Amazon bows to French pressure to push back 'Black Friday' sales | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Tuesday
June 10, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 2025
Amazon bows to French pressure to push back 'Black Friday' sales

World+Biz

Reuters
20 November, 2020, 05:55 pm
Last modified: 20 November, 2020, 06:03 pm

Related News

  • Amazon launches its first internet satellites to compete against SpaceX's Starlinks
  • 'Amphibious mouse' among 27 new species discovered in Peru's Amazon
  • Amazon workers to strike at multiple US warehouses during busy holiday season
  • Amazon to donate $1 million to Trump inauguration
  • France's Macron seeks new prime minister as Barnier resigns

Amazon bows to French pressure to push back 'Black Friday' sales

“We have decided to delay the date of Black Friday if this can help shopkeepers reopen before Dec. 1,” Duval said on TF1 television on Thursday

Reuters
20 November, 2020, 05:55 pm
Last modified: 20 November, 2020, 06:03 pm
Amazon bows to French pressure to push back 'Black Friday' sales

Amazon has bowed to government pressure to postpone its "Black Friday" discount shopping sales in France to help local shopkeepers struggling with a nationwide lockdown.

The US retail giant has seen sales soar globally as restrictions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus sent consumers online, making it difficult for some bricks-and-mortar shops to compete.

To level the playing field, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire this week called on supermarkets and online retailers to postpone Black Friday, which runs from Nov. 27 to Nov. 29, as shops selling non-essential goods would have to remain closed during lockdown.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

Competition from Amazon first prompted European retailers to adopt the US tradition of making Black Friday - the day after US Thanksgiving - the kickoff to the holiday shopping season.

Amazon France Chief Executive Frederic Duval said on Thursday the company would push the event back to Dec. 4, joining other retailers such as European market leader Carrefour and France's Leclerc.

"We have decided to delay the date of Black Friday if this can help shopkeepers reopen before Dec. 1," Duval said on TF1 television on Thursday.

Amazon confirmed Duval's comments in an emailed statement, but did not respond to requests for further comment on Friday.

While helping to generate record profits, the coronavirus crisis has also triggered scrutiny of Amazon's efforts to protect staff from the pandemic, particularly in France, where a lengthy battle over safety measures led to the temporary closure of warehouses.

Amazon's ability to keep selling during the lockdown has also deepened frustration among opponents of the company in France who say it represents a US-style consumer culture at odds with the country's long tradition of mom-and-pop neighborhood stores.

Some 30,000 people have signed an online petition to boycott Amazon, according to its organiser, lawmaker Mathieu Orphelin, who left President Emmanuel Macron's party last year to set up a more environmentally focused party.

"A lot of people use our name to get noticed, but Amazon makes up only 1% of retail in France," Duval said, when asked on France Info radio on Friday how to explain negative sentiment against his company.

President Emmanuel Macron has said France's second national lockdown, which started on Oct. 30, would last at least four weeks. Curbs include the closure of non-essential stores, restaurants and bars.

But with recent data showing France on track to rein in a surge in coronavirus infections, the government is under pressure from shops and businesses to ease restrictions at the end of November in time for the Christmas shopping season, when many retailers make the bulk of their annual turnover.

Eager to keep shoppers from crowding stores to swoop on potential discounts, the finance ministry said on Thursday that a one-week delay in Black Friday sales would help ensure shops reopen in France under maximum safety conditions.

Top News

Amazon / French / pressure / Black Friday

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, right, shakes hands with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent before their meeting to discuss China-U.S. trade, in London, Monday, 9 June 2025. Photo: Xinhua via AP
    US and China in trade talks in London after Trump's phone call with Xi
  • Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus leaves for a four-day visit to the United Kingdom from the Dhaka airport on 9 June 2025. Photo: CA Press Wing
    CA Yunus leaves for UK; discussion expected on renewable energy investment, laundered money
  • Donald Trump. Photo: Reuters
    Trump defends sending National Guard to LA as California governor to sue administration

MOST VIEWED

  • On left, Abdullah Hil Rakib, former senior vice president (SVP) of BGMEA and additional managing director of Team Group; on right, Captain Md Saifuzzaman (Guddu), a Boeing 787 Dreamliner pilot for Biman Bangladesh Airlines. Photos: Collected
    Ex-BGMEA SVP Abdullah Hil Rakib, Biman 787 pilot Saifuzzaman drown in boating accident in Canada
  • A photo showing the former president on his return to Dhaka today (9 June). 
Source: Collected
    Former president Abdul Hamid returns to Bangladesh from Thailand
  • File photo of Eid holidaymakers returning to the capital from their country homes/Rajib Dhar
    Dhaka: The city we never want to return to, but always do
  • Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus leaves for a four-day visit to the United Kingdom from the Dhaka airport on 9 June 2025. Photo: CA Press Wing
    CA Yunus leaves for UK; discussion expected on renewable energy investment, laundered money
  • Inside the aid ship stormed by Israeli forces on 9 June 2025. Photo: BBC
    Israeli forces stormed aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg bound for Gaza: Freedom Flotilla Coalition
  • Enhanced surveillance at Ctg airport amid rising global Covid-19 cases
    Enhanced surveillance at Ctg airport amid rising global Covid-19 cases

Related News

  • Amazon launches its first internet satellites to compete against SpaceX's Starlinks
  • 'Amphibious mouse' among 27 new species discovered in Peru's Amazon
  • Amazon workers to strike at multiple US warehouses during busy holiday season
  • Amazon to donate $1 million to Trump inauguration
  • France's Macron seeks new prime minister as Barnier resigns

Features

File photo of Eid holidaymakers returning to the capital from their country homes/Rajib Dhar

Dhaka: The city we never want to return to, but always do

1d | Features
Photo collage shows political posters in Bagerhat. Photos: Jannatul Naym Pieal

From Sheikh Dynasty to sibling rivalry: Bagerhat signals a turning tide in local politics

2d | Bangladesh
Illustration: TBS

Unbearable weight of the white coat: The mental health crisis in our medical colleges

5d | Panorama
(From left) Sadia Haque, Sylvana Quader Sinha and Tasfia Tasbin. Sketch: TBS

Meet the women driving Bangladesh’s startup revolution

6d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

Khadi in a New Form Amid Various Crises in Fashion

Khadi in a New Form Amid Various Crises in Fashion

33m | TBS Stories
US and China to meet in London for trade talks

US and China to meet in London for trade talks

13h | TBS World
The forbidden point on Cox's Bazar beach is like a death trap

The forbidden point on Cox's Bazar beach is like a death trap

16h | TBS Today
Israeli forces seize Gaza aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg

Israeli forces seize Gaza aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg

17h | TBS World
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net