For most retailers, Black Friday is a big deal. In 2014, over 133 million people hit the shops on the day, spending an average of $380.95 each. But outdoor retailer REI has had enough, closing its 143 stores for the retail event and encouraging customers and employees alike to go outside.

Black Friday – a day of flash sales after Thanksgiving designed to kick-start Christmas shopping – is a shopping phenomenon in the US. And despite being intrinsically linked with an American holiday, it’s gaining traction across Europe. But can the Black Friday madness extend to China?

Christmas seems to come earlier every year – or at least the marketing and advertising frenzy that precedes it. Festive madness is becoming even more all-conquering since the arrival of Black Friday in the UK, but how has the way Brits shop and think about Christmas changed?

No longer do we eagerly await the summer sale. Thanks to daily deals websites, online vouchers, and retailers’ desperation to sell, sell, sell, there's a sale nearly every day. But how does this permanent sale phenomenon affect the way people spend?