The Paradox of Black Friday Sales: Balancing Commercial Opportunity with Sustainability Imperatives
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Author: Henriette Defries, Co-Founder and Localization Expert.
(Keep scrolling for Henriette's original, Danish blog post. The English version has been directly translated, not localized. Except the title.)
If you feel torn between matching your competitors' crazy offers or sticking to your principles against overconsumption, you are far from alone. Many companies grapple with these considerations in the months leading up to Black Friday.
In today's blog post, you can gain insight into the advantages and disadvantages of running a Black Friday campaign as a company in the EU.
The benefits of Black Friday campaigns for businesses
There are, of course, numerous advantages to offering your customers significant discounts and exclusive deals.
Increased revenue is a decisive factor
We might as well take the bull by the horns and talk about the biggest motivation for running Black Friday campaigns. That is, of course, increased revenue.
Companies in the EU generated an incredible €887 billion in sales on Black Friday last year. So even though most self-respecting companies in 2025 will be sustainable and comply with green EU legislation such as ESPR, CSRD, EU Circular Economy Action Plan, European Climate Law and Paris Agreement, we can see from the figures that the prospect of covering a large percentage of the year's budget still carries the most weight.
The average European consumer spends €277 on Black Friday.
That corresponds to just over 2000 kroner. Per person. In one day.
Consumers love it when you run Black Friday campaigns, and your business can generate huge sales by introducing Black Friday, which many companies run throughout November.
Empty your inventory
One of the more innocent advantages of selling your products at a reduced price in November and on Black Friday is that you can clear out old product collections and remaining stock. In fact, you can use it as a green initiative because you are selling off rather than destroying fast fashion. But of course, there has to be some thought behind the action before you can take real credit—because if you generally have a huge stock of surplus goods, then the setup is probably not that sustainable, but rather encourages overconsumption.
Raise awareness of green initiatives
You can actually use this opportunity to highlight the climate-friendly initiatives your company is implementing. These could include environmentally friendly delivery options, for example. Last year, over 50% of Black Friday consumers chose to purchase climate-smart delivery options.
This reflects two things. Consumers want to shop in a more climate-friendly way. You can use this opportunity to show them that they can do so at your company. Environmentally friendly delivery options cover services such as fossil-free and climate-reducing delivery methods.
The disadvantages for businesses of holding Black Friday
The disadvantages of boycotting everything related to Black Friday are, of course, obvious. Your business will miss out on the revenue that Black Friday campaigns undoubtedly bring.
Unless your consumers are primarily focused on sustainable trade, they will most likely expect your company to run Black Friday offers. Here, a tip could be to tell them directly that you are not participating in Black Friday. And then you should share the reason if you want to establish credibility and loyalty.
Although there is a general perception that young Danes are much more climate-conscious than older generations, a study has actually shown that 82% of young Danes between the ages of 18 and 29 planned to shop on Black Friday 2023. So you risk missing out on many young customers.
Finally, I would like to mention that you are missing out on an obvious marketing opportunity by not offering Black Friday deals. However, you can still use this to your advantage if you clearly explain why your company has not jumped on the Black Friday bandwagon.
The future of Black Friday in Denmark
Based on last year's data and the general trend since Black Friday became a phenomenon in Denmark a few years ago, there is no indication that consumers intend to break the pattern.
The e-commerce sector in Europe generated €887 billion in revenue in 2024. This represented a 3% increase compared to 2023. All data confirms that companies across the EU earn significantly more in November as a direct result of Black Friday campaigns.
Customers love good deals and getting all their Christmas shopping and bulk purchases done in November. Last year, there were 39% more payments via MobilePay compared to 2023. Not only is it tempting to jump on a good deal, it is also extremely easy to spend a lot of money quickly.
Consumption skyrocketed in November, and we are clearly unable to control our own overconsumption.
Why should this year be any different?
Henriette's article was originally written in her native language, Danish:
Fordele og ulemper ved at holde Black Friday-tilbud
Hvis du føler dig splittet over enten at skulle matche konkurrenternes vilde tilbud eller holde fast i princippet mod overforbrug, så er du langt fra alene. Mange virksomheder sidder med disse overvejelser månederne op til Black Friday.
I dagens blogindlæg kan du få indsigt i fordelene og ulemperne ved at køre Black Friday-kampagne som virksomhed i EU.
En virksomheds fordele ved Black Friday-kampagner
Der er selvfølgelig en lang række fordele ved at give dine kunder vilde rabatter og eksklusive tilbud.
Øget omsætning er en afgørende faktor
Vi kan lige så godt tage tyren ved hornene og snakke om den største motivator for at gennemføre Black Friday-kampagner. Det er naturligvis den øgede omsætning.
Virksomheder i EU omsatte for vanvittige €887 milliarder på Black Friday sidste år.
Så selvom de fleste virksomheder med respekt for sig selv i 2025 er bæredygtige og følger grønne EU-vedtag såsom ESPR, CSRD, EU Circular Economy Action Plan, European Climate Law og Paris-aftalen, så kan vi se på tallene, at udsigten til at få dækket en stor procentdel af årets budget alligevel vægter højest.
