THE most commonly held belief is that it is the first day of the year retailers finally move from being in the red (below profit) to in the black (making a profit).
This, however, may not necessarily be true, as many other possibilities have been put forward.
Taking place annually the day after the USA’s Thanksgiving, retailers traditionally open their stores early in the morning as thousands of shoppers search for bargains and special deals.
Historically Black Friday referred to the crash of the US gold market in September 1869, thanks to the unscrupulous action of two Wall Street men, which led to the bankrupting of many Americans.
Philadelphia sets the scene for a second possible Black Friday origin.
Mayhem would follow annually when people would descend on the city for the annual football game between the army and navy.
Whatever its origin, it has come to mark the commencement of the Christmas shopping season and has spread across the globe.
Shoppers the world over have now come to look forward to a day in November where they can expect deals on almost anything and make hefty savings ahead of the festive season.
And now there is Cyber Monday, which mimics Black Friday’s bargains but it is an wholly online enterprise.
Buyers head to their favourite online shopping portals in the hopes of getting discounted products from the comfort of their own homes. Cyber Monday generally follows Black Friday.
5 tips to take all the way to checkout
1. Do a recon ahead of time. To snag the best Black Friday deals, be prepared and keep an eye out for printed material. Scan your weekly newspaper (hint: South Coast Sun has an extensive range of local advertisers and national footprint retailers) as well as pamphlets and inserts in the fortnight before the big day.
2. Start on Thursday – or even earlier. Email newsletters start indicating that a store will be having deals way ahead of time, so sign up and scope them out so that you can plan to see where you’ll find which items.
3. Research while you shop by doing a quick scan of online prices while waiting in those crazy long queues.
4. Tag-team: If you have friends and family who are also headed to the shops on Black Friday, consider a divide-and-conquer strategy. If you need to go to a store, offer to pick up products your friends want, in exchange for them picking up products you want at other stores. That way, you can each take advantage of multiple store deals without having to rush from place to place.
And don’t forget the time it takes to navigate those crowded parking lots.
Have a designated driver, so that you can save time trying to find parking, which can add up quickly. Have snacks and something to entertain the driver while they wait in the car.
5. Skip it altogether – The best advice from your bank manager may be to stay at home and put the several hundreds you would’ve spent in a savings account instead.
Remember that December and the dreaded month of January still looms large on the not-too-distant horizon, so spend wisely to stretch your budget responsibly.
