WHAT IS BLACK FRIDAY?

Black Friday is one of the biggest occasions for people living abroad that was set up for sale purposes on food, clothes, and other items. It happens on Friday that comes right after Thanksgiving. The sale begins even before Thanksgiving leftovers are finished and becomes one of the biggest Christmas shopping events every year. The Black Friday sale usually falls between the dates 23 to 29 November. 

This year the Black Friday sale is going to be on 27th November 2020. People have started preparing for it beforehand. The day of the sale is an official holiday for all the employees except the ones that are working in the shopping retailers because the sale is all about shopping stores, food, etc. People of the U.S. celebrate it like a festival and go out with their families on this beautiful day.

WHERE DID THE ‘BLACK FRIDAY’ TERM INITIALLY ORIGINATE FROM?

If you talk about the overall scenario, then the term Black Friday originated in the U.S. in the 1960s. To be more specific, it was first created and named in the city of Philadelphia. In the 1960s, the police of Philadelphia city noticed a crowd in the street on this day and many bikers were seen with their motorbikes clogging the streets, this made them name it ‘Black Friday’.

And if we look at it from the non-retailing aspect, it also refers to a financial crisis that was faced by the stock market in 1869 due to the gold spectators who destroyed the markets which in return drowned all the stocks. This also contributed to the origination of the term ‘Black Friday’.

WHY IS THE DAY TERMED AS ‘BLACK FRIDAY’?

The term started in the 1960s, both retailing and non-retailing sense. The day marks the start of Christmas shopping especially and other festivals. The sale is set off on Friday after Thanksgiving every year in November, so the term Friday came from there.

Now moving on to the ‘black’ part of the ‘black Friday’ term which also has a solid and significant reason behind it.

So basically it indicates the shift of ‘red’ to ‘black’ for retailers. In the retailing community, red ink was considered as the color of loss. Whereas the ‘black’ was said to be the color of profit.

So this all started from this concept and now both the terms black and Friday have been combined and the day is always termed as Black Friday. It is one of the biggest shopping seasons of the year profiting many retail as well as food companies.

WHY IS THE BLACK FRIDAY SALE SO POPULAR?

Well, who doesn’t like buying things at discounted prices? Everyone does! This is the reason why people wait all year long for this sale as it is very profitable for them as well as the retailers. The retailers noticed that the people used to gather a lot on these kinds of sales and that they can profit a lot through it so they started putting sales online even on the day of Thanksgiving and most of them open their stores on Black Friday in the afternoon and put great sale packages on all the products that attract all the shoppers.

Sometimes the retailers do not profit as much as they want to because of the low prices but they still manage to earn more than they do on normal days when people do not shop as much as they do on Blessed Friday.

All the stores put mind-wobbling deals and sales on their products and to promote them, some of the retailers start putting ads about the sale on the day of Thanksgiving to keep the customers posted and so that they can get time to decide what they want to buy and what not before the actual sale begins. Whereas, some of them wait till the end to post ads for the announcement to maintain the curiosity.

In this time of the ongoing pandemic, people prefer to shop online rather than rushing to the stores like before and bumping into each other or fighting over the stuff to get your hands on your favorite deal before anyone else gets it.

The Black Friday sale is best in this way as it will put amazing deals online so you can shop online easily and find all the stuff that is available in the stores. This whole situation made this day extra popular and people still shop like crazy on this specific day, even more than those time to time Christmas sales.

THE BLACK FRIDAY STATISTICS ACCORDING TO THE NRF AND ADOBE ANALYTICS:

We don’t know about the analytics this year yet as the sale hasn’t started yet ut let’s have a look into the great sales that happened in the past few years. The numbers are huge and they have been increasing year to year.

Although many sale events take place around this time of Thanksgiving and other holidays 61% of the people who shop at Thanksgiving said that they are planning to shop on Blessed Friday. These analytics have been researched and put up by Adobe analytics and NRF. Let’s look into the previous Black Friday sale statistics.

• According to the NRF source, about 189.6 million people shopped in the U.S. in the 2019 Black Friday sale which was 14% more than the 2018 (165.8 million shoppers) and 2017 (174.6 million shoppers).

• The shoppers spent almost $361.90 in 2019 on the sale, according to the NRF source which was more than all the previous Black Friday sales that happened in 2018, 2017, and 2016.

