THAT FRIDAY
FEELING It was once the term used to describe the day when American workers would call in sick so they could extend Thanksgiving into a long weekend, but it is now more associated with a global shopping phenomenon.
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Bargain hunters will be out in force towards the end of the month as Black Friday fever sweeps the retail market. But what’s it all about?
pandemic may see a drastic reduction in footfall, so expect the phrase ‘slow-moving traffic’ to relate to your broadband rather than the roads as bargain hunters let their fingers do the walking on the web to secure the best deals.
Black Friday, America’s high-octane version of our Boxing Day sales, will again explode on to the UK’s hardpressed retail sector on November 27, although in reality the first shots in the discount price war may be fired somewhat earlier and continue well past Cyber Monday, reputedly the busiest online shopping day of the year.
This year analysts are expecting bigger reductions than normal as retailers try to make the best of what has been a pretty dismal year; certainly the notion that Black Friday was coined to describe the day shopkeepers tried to get back “into the black” will certainly have a harsh element of truth to it.
However, restrictions imposed following the second wave of the Covid-19
Traditionally, tech, electricals and gadgets are the big winners over the
PROPERTY NEWS
period – certainly online giants Amazon and high-profile retailers such as Currys PC World and Argos shifted huge numbers last year – although all-rounders such as John Lewis and Very have flexed their muscles and brought clothing, furniture and other lines into the picture – the latter reporting more than 92.5million online visits in 2019. Last year, toys and games consoles, particularly the Nintendo Switch, proved popular and this year is not likely to deviate from that trend as the PS5 and Xbox Series X come on to the market, with their predecessors expected to come almost gift-wrapped in bargain bundles.
