The Evolution of Black Friday & Cyber Monday

By George Moen | Co-Founder–Publisher | WBN News Global
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Discover how Black Friday grew from 1950s chaos to a global retail powerhouse—and how Cyber Monday reshaped shopping through digital innovation. The 2025 event officially falls on November 28, but many retailers kick off early and run promotions for weeks.

Black Friday, now the biggest shopping event of the year, had surprisingly humble—and chaotic—beginnings. While today it symbolizes deep discounts, long lineups, and the kick-off to the holiday shopping season, the term originally emerged in 1950s Philadelphia. Local police coined “Black Friday” to describe the overwhelming surge of shoppers, traffic jams, and crowd-related disorder that flooded the city the day after Thanksgiving, largely due to tourists arriving for the annual Army–Navy football game. For officers and retailers, it was anything but festive.

By the 1970s, Philadelphia retailers began embracing the crowds instead of resisting them. They launched early sales to take advantage of the unexpected surge, and newspapers started picking up the phrase. As the term spread across the U.S. in the 1980s, marketers reimagined the origin to create a more positive narrative—claiming Black Friday marked the moment retailers moved from “the red” (losses) into “the black” (profits). This polished explanation helped rebrand the day into a commercial celebration rather than a logistical disaster.

The arrival of big-box retail and e-commerce in the 2000s amplified Black Friday far beyond North America. Retail competition pushed the concept into Europe, South America, Asia, and Australia, even in countries that don’t celebrate Thanksgiving. Digital retail transformed the event further: Cyber Monday emerged as its online counterpart, followed by week-long and month-long discount periods known as “Black Week” and “Black November.”

Today, Black Friday represents more than deals—it reflects shifting consumer behavior, globalized commerce, and the power of marketing to reshape cultural traditions. What began as an uncontrollable shopping frenzy in Philadelphia has evolved into a worldwide retail moment that brings billions in sales and signals the start of the modern holiday economy.

George Moen
Co-Founder & Publisher, WBN News
gmoen@wbnn.news

TAGS: #Black Friday #Retail Evolution #Business News #Small Business Marketing #Ecommerce #Retail Strategy #Consumer Behavior #Holiday Shopping
#Digital Transformation #Biz Dev #Cyber Monday #Global Trends