• 2018 ~ $313.29
• 2017 ~ $335.47
• 2016 ~ $289.19      

• According to Adobe Analytics, about $11.9 billion was spent on online shopping on the Black Friday and Thanksgiving sale combined in 2019 which was 20.2% more than the money spent in 2018 on the same day.

• Black Friday Sale, 2019 ($7.5 billion)
• Thanksgiving Sale, 2019 ($4.4 billion)

• The next analysis by Adobe Analytics is regarding the year 2018. In 2018, the shoppers spent a total of $9.9 billion on online shopping which was 19.7% more than money shoppers spent in 2017.

• Black Friday Sale, 2018 ($6.2 billion)
• Thanksgiving Sale, 2018 ($3.7 billion)  

• In 2017, the shoppers spend a total of $7.9 billion in online sales according to Adobe Analytics which was about 17.9% more than that spent in 2016 on the same day.

• Black Friday Sale, 2017 ($5.03 billion)
• Thanksgiving Sale, 2017 ($2.87 billion)

TOPMOST SOLD PRODUCTS OF BLESSED FRIDAY 2018-2019 (SOURCES~ ADOBE ANALYTICS, BLACKFRIDAY.COM, HITWISE):

People usually put a hold on all the shopping they want to do so that they can buy the same stuff at half price rather than spending a fortune on it and Black Friday sale is one of the best days to do so because you can find all your favorite products, be it electronics, clothes, shoes, food items, or anything at half prices or even less than that so people don’t miss the opportunity to buy all their favorite products. According to the analysis, the products that became top sellers of 2018 and 2019 are;

BLACK FRIDAY (2019):

• According to Adobe Analytics, the top-selling products of 2019 are;

• Frozen 2 toys
• L.O.L. Surprise toys
• Paw Patrol toys 

• As per online shopping is concerned, the products that people bought the most online from Amazon in 2019 on Black Friday are;

• Apple AirPods
• Fire TV Stick 4K
• Echo Show 5
• Echo Dot (3rd Gen.)

• According to the 2019 analysis, the buyers looking for specific deals to buy on Black Friday. These deals included;

• Clothes (41%)
• Home goods/Appliances (38%)
• Electronics (32%)
• Tech and home gadgets (30%)
• Toys (25%)
• Traveling packages (12%)

BLESSED FRIDAY (2018):

• According to the 2018 analysis, the deals that were searched and purchased most by the consumers include;

• Clothes (23%)
• Tech (22%)
• Toys (18%)
• Other gadgets (16%)
• Gift cards (12%)
• Traveling packages (9%)

MOST POPULAR BLACK FRIDAY RETAILERS (SOURCE~ HITWISE):

Now let’s talk about the most popular shopping stores that have been visited and used the most by the buyers or consumers for shopping on the Blessed Friday sale. Although many retailers are among the top of the list of the most visited retailers, two of them made their mark in 2019 and 2018 and were the top pick of people for online shopping.

• Amazon
• Walmart 

AMAZON:

The statistics of online shopping people did from Amazon in 2019, 2018, and 2017 are;

• 2019:

Top retailer of 2019 on both Thanksgiving and Black Friday sale.

• 2018:

• Thanksgiving Sale (47.8% online transactions)
• Black Friday Sale (56.8% online transactions)

• 2017:

• Thanksgiving Sale (45.1% online transactions)
• Black Friday Sale (54.9% online transactions)

WALMART:

Now let’s look into the statistics of Walmart that are found by the ‘Hitwise’ source.

• 2019:

It was the second-highest retailer of 2019.

• 2018:

• Thanksgiving Sale (12% online transactions)
• Black Friday Sale (8.4% online transactions)

• 2017:

• Thanksgiving Sale (13.9% online transactions)
• Black Friday Sale (8.8% online transactions)

OTHER POPULAR STORES:

There are many other stores that people love to buy their things from on Blessed Friday as they have many products to offer including clothing, electronics, gadgets, toys, etc. It’s like an ALL IN ONE type of situation. Some of these popular and amazing stores that are most visited by the consumers are;

• Macy’s
• Kohl’s
• Target
• Belk
• Shopko
• New York and Company
• Stage
• Fred Meyer, etc.

HAPPY SHOPPING!

