How to survive Black Friday
Black Friday is looming large – and retailers are after your cash. Here’s how to keep your wits about you
IT’S almost that time again – that delirious day when bargain hunters roll up their sleeves and prepare to go into battle. Cue queues snaking out of packed malls and gridlocked traffic in car parks as shoppers jostle for the best discounts. Yes, Black Friday is almost upon us. Judging by the mass hysteria caused by this day of deals, it’s hard to believe the phenomenon didn’t exist in South Africa until a few years ago. But we’ve now embraced it lock, stock and smoking wallet, poised with quivering credit card to snap up to-die-for deals.
Held on the fourth Friday in November – the day after the US holiday of Thanksgiving – Black Friday is regarded as the unofficial opening of the festive shopping season.
The number of transactions on this heady day of spending has doubled every year for the past three years and is expected to grow by 30% this year.
TOP SHOPPING
If Black Friday, which falls on 29 November this year, is anything like last year, South Africans will be buying a lot of coffee, detergent and disposable nappies.
Coffee sales rose by 77% in the week leading up to and including Black Friday last year, compared with month-end weeks from August to October. Detergents showed a 50% growth compared with the same period and nappies a 40% leap, according to research firm Nielsen.
Not so popular were everyday items such as bread, chicken and sugar, while vitamins, supplements and deodorants are generally Black Friday flops.
A survey by South African tech website MyBroadband.co.za shows computer hardware and electronics were the most popular purchases last year and television sets were particularly sought-after.
TV sales increased by 66% last year compared with Black Friday 2017, according to data from local consumer research house GfK South Africa. More than 93 000 sets were sold last year.
NOT JUST ONE DAY
Some retailers host sales well beyond Black Friday, morphing the day into what consumer experts refer to as Black November.
Advance notice on the deals and discounts being offered vary from retailer to retailer. Some allow customers a sneak peek at offers a week in advance, others release their catalogues the previous day while many online retailers keep all their special offers locked until a minute past midnight on the big day.
Makro has confirmed its Black Friday event will take place over five days, with the sale dubbed Black 5 Day. Other stores – such as Game – have confirmed they’ll open certain stores at midnight and other outlets at 6am.
DRIVEN BY RECESSION
The surge in spending on Black Friday in South Africa seems primarily due to the punishing economic climate, with cash
strapped consumers desperate for discounts in the face of rising fuel, utility and food prices.
A Nielsen survey shows South Africa is home to the third-most discount-obsessed consumers in the world – only shoppers in the United Arab Emirates and Australia are more bargain-bonkers than us.
This trend doesn’t surprise Nielsen Connect South Africa’s managing director, Kerith Botha.
“Financial strain has led to consumers seeking financial relief and the first casualty of their desire to ease the strain is discretionary spending,” Botha says.
“Unfortunately this ‘money’s too tight to mention’ scenario has also seen South African shoppers prone to severe cases of promo Fomo [ fear of missing out].”
In other words, if they don’t jump on the Black Friday bandwagon and buy up those bargains, their fear of missing out will be extreme.