On your marks, get set, click! Black Friday is coming at the end of this month and you’ll need to be quick to bag the best bargains, as David Crookes explains
What is Black Friday?
Black Friday is traditionally the day after Thanksgiving in the United States and it has come to be seen as the start of the Christmas shopping season. It’s a fairly recent trend that only began in the early 2000s, but it has rapidly become one of the busiest days of the year for retailers, thanks to the huge discounts on offer and the large number of people who take advantage of the bargains.
Why should this interest us Brits?
Well, like Halloween, which has arguably become even more popular than Bonfire Night in the UK this is another tradition that has crossed the Atlantic. It was imported by Amazon in 2010 following complaints by internet shoppers that customers in the States were benefiting from better deals. Since then, other retailers have jumped on the bandwagon and it’s now firmly established as part of the British shopping calendar.
What's so black about it?
The origin of the phrase is unclear. Some believe the term Black Friday was created by police in Philadelphia, who were overburdened by the sheer number of people visiting the city on that day. Others think it signifies the big profits made by shops, which lifted them out of debt and “into the black”. Today, it may mark the dark days of people fighting over cheap televisions in Asda!
Ah, yes, the mad scramble: will that happen again?
Most likely. Black Friday will take place on 27 November this year and all indications are that high-street stores are gearing up for yet another mad rush. If you want to avoid receiving or inflicting injuries in the name of discounts, it’s a lot wiser to spend your Black Friday online. Indeed, as soon as last year’s Black Friday had finished, Amazon invited people to come back this November (bit.ly/blackamazon383). It’s no doubt looking for another healthy slice of the £810m spent during last year’s frenzy - £200m of which was spent online.
Wow. What sort of bargains can I expect?
At this stage, we can only guess what the potential goodies on offer might be, but past bargains have included Apple knocking £20 off iPads and £80 off Macs; the price of Amazon Fire tablets being slashed by a third; and Motorola offering £100 off its Moto X smartphone. Last year, John Lewis had loads of technology and electrical discounts, and supermarkets were shifting 130 cheap tellies every second, according to figures. You can expect around 20 per cent or more off cameras, headphones, laptops and smartwatches, among other items.
Are the bargains genuine?
As with any sale, some items are good value and some are not. Both high-street and online shops will be shifting stock they need to get rid of and selling inexpensive yet attractive items just to get people interested. For example, last year, people went mad for £249 Blaupunkt televisions, which it’s fair to say were not of the highest quality. More to the point, the non-sale price of the TVs wasn’t much more expensive than that anyway. So the best advice is to stick to items that you would have been tempted to buy at full price.
Which companies will be involved?
After last year’s record-breaking sales, we can expect more retailers than ever to offer cut-price goods. But the stalwarts will include PC World, Argos, Boots, Game, Amazon, John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Asda and Debenhams. We expect to see discounts from Selfridges, B&Q, Next and House of Fraser, too. But you should start planning now if you want to save some cash. It’s going to be busy!
Will the websites be able to cope?
Last year, quite a number didn’t, even though they had systems in place to ease congestion. The web traffic of some retailers tripled in comparison to Black Friday in 2013, which was unprecedented and caught retailers by surprise.
Amazon fared well by offering Lightning Deals that were advertised for just 90 minutes, but Argos repeatedly warned of a “very high volume of visitors” and Curry’s apologised for long waits, even though both stores had tried to implement a queuing system. Topshop, Net-a-Porter, Very and Game also suffered website outages and Twitter was ablaze with angry people who had been denied their ‘right to shop’.
It’s all just a bit of fun, though, isn’t it?
Of course. It’s just that the high-street scuffles can get a bit out of hand. Last year, police were called, shoppers were injured and some people refused to believe the items they wanted were sold out and staged in-store protests. This time around, Andy Street, the managing director of John Lewis, has called on retailers to use common sense – he wants them to concentrate on electrical goods so that people who are only after fashion and homeware bargains don’t swamp websites and stores. We’re likely to see some squabbles, though.
Could Black Friday ever be banned?
That will depend on how chaotic things become. The police are not entirely happy that Black Friday is back this year and some MPs have actually gone as far as calling for a ban. Greg Mulholland, the Liberal Democrat MP for Leeds North West, said the police had enough to do as it was. But some feel the main problem was retailers offering on-thehoof discounts on items for fear of losing custom, which made the potential for savings even more significant and whipped up the frenzy.
Will I get my Black Friday stuff in time for Christmas?
You shouldn’t have any problems. Delivery companies are already making plans, and Yodel has announced that it’s taking on 7,000 more people ahead of the Christmas period. That said, the executive chairman of Yodel, Dick Stead, forecasts four times as many people going online this year to buy items, while digital consultancy Salmon predicts an online growth of 17.6 per cent. Black Friday 2015 looks set to break the £1bn sales barrier for the first time.
OTHER DISCOUNT SHOPPING DAYS
Small Business Saturday
This event (www.smallbusinesssaturdayuk.com) takes place two days after Thanksgiving. It was set up by American Express in 2010 and arrived on British shores in 2013. As the name suggests, the idea is that people are encouraged to buy their wares from local businesses rather than large chains. In doing so, it is hoped shoppers spread some pre-Christmas joy to smaller traders.
Cyber Monday
Cyber Monday was created in America in 2005 and refers to the Monday after Thanksgiving. Although there are many discounts online for Black Friday, this extra day gives internet retailers yet another boost – and it appears to work. Some stores deliberately hold back further special offers, so Cyber Monday has become the busiest online shopping day of the year.
Green Tuesday
On and on it goes. Even the organisers behind Green Tuesday (www.greentuesday.org) admit that shoppers may well roll their eyes at yet another retail holiday, but this day – which falls the day after Cyber Monday – also encourages people to spend money in the local community. It emphasises organic and environmentally-friendly items, but this day hasn’t quite made it to the UK – not yet, at least.