This was the history of the Blessed Friday sale and facts, figures, and statistics about it that were gathered from different sources. The Black Friday sale of 2020 is scheduled to happen today on 27th November 2020. Don’t delay and go buy all your favorite products online or from the stores. You will see a lot of coupons and gift cards along with the sale itself so avail it as much as you can and enjoy your shopping experience.

Which is your favorite store to shop for on the Black Friday sale?

The chief of Tahreek- e –labaik Khadim Hussain Rizvi has passed away after a prolonged illness in Lahore at the age of 54, according to his family. His political party confirmed the news of his passing away on Thursday night as well. However, the cause of his untimely demise wasn’t immediately clear.

According to sources, Khadim Hussain Rizvi was said to be ill for quite some time now and lost his battle during treatment at the Farooq Hospital in Allama Iqbal Town today. His body is reportedly being transported to his residence. 

The senior leader of Tehreek- e – Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLYRA), Pir Aijaz Ashrafi said in a statement that the timing of Rizvi’s funeral prayer will be announced soon. 

The announcement of Rizwi’s demise: 

The death of the famous religious scholar and the chief of Tahreek- e –labaik Khadim Hussain Rizvi’s death left all saddened. Many people paid their tributes to the late soul on social media while others are waiting for the announcement of his namaz- e – Janazah. The news was also confirmed by his close companion and the head of TLYRA, DR. Asif Ashraf Jalali. He passed away at his residence in Chowk Yateem Khana in Lahore city. 

Khadim Hussain Rizvi’s body being taken by his supporters from hospital to his residence. Pakistan Army is fearing violence by supporters of Rizvi after his funeral tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/oinD4ZRaIO

— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) November 19, 2020

As stated by the Hospital sources, the firebrand cleric had been suffering from severe fever for the past several days. He made his last appearance at a sit-in which was staged at Islamabad’s Faizabad Interchange by thousands of TLP followers to protest against the publication of the blasphemous caricatures of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) in the country of France. 

The party decided to end the sit-in there on Monday after a successful negotiation with the Government of Pakistan. 

About Khadim Hussain Rizvi: 

Born on June 22, 1966, he belonged to the district Attock in Punjab. He was considered to be an introvert as he didn’t’ really share that much about his personal life and shielded away from topics regarding this, even with his close circles so let alone with media personnel. 

Khadim Hussain Rizvi, according to rumors, was injured because his driver fell asleep while he was driving him from Rawalpindi to Lahore. Ever since 2006, he had been confined to his wheelchair due to an accident that took place near Gujranwala.

Many mistook him to be a Shia just because of his surname, however, in truth; he was a staunch follower of Imam Ahmad Raza Khan Barelvi. Khadim Hussain Rizvi’s first entry to mainstream politics was through by-elections of NA- 120. 

Minister of Religious Affairs Noor Ul Haq Qadri paid his condolences and expressed his grief over the TLP’s chief death by saying that Pakistan has lost a very respectable religious scholar and someone who was a great admirer of our Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). He further added that Rizvi will be remembered for a long time for his services. 

Condolences Pour in on Twitter: 

The demise of Khadim Hussain Rizvi left all nations and their followers speechless and in grief. The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan expressed his condolences by writing on his Twitter handle: 

On the passing of Maulana Khadim Hussain Rizvi my condolences go to his family. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un.

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) November 19, 2020

Punjab Spokesperson Firdous Ashiq Awan also expressed grief on the death of Rizvi: 

اِنَّا لِلّٰہِ وَاِنَّآ اِلَیْہِ رَاجِعُوْنَ
سربراہ تحریک لبیک پاکستان علامہ خادم حسین رضوی کی وفات پر انکے اہل خانہ اور چاہنے والوں سے دلی تعزیت کرتے ہیں
اللہ تعالٰی مرحوم کی بخشش فرمائیں اور تمام پسماندگان کو صبر عطا کریں۔ آمین

— Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan (@Dr_FirdousPTI) November 19, 2020

Others also jumped in on their Twitter accounts and condoled on his passing away. 

It is Allama Hafiz Khadim Hussain Rizvi who taught us to sit in the freezing cold of Faizabad and guard the honor of the Holy Prophet (PBUH).#MuslimUmmahHeroKhadimRizvi #KhadimRizvi pic.twitter.com/nqtengCe7x

— Muhammad Tayyab Din Gujjar (@iamtayyabdin) November 19, 2020

Khadim Hussain Rizvi:

Khadim Hussain Rizvi was born on 22 May 1966 in Pindigheb Attock. He was basically a Pakistani radical preacher for right. He was also the head of group Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, which is a religious organization established in the year 2015.

