Black Friday is not postponed in Belgium. The country initially wanted to follow the example of France, but now sees no reason to do so: the retailers did not like it.

In France, at the request of the Minister of Economy, Bruno Le Maire, the traders decided to postpone Black Friday for a week: this year, the buying festival will take place not on 27 November – as in the rest of the world – but on 4 December. Even Amazon has already agreed to abide by that.

With the delay, France also wants to give the physical traders the opportunity to prepare themselves and participate in the buying day. The trade associations have agreed that, in exchange, all physical shops – including the non-essential trade cases which are now obliged to close – will be allowed to open again from 27 November.

However, this decision will also affect border shopping in Belgium: on the one hand, French consumers may order more online in our country if there are bargains here on 27 november, while an earlier reopening of the physical shops in France may also trigger a reverse movement. It is therefore not surprising that the question was also discussed at the Council of Ministers of the Belgian federal government.

The Council of ministers was initially inclined to follow the French example: competent deputy prime minister Pierre-Yves Dermagne hoped to reach a similar decision, reported The Standard Friday afternoon. To this end, the deputy prime minister would first contact the ‘big players in online sales’. In the meantime, it has become clear that the retail sector is not in favour of a postponement.

The main question was, by the way, when Black Friday could be postponed, because it is not yet clear when the physical shops in Belgium will be allowed to open again. In any case, the pressure from the trade federations is increasing: they demand the rapid reopening of the shops as well as shopping by appointment and additional financial support.