A possible postponement of Black Friday is becoming clearer.
Defended by the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, Wednesday in the Senate, the idea that this flagship promotional operation, a few weeks before Christmas, should be postponed, receives the support of important players in the trade in France.
Read also: Stores: a health protocol to reopen from November 27
In a message posted on Twitter, the president of the Leclerc rally, Michel-Édouard Leclerc, explained that “a
proposal [was] made to be able to open the stores on November 28, in return for postponing operations planned for Black Friday.
E.Leclerc members will rally to a collective approach that would go in this direction,
”wrote the businessman.
At the same time, the Carrefour group told Reuters it agreed to suspend its Black Friday-related operations from November 27 to 29.
Asked by us, Amazon France is delaying this Thursday.
The company explains "
take note
" of the comments made by the minister the day before.
"
As since the start of the epidemic, we take into account the evolution of the health context
," said the group, adding that it will "take a
position accordingly when the time comes
".
In a joint statement sent on Wednesday evening, the National Council of Shopping Centers (CNCC), the Confederation of Merchants of France (CDF), the National Federation of
Town
Centers "
Vitrines de France
" (FNCV), the French Federation of Associations of Merchants (FFAC) and the Merchants and Craftsmen of Metropolis of France (CAMF) for their part greeted the words of Bruno Le Maire.
"
The postponement of Black Friday [...] is a first step forward in the repair of these structural injustices that we have constantly denounced
", welcomed the professionals.
However, they stuck to their position by calling for a reopening of businesses on November 27, their "top
priority
".
A postponement to avoid crowds in the stores
For the executive, the postponement of Black Friday is justified by reasons linked to the epidemic: Bercy stressed, Wednesday, that it was "
not opportune
" for a promotional operation of this scale to be held between the 27 and November 29, “
taking into account the health situation
”.
This postponement would avoid "a monster crush in the stores", at a time when the executive is trying to regain control of the epidemic, confirmed a government source.
The authorities fear to see crowds gathering in the stores, while the overwhelming majority of sales linked to Black Friday (85%, or 5 billion euros) are made "
in physical
", in stores, against 15% only “
via platforms
” online, according to the Ministry of the Economy.
A meeting is underway at Bercy on the subject.
In particular, it brings together players from the Federation of Commerce and Distribution Companies (FCD) and the Federation of E-Commerce and Distance Selling (FEVAD).