DEAL ME OUT OF BLACK FRIDAY
HOW was your Black Friday? Is there a shiny new widescreen TV on your living room wall? Is supper bubbling away in a cut-price slow cooker?
I don’t think I have ever been less excited about a Black Friday as I was about this one.
And that is saying something given that this time last year we couldn’t even go to the shops, let alone bag a bargain.
Then again, I can’t remember the last time I went on a realworld retail therapy binge. My weekly ‘big shops’ at Lidl and Aldi don’t count.
It also occurred to me recently that, beyond food and unavoidable household purchases, I can’t remember the last time I actually paid full price for anything. I even buy my wine in a ‘Mix six’ at Majestic ‘cos they knock a few quid off.
My desire for a discount is not new. I got it from my momma, as the kids say. She’ll buy anything that’s marked down. Last year she bought an escalator.
An old joke, I know. But she definitely raised me to always feel like I am getting value for money, whether I am buying three boxes of cat food for the price of two or a Balmain biker jacket with £100 off.
Just this week she rang me to check if I knew they were selling Mulberry handbags in our local TK Maxx for a fraction of the RRP.
Now that I do almost all of my clothes shopping online – a decision driven largely by lack of choice on the real-world high street – looking for reductions is second nature.
Sitting at my laptop or scrolling through my phone, I don’t only have a dozen or so shops in which to find the perfect pair of jeans or that little black party dress, I have stores around the world to choose from.
There’s always a sale on somewhere. You could say every Monday’s a Cyber Monday in my house.
In recent months I have had clothes arrive on my doorstep from Paris, Milan and Los Angeles.
Word of warning, a great discount might not be quite so great when you add international postage to it.
Discounts are without doubt a big draw for consumers. So much so that some online fashion giants – household names among them – appear to be perpetually in ‘sale’ mode with a price in red next to every listing on their sites.
These stores know that we are hardwired to see the red colour and be drawn to it, while studies have shown that words like “sale”, “deal” and “bargain” trigger a reward reaction in our brains.
The trick is ensuring your reward doesn’t morph into remorse. Remember, if you wouldn’t buy it full price, don’t get it just because it has been reduced.
This Christmas shopping season make sure it’s not a case of buy now, pain later.
SUPERMARKET ranges have been getting better and better in recent years as they take their cues from the catwalks.
But if you’re scouring the rails at your local Asda this weekend and spot something that looks a little Gucci-esque you may want to take a closer look at the label.
To tie in with the highly anticipated release of Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci – which I can’t wait to see – George at Asda has hidden a host of pre-loved Gucci buys across their stores.
Yes you read that right. You could pick up a genuine piece of designer fashion for as little as £12. The only catch is no-one knows which supermarkets they are in.
A quick Google search reveals there are just over 600 Asda stores in the UK.
I think I might need a few days off work....