Even funeral services join new Black Friday frenzy across Greece (video)

The business world’s “Black Friday” hype has now begun to engulf Greek consumers, who are eager to take advantage of the special sales offered annually by retailers, according to greekreporter.com.

The Black Friday phenomenon started in the United States, as the day after Thanksgiving gradually became the official first day of shopping for the Christmas season. It received its name from the fact that sales from this one day alone allowed retailers to go “into the black,” or make a profit, for the entire year.

Introduced to Greek consumers in 2015, with mainly electronics stores jumping on the bandwagon, just four years later it has turned into an annual event for most retailers in the country.

Coffee bars, souvlaki restaurants — and even a funeral service — are now offering discounts on this day, devoted to shopping until you drop.

The funeral home Boukouras, based in the city of Thessaloniki, is continuing its participation on Black Friday for a third year, promising up to an 80 percent discount on selected coffins.

This new annual event, nevertheless, is a bit overshadowed by the notorious use of hyperbole with which Greek retailers and businessmen usually conduct their affairs.

Greek retailers now use the event as an excuse to get rid of older models, dropping their price by an average of 20% to 30%.

That’s almost identical to the rate offered by online retailers all through the year – especially in the electronics sector. To be fair, burdened by a crisis-driven drop in profits, most retailers in Greece are justifiably desperate for a break, even via hyped-up Black Friday sales.

However, with zero background in this annual event and no established rules concerning sales, all the Black Friday-related media promotion and frenzy in Greece can appear to be a bit misleading, to say the least.

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations, Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report

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