Black Friday Fun Facts

Happy Black Friday to all! Here are some fun tidbits to share with your loved ones

Do you know how the name “Black Friday” originated?

Can you guess which services industry claims Black Friday as its busiest day of the year?

Where did Cyber Monday sales numbers come in last year?

The market closes early today, and with leftover turkey and shopping being the focus anyway, let’s have some fun and look at some entertaining Black Friday and Cyber Monday factoids.

If you’re tired of stuffing, football, or relatives, here’s your escape.

Happy belated Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Everything you don’t know about Black Friday… but should

The original “Black Friday” dates to September 24, 1869. That’s when Jay Gould and Jim Fisk tried to corner the gold market. Neither individual was exactly a pillar of virtue, but Gould especially was ruthless, having earned the name “The Mephistopheles of Wall Street.”

In short, when President Ulysses Grant learned of their scheme, he released huge gold reserves to offset the price run-up caused by Gould and Fisk. Gold’s price plummeted in a matter of minutes.

The stock market plunged as well, bankrupting or inflicting massive financial damage on some of Wall Street’s most respected firms. Thousands of speculators were ruined financially, and at least one committed suicide.

With that heartwarming tale out of the way, let’s turn to the more modern “Black Friday” origin story.

The common legend is that the Friday after Thanksgiving was actually named “Big Friday.” Black Friday was a tongue-in-cheek term originating from the Philadelphia police department.

Allegedly, the cops began using the name in the mid-1970s, describing the traffic congestion and smog caused by holiday shoppers. While used in Philly for nearly two decades, the term didn’t become popular on a national scale until the 1990s.

Now, History.com, refutes this story. It claims that Philadelphia police used the term “Black Friday” in response to a different source of traffic chaos.

Can you guess what it was?

College football.

Apparently, the annual Army-Navy football game held on the Saturday after Thanksgiving was a massive event. As this version of the story goes, throngs of fans drove into Philadelphia on “Black Friday,” leading to a traffic nightmare.

Regardless of whether we can thank shopping or football for the atrocious traffic, here are a few more random Black Friday/Thanksgiving weekend factoids for you

Black Friday only became the biggest shopping day of the year in 2001. Prior to that, can you guess which day held the title?

It was the Saturday before Christmas, beating Black Friday every year.

Another question – can you remember in which year retail stores changed policy and began opening on Thanksgiving night?

We can thank (or blame) Walmart for that back in 2011. It became the first major retailer to open stores on Thanksgiving evening, leading to a new name – Gray Thursday.

Now, I must warn you, the following two trivia questions push the envelope a bit. Brace yourself…

How many Black Friday shoppers are drunk?

Yes, you read that right.

RetailMeNot reports that the answer is 12%. This suddenly puts all those Black Friday fights into a different light.

For the second questionable piece of trivia, which services industry claims Black Friday as its busiest day of the entire year?

Plumbing.

As crazy as it sounds, CNN reported that plumbers are busiest the day after Thanksgiving because they’re needed to clean up after guests who “overwhelm the system.”

Here are a few more Black Friday factoids for you from across the internet:

U.S. online Black Friday sales hit $10.8 billion in 2024 — a 10.2% jump from 2023.
Globally, online Black Friday spending reached roughly $74.4 billion in 2024 (up around 5% year over year).
Looking ahead, U.S. online sales are projected to reach around $11.7 billion in 2025.
On Black Friday 2024, approximately 87.3 million Americans shopped online and 81.7 million visited physical stores.
Globally, mobile devices accounted for about 69% of all Black Friday purchases in 2024.
Among U.S. Black Friday online shoppers, 71% planned to buy clothing & accessories, 71% electronics; 45% health & beauty; 40% household appliances.
According to a YouGov survey for 2025, just 39% of Americans say they’re very interested in Black Friday — but among Gen Z/Millennials the participation intent is near 58%.

Turning to online sales, what’s the origin of Cyber Monday?

Cyber Monday dates to 2005.

It was conceived by the National Retail Federation to encourage people to do more online shopping.

Now, have you ever wondered why it’s Cyber Monday and not, say, “Cyber Saturday”?

Back in 2005 when the shopping day was conceived, the internet was far slower than it is today. So, far more people did their online shopping from work rather than home (I’m guessing due to both faster connections at work, as well as a greater willingness to waste employer’s time than personal time).

As a result, in the early days of online shopping, most digital sales came on the Monday after Thanksgiving. Even now, 95% of employees admit they’ll shop while at work on Cyber Monday.

Now, from a shopper’s perspective, what’s the difference between Black Friday and Cyber Monday? Is one better than the other for certain types of deals?

From Business Insider:

A solid rule of thumb is that Black Friday is a better time to buy newer, big-ticket items. It’s also the best day to shop in stores, though you can also shop online.

Cyber Monday is a better day to shop for tech deals and smaller gifts. You’ll also see slightly better discounts online.

So, how big is Cyber Monday?

In 2024, approximately 72.3 million consumers shopped online on Cyber Monday, and U.S. online spending reached $13.3 billion.

Here are some other fun facts about Cyber Monday:

U.S. online sales on Cyber Monday 2024 hit $13.3 billion, up around 6.45 % YoY.
The forecast for Cyber Monday 2025 is around $14.2 billion.
On Cyber Monday 2024, during the 8 p.m.–9 p.m. ET peak hour, consumers spent about $15.8 million per minute.
In 2024, about 57% of Cyber Monday online sales were made via smartphones.
For 2025, approximately 46% of Americans say they plan to shop during one of the major sale events (Black Friday or Cyber Monday).

And just for fun, here are a few extra factoids this year:

Buy Now, Pay Later usage on Black Friday 2024 jumped roughly 20% year-over-year, setting a record for installment-based shopping.
AI-driven product recommendations influenced more than $40 billion in U.S. holiday e-commerce revenue in 2024.
Roughly 17% of all Black Friday/Cyber Monday purchases are returned, costing retailers more than $100 billion across the season.
57% of shoppers say they start hunting for Black Friday deals before Halloween.
63% of Cyber Monday shoppers say they worry their packages won’t arrive on time.
In 2024, the average U.S. shopper spent roughly $321 on Black Friday alone, up sharply from the prior year.

Forgive us for questioning the health of the U.S. consumer here in the Digest!

Finally, a big “thanks” to you

As we wrap up, let’s borrow a Thanksgiving tradition that’s popular with many families around the nation – taking a moment to be intentional about saying “thanks” for something that we’re grateful.

Speaking for the Digest and InvestorPlace at large, we’re thankful for you.

We appreciate the opportunity to partner with you in helping you achieve your investment goals. It’s a pleasure to do our best to help you become a wealthier, wiser investor.

All the best to you and yours.

Happy Black Friday,

Jeff Remsburg