A somber Black Friday ahead amid widespread industry supply crisis

Imported from the U.S. ten years ago, it did not take long for Black Friday to become the biggest shopping day of the Brazilian calendar. Outstripping Christmas, Mother’s Day and Brazil’s Valentines Day equivalent “Sweethearts Day,” sales for Black Friday 2019 rose 23.8 percent in comparison to the previous year, hitting a stunning BRL 3.2 billion (USD 555 million) — that, despite the fact Brazil has no Thanksgiving tradition, to which Black Friday is tied.

But expectations for Black Friday 2020 are desperately low. Months of economic stoppage during the Covid-19 pandemic have brought many retailers to their knees, almost half of families have less disposable income than they had this time last year, according to consultancy firm GfK.

With the continuous devaluation...