Black Friday can be one of two things – a huge adrenaline rush, or a massive trigger for anxiety. Either way, if you do choose to go the in store route to get your hands on the best sales you can find, you should be prepared for a number of challenges that might come your way.
Act quickly
It sounds obvious, but you won’t believe how many people do this. If you are going to take advantage of a Black Friday sale, go on the Friday! Waiting until Saturday could bring you significant disappointment, as stock moves quickly over Black Friday weekend, and the chances of having to leave empty-handed are high. Other than the obvious stock issue, we find ourselves in a very different world to years gone by. Social distancing and limiting the number of people is very much still with us, so the earlier you get there, the earlier you can leave and avoid the crowds.
Research is king
Although Black Friday is undeniably changing to meet the needs of consumers, there is no doubt that the original mindset persists – getting the best deal in the best time, for the best price. To make up for the lack of footfall in stores, many retailers have started moving their Black Friday offerings online and are pushing online sales as a great alternative to in-store shopping.
When you shop though, remember that anyone can put a yellow sticker on something and call it a sale. If you think about it, the value of many items is a seasonal thing, and there might be another time of the year when they will be discounted by even more. As a rule, despite the best marketing efforts, the most significant discounts take place after Christmas, not a month before!
You’ve got mail
A lot of companies are promoting their email list to start tempting buyer even in the period leading up to the main event. Use these mails to your advantage – start early by creating a shopping list of items you would be interested in buying and start doing price comparisons as early on as possible. Blindly shopping with no direction is a guaranteed way of leading yourself into impulse buying and spending your hard-earned money on things you don’t need.
Another benefit of signing up for email updates, is that many of your favourite stores or brands will try to reel people in through “subscribers only”” specials, that are reserved for those who get the emails. Additional coupons, shopping hacks and other bonuses are often sent via email, so for the best possible deal, sign up as soon as possible to take advantage of VIP deals! Don’t disregard the humble SMS either – a lot of spot discounts, secret releases and discount codes can be released straight to the phones of those who subscribe to this service. As always though, make sure that you are not buying things that you don’t need or would never use!
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