IT certainly was a black weekend!

This year, reports seem to suggest that instead of popping out to their local store to carry out their Black Friday Battle in the aisles, most shoppers stayed at home and shopped online. Amazon reported their busiest trading day ever, selling half a million items more than last year.

Black Friday was followed by Cyber Monday – when those browsing over the weekend decided to commit and buy and websites for other online retailers buckled under the strain resulting in customers expressing anxiety that delivery companies would struggle to cope with the increase in orders.

ASDA became the largest UK retailer to pull out of Black Friday mayhem citing ‘shopper fatigue’ around flash sales of high ticket items (ironic since their US parent company, Walmart is one of the biggest advocates of the US initiative) and many stores seem to have learned from last year and have extended their discounts over the entire week.

But alongside this shift to online trading there are signs of a consumer backlash and companies taking a more considered approach to their staff and customers.

In a concerted attempt to offer an alternative to the anonymity of buying online, booksellers in the UK launched ‘Civilised Saturday’ with bookshops offering cakes, Cava and coffee to entice customers to spend some quality time choosing their Christmas gifts.

Handmade Monday is a facebook initiative to try and support artisans, crafters and encouraging people to visit craft fairs instead, while ‘Buy Nothing Day’ aims to do exactly what it says on the tin – promote the idea of a day of spending abstinence: instead of spending money people should rather set aside a day when they spend time with their family and loved ones instead.

Small Business Saturday is another movement waiting to cross the Atlantic.

In addition to discounts and offers that small businesses make to their customers, American Express give their card holders $10 to spend in small shops.

Fair Tuesday is other initiative beginning to gain a foothold in America.

An attempt to promote ethically made and sustainably sourced goods – trying to raise the flag for Fairtrade on the back of a spending frenzy that elsewhere promotes profit above fair play and sustainability, while American Charities are trying to work together to inspire giving and volunteering with their aptly named Giving Tuesday. If companies can create a spending frenzy perhaps charities acting collectively can build on a spirit of Christmas generosity to encourage volunteering and donations.

My favourite Black Friday initiative this year was run by the clothing retailer, Fat Face. They asked their staff to choose a favourite local charity and then donated 10 per cent of everything people spent between Black Friday and Cyber Monday (up to £250,000) to those causes.

Brilliant.