Columbus Day or the history of sales

Columbus Day is celebrated in the USA today - a holiday in honor of the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. And although the reason for the holiday is largely doubtful (after all, the arrival of Columbus led to the disappearance of most of the indigenous peoples of the mainland), on this day sales are held in many US stores. Today we will tell who and when came up with the first sales and whether they are really beneficial to customers.

How it all began

In fact, sales exist as much as the trade itself exists. Merchants have always been profitable to get rid of stale goods, reducing the price. According to one of the patriotic legends, the first organized sales came up in Russia. Once, a raisin merchant approached a Moscow merchant on the street and offered him to buy the remaining goods on the cheap. The merchant liked the idea and soon he hung the sign “Sale of leftovers at the cheapest prices” above his shop. As a result, success came to the merchant, the whole of Moscow picked up its opening, and one week in a year, starting on the first Sunday after Easter, was specially allocated for sales. According to one of the versions, it was after this that the expression “sweet remnants” appeared in Russian.
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"The Fifth King"

Anyway, not the unknown Russian merchant, but the American seller and businessman Frank Woolworth, who lived at the turn of the XIX and XX centuries, was the ancestor of sales in history.



As a young man, Frank worked as a salesman in a small store in one of the towns of the state of Pennsylvania (by the way, it is in this state that the first warehouse will appear in almost a century and a half by Post ). Frank was a shy and silent guy, which practically put an end to his career as a salesman. The fact is that in those days the price of goods in stores was not indicated. Price lists simply did not exist. The seller had to evaluate the client’s solvency “by eye” and on this basis call the price. Bargaining has always been appropriate. The success of the entire business depended largely on the seller’s vision. Therefore, the store owner was dissatisfied with the shy behavior of his silent worker and once set a condition for him - Frank had to trade for one day on his own, and if the proceeds are less than normal daily, the owner will fire him.

On this day, the price tag and sales were invented. Frank attached a piece of paper to all the goods with the lowest possible price, laid out all the stale goods on the table with a sign "All five cents", and buyers were able to independently take and view the goods. His calculation was correct - on this day, the store's revenue did not reach the weekly level a bit, and Frank himself quit and opened his own store.

Further history of Frank Woolworth is the personification of the American dream. He opened a whole chain of stores that always had 5 cents worth of goods (some shops were called Five Cent Market).



Woolworth constantly arranged sales as soon as he noticed that the demand for a certain product had fallen. All goods in his stores had a price tag and lay on the shelves, and the buyer was free to choose and consider any of them. He placed on the windows products with price tags, changing products every two weeks, and the windows themselves began to decorate for the holidays. As a result, Frank Woolworth was nicknamed “The Fifty King,” made a huge fortune, built his own skyscraper in Manhattan, and discounts and sales became a regular sales tool around the world.

Sales go online

With the advent of online stores, promotions, special offers and sales went online. Online trading is growing every year, with the increasing number of bankruptcies of traditional retailers.

Last year, 88% of Russian consumers surveyed online said that they made a purchase at least once in an online store. The popularity of online shopping is understandable - it saves time and gives you the opportunity to study the characteristics of goods. It is believed that the Internet can be bought at better prices, as well as easier to find new and rare products.

E-commerce has launched a new global sales. Created in 2005 in the United States, Cyber ​​Monday (Cyber ​​Monday) is becoming more and more popular every year.



Internet marketers sometimes dishonestly (and sometimes simply illiterately) use buyers' love of discounts and sales. Thus, the annual sale of 11.11 from AliExpress because of frauds with pricing was called the Day of fake discounts. Amazon Prime Day, which appeared 2 years ago, also did not win much love because of a strange selection of promotional items: Amazon owners of premium accounts were offered to purchase a device for lip augmentation at home, a means to accelerate facial hair growth, as well as a 10 cent discount. on Sony Playstation 4.

Who benefits from sales

So why do sellers need sales? What is the point of selling, for example, appliances and electronics by 10%, 20%, 50% cheaper? After all, logistics and customs do not make special offers to sellers, the costs for them remain unchanged. Let's try to figure it out.

First of all, sales give stores the opportunity to increase sales and market share. Mass discounts allow you to avoid seasonal drawdown of demand, get rid of unpopular goods, attract new audiences and get working capital. After all, for companies not only marginality is important, but also the influx of money.

Today, sales have become so massive that they can not be ignored by any serious player in the e-commerce market. If the store is not involved in the sale - it just loses the traffic and money that goes to competitors, experts say .



Promotions and sales allow you to attract customers without significant marketing and advertising costs. Therefore, the price reduction is partly compensated by the minimum cost of attracting a client. Also discounts can be compensated by the brands themselves. Large sellers have bonuses on sales, so sometimes the store can sell goods at almost the cost price, but after that, they receive bonuses and discounts from the manufacturer for subsequent shipments of goods.

Of course, unscrupulous stores can arrange fake discounts or raise prices before the sale:



Nevertheless, with a competent assortment of goods that fall under the discount, everyone benefits from sales - buyers save and receive the desired goods, the seller increases sales and turnover. Therefore, in many respects sales is a win-win situation, but nevertheless, the buyer should analyze the benefits of the purchase and not go blindly in the direction of marketers.

What do we advise?

Participate in sales in foreign stores, while it is really profitable. Soon, Russia may impose a duty on all overseas parcels more than € 20. At the end of the year, stores in the United States traditionally offer the biggest discounts and, perhaps, for Russians, this is the last chance to participate in sales on favorable terms.

What do we have to do?

1. Register on the site by mail, enter the code GEEKTIMES and get $ 7 to your account. In your account, find out the virtual address for your purchases in the USA.

2. Follow our sales calendar. Now in the USA they celebrate Columbus Day, and at the end of the month I will celebrate Halloween. Discounts are already available and appear in many online stores:

• Gadgets, appliances, electronics and other products in the Buydig store - up to 80% discount
• Dell computers and accessories - up to 20% off
• Discounts on snowboards, skis and winter goods in the Rei store - up to 50%
• Brand clothing store 6pm - up to 60% off at Asics, up to 70% at PUMA, up to 60% at New Balance.
• Reebok Store - up to 35% off (promotional code FALL)

3. Buy and track how your parcel is sent to our warehouse, and then - straight to you.
4. PROFIT!