‘Black Friday’ Origins

Consumers debate the origins of Black Friday. Some say the term came from employees skipping work the day after Thanksgiving (see “The Origins of ‘Black Friday’” by Ben Zimmer). Many claim that the term Black Friday came about as a sign of how important the arguably busiest shopping day of the year is to retailers. The sales helped businesses make a profit and therefore end up “in the black”. So why have some companies stopped doing Black Friday?

Black Friday: Profit or Crash

Black Friday (along with Cyber Monday) is synonymous with major sales and discounts, and for online sellers, a surge in website traffic. Just as the increase of visitors is a blessing, it can also mean the undoing of an online seller. As more and more users hit the site, the traffic overloads the servers, causing site slowdowns or even crashes. This is not a new phenomenon, yet companies and online sellers still fall victim to this entirely preventable outcome. During last year’s Cyber 5 (Black Friday thru Cyber Monday), major retailers such as Walmart and Office Depot experienced website outages and slow load time.

The result is lost revenue as disappointed shoppers look to other sites to make their Cyber 5 purchases. That’s why brands have ended Black Friday deals.

Instead of bypassing the opportunity to make a profit, how can online sellers prepare for traffic spikes? By using an e-commerce platform that offers true scaling capability.

FutureEcom for Black Friday

FutureEcom’s advanced architecture was built for traffic spikes. As the number of site visitors increases, so does the power of your online store, so you don’t have to worry about site slowdowns or crashes on your busiest sales days of the year. Other companies have stopped doing Black Friday, but you don’t have to. The FutureEcom platform will literally grow with your business when you need it.

Contact us for more information on how FutureEcom will help your online business succeed.