The hidden cost of Black Friday.

Overall, purchases will increase by 139% compared to the previous week, and the most in-demand products will be: technology (phones and computers), cosmetics, and fashion, where discounts will reach up to 50%.

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This year the average spend of the Spanish population on Black Friday is expected to increase by 20% in comparison to 2020, with 180 euros per person. If we take into account the entire so-called “Black Week”, which runs from Black Friday to Cyber Monday, average spending per consumer is expected to rise to 270 euros.

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Overall, purchases will increase by 139% compared to the previous week, and the most in-demand products will be: technology (phones and computers), cosmetics, and fashion, where discounts will reach up to 50%. It is estimated that 13 million Spanish adults will be shopping on Black Friday.

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However, there are many brands that have announced that they will not participate in Black Friday. Some of them will even increase their prices to donate extra margins to social and environmental causes.  

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Black Friday encourages excessive and unnecessary consumption, which is detrimental for many reasons:

• Reduced margins do not allow companies to pay fair prices to suppliers. If prices are too low, products will be of poor quality, so they cannot be repaired or recycled.
• Over-consumption creates huge amounts of waste. If something is bought on impulse, it is likely to have a reduced lifespan.
• In addition, brands cannot anticipate this increased consumption, leading to excess production that will not be sold and will end up in landfills.
• The environmental cost of returns.  In fact, the return of one package has an average footprint of 3.68 kg of CO2.

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To raise awareness of what this day of mass consumption entails, at Dcycle we have created the Black Friday Translator. The website shows in real-time the CO2 eq. emissions generated by Black Friday in Spain.

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We understand sustainability through data and technology. That’s why we have managed to extract and connect the real impact of the most demanded categories, translating it into everyday consumer products.

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Let’s make impact transparency shape the shopping habits of the future.

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