Bol.com wants to move Black Friday
Netherlands online store Bol.com wants to move Black Friday to a week earlier so that it does not clash with Sinterklaas. Currently peak crowds on Black Friday can have a chain effect resulting in gifts being delivered too late for Pakjesavond - the night Sinterklaas delivers his gifts on December 5th, general manager Huub Vermeulen said to Trouw.
"The American holiday Thanksgiving now determines when it is Black Friday, namely the first Friday after that. That is a suitable time for the Americans because they can start making their Christmas purchases. But in the Netherlands and Belgium it is not at all convenient because of Pakjesavond", Vermeulen said.
According to him, this can cause logistical problems. "You run the risk that there will be a delay in the chain of supplier, warehouse and home delivery." Vermeulen therefore wants to slowly move Black Friday to a week earlier in the Netherlands. That's why Bol.com started offering "Black Friday" deals on November 22nd this year.
"Hopefully the first day of the discount week around Black Friday will be so important in a few years that you no longer need the American Black Friday. It must be possible to shift purchasing behavior forward this way. We do that by giving discounts at the start of the week that are no longer there on Black Friday itself", he said to Trouw. "Then we have won a week and we get our own Dutch Black Friday, at a pleasant distance from Sinterklaas."
