I’m sure you all know that Black Friday traditionally marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season in the US. Well, nowadays big retailers are starting to promote Black Friday sales more than a week in advance. But that’s not the point of this post.

The point is that Black Friday (Nov. 27th) and Cyber Monday (Nov. 30th) are definitely useful dates to keep in mind.

Why?

Simple – in 2008, the Black Friday weekend brought along an 18% increase on the total spending in the US compared to the year before, which, given the context of the economic downturn, was a more than good figure. Other reports show a 15% increase in Cyber Monday online sales, with only 1% increase in Black Friday sales compared to the previous year. Either way, sales went up.