Black Friday. South Africa has adopted this malarkey from America because let's be honest, we love a good special. Black Friday is regarded as the first 'official' day of Christmas shopping in the States. Please tell me you can see this for what it is - Americans have just celebrated Thanksgiving on Thursday and spent hundreds of dollars on turkeys, decor and more. The economy now has to look for another means of getting consumers to spend their hard-earned cash and Black Friday is the way to do it. Because Thanksgiving is always on a Thursday, many employers give their employees the Friday off as part of the holiday. This Friday is recorded as the busiest shopping day of the year.
I feel like 2018 has really jumped onto the band wagon with this one. It seems like every. single. brand. on Instagram is having a Black Friday special. It is actually hard to keep track of all the sales that are happening! I know some local brands have taken a stand against Black Friday. One brand is Schnooky Pie. Here is what owner, Jaclyn Holmes, had to say when I asked why she wasn't participating in Black Friday:
"Basically it just isn’t something feasible for a small business to do. Black Friday is supposed to be huge discounts - not little discounts - so some brands participate by offering small discounts but that isn’t what Black Friday is supposed to be - it should be massive discounts. Small businesses can’t afford to do that because we either would lose out and it threatens the longevity of our business or we would have to put our prices up the rest of the year so that we have a buffer to be able to offer a huge discount for Black Friday.
I saw an article once that said something along the lines of that consumers want Black Friday but what they don’t realize it that all it makes businesses do is increase their prices the rest of the year so that the business can afford to offer a big discount on Black Friday - so consumers land up paying more during the year for something so that they can get it at a big discount once a year.
There is even a school of thought which says that consumers shouldn’t go crazy and Black Friday and that brands/retailers should rather even offer lower everyday pricing - the same can be said for any type of promotion. Consumers actually land up driving up everyday prices because they want a sale and businesses can’t just offer a sale - they have to factor it in some how."
1. DO NOT buy anything that you do not need. Do not let clever marketing campaigns suck you into making a purchase.
2. DO NOT use your credit card. This gives the sense of 'fake' money and you will almost always overspend.
3. AVOID GOING TO STORES that offer specials. Try to rather shop online.
4. MAKE A LIST of what you need and purchase only those items.
5. SET A BUDGET for yourself so that you do not have any regrets later.
1. SAINT AND SUMMER - The most gorgeous sandals for summer! I have two pairs from Saint and Summer and they are GREAT quality. I cannot wait for their Black Friday sale (Newsletter subscribers get early access!). I have been eyeing out a pair of sandals and their Black Friday sale promises up to 70% off! https://saintandsummer.co.za/
2. SHOOSHOOS - This sale is definitely worth it. These shoes are designed to last the test of toddlerhood. I bought a pair of summer sandals for Nunu on their sale - up to 60% off! I have been wanting to get the Pepe Le Pew style - but R349.00 was a bit out of my budget. I bagged them yesterday for R174.50 AND THE SHIPPING WAS FREE! YES! TRUE STORY. https://shooshoos.co.za/
3. KIDICO - I have just recently discovered this amazing online store. They offer an amazing range of stickers. A teacher's dream for sure, but also very handy for parents too. Their usual prices are not bad at all, but for Black Friday they are offering 20% off selected items. https://kidico.co.za/