Den gennemsnitlige europæiske forbruger bruger €277 på Black Friday.
Det svarer til lidt over 2000 kroner. Pr. person. På én dag.
Forbrugerne elsker, når du kører Black Friday-kampagner og din virksomhed kan omsætte for enorme beløb ved at indføre Black Friday, som mange jo kører henover hele november.
Tøm dit lager
En af de mere uskyldige fordele ved at sælge dine produkter til nedsat pris i november og til Black Friday er, at du kan tømme ud i gamle varekollektioner og restkollektioner.
Faktisk kan du bruge det som grønt initiativ, fordi du sælger ud og ikke destruerer fast fashion. Men der skal selvfølgelig være tanke bag handlingen, før du kan tage ægte credit - for hvis du generelt har et kæmpe lager af overskudsvarer, så er setuppet nok ikke så bæredygtigt men derimod opfordrer det til overforbrug.
Gør opmærksom på grønne tiltag
Du kan faktisk benytte lejligheden til at oplyse om de klimavenlige tiltag, din virksomhed gennemfører. Det kan fx være miljøvenlige leveringsmuligheder. SIdste år valgte over 50 % af Black Friday-forbrugerne at tilkøbe klimasmarte leveringsmuligheder.
Det reflekterer to ting. Forbrugerne vil gerne shoppe klimavenligere. Og du kan bruge den mulighed for at vise dem, at de kan gøre det hos din virksomhed. Miljøvenlige leveringsmuligheder dækker over services som fx fossilfrit og klimareducerende leveringsmetoder.
En virksomheds ulemper ved at holde Black Friday
Ulemperne ved at boycotte alt, der har med Black Friday at gøre, er selvfølgelig til at føle på. For din virksomhed går glip af den omsætning, Black Friday-kampagner utvivlsomt medbringer.
Med mindre dine forbrugere primært er fokuseret på bæredygtig handel, så vil de højst sandsynlig forvente, at din virksomhed kører Black Friday-tilbud. Her kan et tip være at fortælle dem direkte, at I ikke holder Black Friday. Og så bør du dele årsagen, hvis du vil etablere troværdighed og loyalitet.
Selvom der er en generel opfattelse af, at de danske unge er markant mere klimabevidste end generationerne over, så har en undersøgelse faktisk vist, at 82 % af unge danskere mellem 18-29 år planlagde at handle på Black Friday 2023. Så du risikerer at gå glip af mange kunder i det yngste segment.
Og til slut kan jeg nævne, at det er en oplagt marketingsmulighed, du går glip af ved at undlade Black Friday-tilbud. Men du kan alligevel udnytte det til din fordel, hvis du direkte italesætter, hvorfor din virksomhed ikke er hoppet med på Black Friday-bølgen.
Fremtiden for Black Friday i Danmark
Ud fra sidste års data og den generelle trend, siden Black Friday blev et fænomen i Danmark for en håndfuld år siden, så tyder intet på, at forbrugerne har tænkt sig at stoppe mønstret.
E-handelssektoren i Europa genererede €887 milliarder i omsætning i 2024. Det var en vækst på 3 % i forhold til 2023. Al data bekræfter, at virksomhederne på tværs af EU tjener markant mere i november som et direkte resultat af Black Friday-kampagner.
Kunderne elsker gode tilbud og at få klaret alle juleindkøbene og storindkøbene i november. Sidste år var der 39 % flere betalinger via MobilePay i forhold til 2023. Det er ikke bare fristende at slå til ved et godt tilbud, det er også ekstremt nemt at bruge mange penge meget hurtigt.
Forbruget er stukket af i november, og vi kan åbenbart ikke styre vores overforbrug.
Hvorfor skulle det være anderledes i år?
Afsluttende bemærkninger og kilder
For at skrive denne artikel har jeg researchet godt og grundigt for at kunne give dig den mest opdaterede data og viden.
Her er en liste over de mest relevante kilder, som jeg kan anbefale at læse, hvis du vil vide mere om fx de forskellige EU-vedtægter, jeg har nævnt i artiklen samt den data, jeg har taget udgangspunkt i:
Andre kilder:
- https://www.danskindustri.dk/brancher/di-handel/nyhedsarkiv/nyheder/2023/11/black-friday-2023-flere-danskere-vil-bruge-flere-penge/
- https://commission.europa.eu/business-economy-euro/doing-business-eu/sustainability-due-diligence-responsible-business/corporate-sustainability-due-diligence_en
- https://www.dataiads.io/en/blog/tendances-e-commerce-2024-innovations-cles-et-previsions-pour-2025
- https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2024/11/29/black-friday-and-cyber-monday-which-european-countries-spend-the-most-and-on-what
- https://www.radial.com/eur/insights/understanding-black-friday-2024-european-market-trends-and-challenges
- https://www.global-e.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/The-Global-E-commerce-Market-Black-Friday-Cyber-Monday-2024-Report.pdf
- https://www.ingrid.com/blog/black-friday-insights-2024
- https://www.criteo.com/blog/2024-black-friday-recap-sales-trends-from-around-the-globe/
- https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-euro-indicators/w/4-09012025-ap