With 2023 being the 15th year of Black Friday deals in the country, are Canadians starting to get tired of Black Friday?
The holiday, which is hardly even a one day event at this point, returns to Canada for a 15th year. Black Friday is the day after American Thanksgiving, or the fourth Friday of November. The day’s also known for people lining up for door-crashing deals on items that are usually sold at a reduced price. But in 2023, do Canadians still feel the urge to search for deals?
London’s various malls and plazas saw shoppers searching for potential deals. Yet, in a year where inflation and the cost of living have been hot topics for Canadians, coupled with the newer Cyber Monday, does Black Friday still ignite excitement here?
22 year-old Western student Chris Amezquita isn’t planning on participating in Black Friday this year: “I don’t really pay attention to the deals or anything. I don’t really care too much.” His biggest deterrents from Black Friday shopping are the overall lack of deals, as well as his budget as a university student. “As a student, I don’t really care, I don’t really need to have those extra expenses. So I don’t really look at the deals…At the end of the day I don’t really care too much about Black Friday, or put too much thought into it. Kinda just go on with my day as a normal Friday.”
Jed, another university student, also feels as Black Friday doesn’t spark a desire to shop compared to previous years.
“My honest opinion on Black Friday in Canada is that it’s changed drastically from last year. Black Friday used to be a weekend of sales that the average Canadian could look forward to because of real sales that made brand new items affordable. It used to be a time where you could get ahead on Christmas shopping without breaking the bank. But unfortunately due to the high increase in prices, the sales almost don’t cover the taxes of the items you’re buying.”
With most Canadians feeling the effects of overall cost of living in year that’s seen plenty of volatility with interests rates, as well as inflation, Black Friday looks to be a microcosm of the state of affordability in Canada.
Another possibility for the potential decline in hype around Black Friday is more and more people shifting to online shopping for deals. Especially since the pandemic.
Jed, who plans on doing his shopping online this holiday season says “The accessibility of buying online and having packages delivered directly to your house has also taken a lot of the craze out of Black Friday…It almost certainly feels like just another day.”
While Black Friday has been around for decades in the United States, it only started gaining popularity here in Canada in 2008. After having a year where the Canadian and American dollar were almost worth the exact same, the equal currencies enticed companies to offer Black Friday deals in Canada in an effort to keep Canadians from travelling across the border for huge discounts. However, in 2023, with an elevated cost of living coupled with increased online shopping, and a Canadian dollar that’s worth roughly 73 cents in U.S funds. Black Friday could very well be on the decline as Canadians now turn to Cyber Monday and Boxing Day for their deals.
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