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On London’s Oxford Street, you could almost forget we were in the midst of a retail apocalypse. Christmas lights and a slew of special offers marking an ever earlier start to the imported bargain frenzy, Black Friday, brought out the crowds. Similar holiday cheer and promotions have spread elsewhere in Europe too. But European retailers face a new worry: shoppers deliberately staying away in order to safeguard the planet.
Conspicuously skipping consumption is a long-term threat. But when it comes to Black Friday, the more shoppers who shun it the better.
For European stores, introducing the crazy US holiday shopping tradition has been an act of self-harm. If protests persuade stores to cut back on this margin-destroying activity, both the planet and profitability would benefit.
To recap: Black Friday first reared its ugly head in the UK around the start of the decade when local chains responded to Amazon.com Inc.’s unleashing of post-Thanksgiving discounts onto the British public. The trend hit continental Europe later, but French and German have retailers have stepped up their participation over the past few years.
As the phenomenon grew, so did resistance, with, for example, International Buy Nothing Day urging us to switch off from shopping. But this year the anti-consumerism movement is gaining traction.
In France, where retailers brace for a December 5 nationwide strike, youth activists are joining with Extinction Rebellion to protest at shopping malls and elsewhere in an action called #BlockFriday. Ecology Minister Elisabeth Borne weighed in, warning people about the pollution generated by Black Friday between all of the extra delivery runs and packaging. “We can’t at the same time call for a reduction in greenhouse gases and call for a consumer frenzy like that,†she said. There’s even a proposal by lawmakers to ban Black Friday promotions
altogether.
Determining which is greener is not straightforward. There is some academic evidence to suggest that shopping online is actually more sustainable. But that is not always the case. When a whole range of factors are taken into account, including returns, ultra-fast delivery, subscription programs that encourage repeat purchases, collecting parcels by car and showrooming the picture is far less clear cut.
Whether it’s for environmental or commercial reasons, any break on the event is welcome. Deloitte estimates that the average discount in the UK this November is about 27%, similar to last year, although deals started earlier. Retailers may win some incremental sales, but given the difficult market conditions, that’s not guaranteed. So, unless they are offering products that would have gone into the January sale anyway, or items specially made to be sold cheaply on Black Friday, this level of reduction means they will be sacrificing margin.
This year, the effect of Black Friday was pernicious. Add in Brexit uncertainty in the UK and the strikes in France, and it increases the potential for a highly promotional period.
More conscious consumers are too late to prevent Black Friday from taking place in 2019. But if they force retailers to come to their senses in future, it won’t just be the environment that wins.
—Bloomberg
Andrea Felsted is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering the consumer and retail industries. She previously worked at the Financial Times