black Friday madness and taken the opportunity to use the American born sales day as education into the longevity of products bought on Black Friday deals.
Black Friday in the UK is seen as the last payday before Christmas for many but it infact originates back to Philadelphia in the US. The history links back to the stock market, after an entire year of operating at a loss (“in the red”) stores would supposedly earn a profit (“went into the black”) on the day after Thanksgiving, because holiday shoppers blew so much money on discounted merchandise.
This mentality repeated itself year after year as the sales got stronger with it eventually spilling over in the UK markets. 

Fast forward to the 21st century and Black Friday along with Cyber Monday has nurtured a culture of panic buying pointless products because they were such a bargain. It is estimated that up to 80% of items, and any plastic packaging, will end up either in landfill, incineration or, at best, low quality recycling, sometimes after a very short life.

So what’s the answer?

Although retailers will want to make the most of the trend to boost their sales the balancing act begins to remain sustainable whilst still pumping out the deals.
Finisterre have taken the opportunity to use the Black Friday trend as a platform to launch their new foundation. Although it’s not sales related they’re using the traction of shoppers hunting for deals and they’ve pushed their press release far and wide to announce:
“Sustainable outdoor brand Finisterre is shunning the biggest sales event of the year, Black Friday, to support equal access to the ocean for everyone with the launch of its Finisterre Foundation Community Interest Company” 

https://finisterre.com/pages/finisterre-foundation

Ikea still wanted to keep the sales element but have twisted the narrative to be ‘Buy Back Friday’ ensuring that their deal is environmentally based and highlights their buy back scheme for old IKEA furniture.

You can still benefit from the sales hype each year but it seems to be heading down the environmental route. Every report about consumers seems to prove that people care more and more about the planet so ensure that you’ve got the sustainability element supporting your sales and you’re in for a winning campaign.