This organization is famous for protest against a change in Pakistan’s law of blasphemy. He was Fluent in many languages, including Punjabi, Urdu, Persian, and Arabic; he is famous for his debates regarding the defense of our beloved prophet, Muhammad (PBUH).

Other than the Holy book Qur’an and prophet Muhammad hadith, he is popular for quoting frequently the poetry of famous Imam Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi as well as Allama Muhammad Iqbal. He considers both of these personalities are his inspiration. His followers regarded him as a Pir and saint. 

The early life of Molana Khadim Hussain Rizvi:

Khadim Hussain Rizvi came to the world in 1966 in the District of Attock, Punjab. Ameer Hussain, his brother, is a Junior retired Commissioned Officer of the Pakistan Army.

Study and Hifz:

He started his Hifz-e-Quran in Jhelum. Then, he got admitted into well known Jamia Nizamial of Lahore. Khadim Rizvi is a Hafiz of the Quran. He was Sheikh-ul-Hadith as well. He delivered sermons on Friday at Lahore’s Masjid “Pir Makki.”

And also in the Auqaf and Religious Affairs Department of Punjab. He has to use a wheelchair since the year 2009 because of an accident near Gujranwala when his car driver fell asleep during Rawalpindi’s driving car towards Lahore.

Establishment of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP):

In 2015, Rizvi Sahab established his political party named Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP). It is a platform for Tehreek Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLYP). This Tehreek existed since the hanging of the scholar Mumtaz Qadri, who killed Governor of Punjab, Salmaan Taseer, for being antagonistic to blasphemy laws and suddenly rose to popularity. 

During the days of the assassination of Suleman Taseer, Khadim Rizvi was working as official awqaf in Punjab’s government. Rizvi had logically justified the murder by saying that governor Taseer had considered the law of blasphemy as a “black law.” Rizvi got warning notices so that he restrain himself from spreading thoughts and viewpoints in blasphemy laws favor. But he has refused to do that, which led him to remove from his government job. 

Approval of blasphemy laws:

After being removed from public service, Rizvi got more chances for preaching his thoughts. Throughout the country, he visited to awaken the public to support Section 295-C of the Penal Code of Pakistan.

It is about the blasphemy done against Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). He also demands the release of scholar Mumtaz Qadri; his constant advocacy got him the name “blasphemy activist” in different religious circles across the country. 

Death of Khadim Hussain Rizvi:

TLP head Khadim Hussain Rizvi has passed away in hospital in Lahore. Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) head Allama Khadim Hussain Rizvi has passed away in the hospital of Lahore at the age of 54. His party TLP has confirmed this news on the night of Thursday. The primary cause of death wasn’t exactly right now.

Statement of TLP’s spokesman:

By his party, Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), spokesperson Hamza, Rizvi Sahab experienced breathing difficulty and was under severe fever by yesterday morning. 

Spokesperson Hamza further said that Khadim Rizvi was present at his madrassah, located on Multan Road. There, his condition was getting deteriorated on the evening of Thursday. He was suddenly carried to Lahore’s Farooq Hospital. After arriving in the hospital, he was declared dead. Molana sahab’s body was now moved to his residence.

Timing of Khadim Rizvi’s funerals :

Senior leader Pir Aijaz Ashrafi, of Tehreek-i-Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLYRA), said on the media that the timings of funeral prayers of Rizvi would be announced later.

Asif Ashraf Jalali confirmed the death of Khadim Hussain Rizvi. Also, he is the head of the organization TLYRA.

Rizvi’s last public appearance:

He had made his public appearance last time as he was sitting in front of hundreds, even thousands of followers of TLP at Faizabad interchange in Islamabad to protest against the creation of sinful pictures of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in France. The party had ended its sit-in two days before on Monday after successfully negotiate with the central government.

Statements by Religious Minister, Noorul Haq Qadri:

 Religious Affairs Minister Noorul Haq Qadri shows his grief over the demise of the TLP chief. He said, “By his demise, Pakistan lost its respected scholar and the lover of our Holy Prophet (PBUH)” he also noted that Khadim Rizvi’s work for Islam is worth remembering for a longer time.