More Brands, More Offers: America's Black Friday shopping festival getting bigger in India | Economic Times

New Delhi: Black Friday, yet another American import, appears to be taking root in India. The trickle of Black Friday sales that started in India last year has turned into a flood this year with several malls and scores of brands including Shoppers Stop, H&M, Lifestyle, Marks & Spencer, Realme, Michael Kors, Jimmy Choo and Tommy Hilfiger among those offering 20-80 per cent discounts on the shopping day that follows Thanksgiving—the fourth Thursday of November in the US. “Basically, it has its origin in the US after Thanksgiving Day but it is becoming popular in India as well,” said Vivek Bali, CEO of cosmetic retailer Sephora that has up to 50 per cent rebate on various items. “It has got popular in India since last year as companies have started to use it as a promotional tool,” he added.Japan’s fashion label Uniqlo is starting a week-long Arigato (thank you in Japanese) Festival on Friday while Shoppers Stop is having Black FriYay with up to 80 per cent discounts. 79457204While a host of brands including Steve Madden, Armani Exchange, Swarovski and Vero Moda in High Street Phoenix and Palladium malls in Mumbai are offering up to 50 per cent rebate between Friday and Sunday, Mall of India in Noida, where 250 labels are participating in Black Friday sales, lined up 50 per cent cashback vouchers for the first 200 shoppers with a bill of Rs 15,000 on November 27.“We started preparing for it a month in advance,” said Abhishek Bansal, executive director of Delhi’s Pacific Mall, where almost 90 brands have various offers between Friday and Sunday. “Last year, we did well and that is the reason the retailers are ready to participate this year. We didn’t even have to ask them.” Pacific generated Rs 10 crore in three-day Black Friday sales in 2019 and this year, despite Covid-19 cases on the rise, the west Delhi mall is hoping to clock about Rs 8 crore of business in the Friday-Sunday period.May Become much Bigger EventBlack Friday has the potential to turn into a much bigger event in the future as young Indians are increasingly warming up to western practices, said Vineet Gautam, CEO for South Asia for Denmark-based retail group Bestseller. Its brands such as Jack & Jones, Vero Moda and Only are part of Black Friday sales.“It is interesting to see how it is evolving in India,” said Gautam. “Well-travelled consumers have adapted to seasons/ days that didn't originate in India and, in turn, compelling the industry here to adapt and present new interesting offers.” However, some experts said Indian brands and retailers need to show more imagination.“We have 50 different communities living here and each of them would have 50 reasons to celebrate,” said Harminder Sahni, founder of retail consultants Wazir Advisors. “Yet we are following the American middle class. Have we exhausted our domestic and regional opportunities? Black Friday is pure lazy marketing and nothing else.”Coming up—Cyber Monday.