Black Friday and Cyber Monday are two of the busiest shopping days of the year thanks to the significant discounts that are on offer to encourage customers looking to buy Christmas gifts. Over the years, you may have heard anecdotes of websites crashing from the deluge of visitors as well stories of physical altercations in-store as customers vie for remaining discounted products on shelves. The stories on the news channels typically move on to sales figures and the seasonality of sales for retailers who rely on custom at Christmas to break-even and make profit.
But the story doesn’t end there really, does it? It typically ends in landfill where many discarded presents meet their demise, not long after. A Green Alliance report, Building a Circular Economy, estimates that 80% of plastics, textiles and electronic goods would continue to go to landfill, incineration or low quality recycling under a business as usual scenario. The statistics for clothing are far worse: we know that less than 1% of clothes are recycled which means that over 99% ends up in landfill. In the process of completing these sales the emissions created by Black Friday are high too. Estimates suggest that the shopping activity in 2022 will generate 429,000 metric tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions from product deliveries alone, which is the equivalent of 435 return flights between London and New York.
This is clearly not sustainable and we therefore need to make a change. This means that rather than encouraging you to make unnecessary purchases via some discounts, we’re going to Take Back Friday from the Black Friday madness. How? Well, not to blow our own trumpets but we’re going to remind you about one of our best features: we’re circular! This means that we are strong believers in recycled fashion. This Take Back Friday, we are calling upon our customers to send back your old Pomp clothing so that it can be made into new recycled products, preventing waste. Customers who do this will be rewarded with store credit to spend on future purchases! If you are wondering how to send back your old Pomp products, the process could not be simpler. Simply follow the instructions on the QR code on the label inside your Pomp product.
To summarise #TakeBackFriday:
- Send back your old POMP clothing
- We will recycle your preloved garment into a new one
- To do this, just use the QR code on the label
- You'll be rewarded with store credit!
- But no Black Friday discounts.
And here are some more FAQs about all the seasonal shenanigans to help:
What is Black Friday?
Black Friday is the name given to the day (a Friday) after Thanksgiving, a national holiday in the United States. It is often described as the busiest day for retail businesses as it unofficially marks the start of the shopping season for Christmas. Retailers often open early and lure shoppers in-store with significant discounts, thus increasing sales volumes.
What is Cyber Monday?
Cyber Monday is the name given to the Monday after Thanksgiving to market the day as one for e-commerce and consequently to encourage people to shop online.
What is Take Back Friday?
Take Back Friday is the circular economy’s alternative approach to Black Friday. It involves customers sending back their old products in order to be recycled.
