Over the last decade or three, South Africa has increasingly taken on aspects of American culture and tradition. Some of these may be a little controversial, but others, like the “Black Friday” phenomenon, are welcome additions to our shopping calendar.
We may not celebrate Thanksgiving, but we definitely enjoy the idea of getting to shop crazy good deals from our favorite retailers!
Between Black Friday and Cyber Monday (An extension of Black Friday created by US marketers to specifically promote online sales) we can expect to enjoy some outstanding deals, slashed prices and a day or two of crazed shoppers!
The thing that’s really fuelled the South African Black Friday fever is our ever increasing move towards online shopping. With international companies like Amazon becoming more accessible than ever before, their South African counterparts (like Takealot, Zando, and Bid or Buy) have had to jump on the price-slash band wagon to keep up with customers expectations.
Shopping US Black Friday Deals
Thanks to the wonders of the internet, South Africans can get in on the overseas excitement by setting up accounts with online retailers like Amazon. The only drawback is that often the shipping costs are so drastic you can just as well pay full price back home.
Because of the shipping costs and import taxes, we usually reserve these purchases for “bigger” items, like computers, tech and even electric guitars, to make it worth the hassle.
If you’re buying downloadable content like music, apps, e-books, and software, though, you won’t have to worry about the shipping costs, and you can enjoy your deals pretty much instantly (especially if you’re using a fasterfast fibre line to download them!).
South African Black Friday Ambassadors
As far as South African retailers are concerned, our online stores have been the pioneers of the Black Friday movement.
Although brick and mortar retailers are starting to get more involved, you can definitely expect to see the most fireworks from the online sector.
Some of these retailers are even using it as an opportunity to get more people signed up and ready for ongoing brand loyalty by offering extended deals and rewards to consumers who download their mobile shopping apps, essentially putting their store on your phone at all times.
Now you might be thinking this is just a clever marketing ploy (and it is) but we have to admit, it’s kind of fun being able to just get cool stuff right off your phone.
Top 10 Tips for Black Friday:
Because we want to make your life easier, we put together a list of hints and tips to make sure you get the most out of your Black Friday shopping:
- Sit down and write a list of items / services that you want to buy, before the fact
- Save some money specially
- Set a budget for how much you’re willing to spend on the day
- If you haven’t already got internet access at home, order it now!
- Let the boss know you’ll be in a little late on Friday
- Top up your data
- Update your wish lists – some stores will notify you when wish list items are on sale
- For the travelers, remember that some airlines have deals too
- Download the relevant shopping aps (like Takealot) to your phone beforehand
- Have fun!
Here’s a (by no means complete) list of South African online retailers we will be keeping an eye on this Black Friday:
Takealot
TravelStart
iStore
Evetech
Cybercellar
Superbalist
Raru
Faithful to Nature
Zando
FirstShop
ebucks
Spree
Bid or Buy
The Digital Experience
Loot
Syntech
Regardless of how or where you choose to shop the Black Friday craziness, we hope you find some great deals, have an awesome online shopping experience, and get all the goodies that you’re looking for!
