Black Friday is an American shopping event that happens on the first Friday after thanksgiving. This year it falls on 27th November. This tradition first started to come over to the UK back in 2003 but really, it took until 2013 for this to really gather a head of steam. This is because it was at that time Asda, owned by Walmart – got involved. £810m worth of items were sold last year in Britain, making it a record-breaking day.
But is Black Friday really that cheap? Do retailers just advertise the sales, which they have on all year round, more on Black Friday? The Graph here, taken from The Telegraph shows that Black Friday actually fell below average. The average number of products on sale daily over the past year sits at 255,000.
By comparison, 2014’s Black Friday registered a figure of just 240,000, despite the record-breaking takings. The peak “sales day” actually occurred in early July, where 380,000 items were discounted.
Here we show you our top tips to save money all year round, instead of getting involved in this American tradition that infamously saw mass brawls and fights in a range of stores over goods such as TV’s and game consoles:
- Voucher Codes. Keep an eye on voucher codes that can save you a good percentage when it comes to shopping, especially online. Websites such as VoucherCodes.co.uk or HotUKDeals are great for finding the right deal
- Check the history of the item using CamelCamelCamel.com. Here you will be able to see the history of the item of what it has been previously priced at, and make sure you’re not buying something that is at a high point. Patience is key here
- Nobody enjoys receiving all the emails of promotion offers that a company has which is why we recommend setting up a separate email designed specifically for this. It’s still important to keep an eye on this email address as if you sign up to retailers loyalty card schemes and newsletters, you’ll get an early notification of deals and exclusive offers that are coming soon so you can be prepared for when the offer starts!
- Don’t be fooled in to thinking that you will always find the best deals online. High street retailers have been struggling over recent years to compete with online shopping, and maybe more willing to negotiate than you think
Hype around events like Black Friday can certainly drive people to save their money for them, but it’s possible you’ll get as good or better deals at other times!