Black Friday 2017

What do you think of when you hear the words Black Friday?  I imagine a dark day where people are having fights in department stores and getting trampled underfoot.

However, I am sure other people who have bought bargains in the past may not see it like this!  Also Black Friday has extended to online shopping too so there is no physical scramble, perhaps ordering on the internet may be a little bit slower than usual.

Black Friday is traditionally the following Friday after Thanksgiving Day in the United States and it is generally thought that the day was called ‘black Friday’ back in the 60’s where, in accounting terms, black ink meant in credit and red meant in debit but actually it is said to have come from the police force in Philadelphia when they were tired of the smog that was created when all the shoppers came to town.  However, the smog story did not sound as inviting as the accounting version so it is that version which is now the accepted norm.

Black Friday is one of the biggest shopping days in Britain – last year, 2016, just under £5.75 billion was spent on the day!

In the UK, Currys and Argos, Amazon and Tesco are offering some of their deals before Black Friday.

Amazon are starting their deals on 17^th November. They are also creating a pop-up shop at 13 Soho Square from 12.30 pm to 7.30 pm on Black Friday for keen bargain hunters to queue up. Curry’s have launched a Why Wait? Campaign before Black Friday.  Amazon was the first retailer to bring Black Friday to Britain and then Asda, owned by the American company Wal-mart, followed the Amazon launch in 2013.

It is a good idea to decide exactly what you want before looking at the bargains online or in-store because you may get carried away with what you consider to be a real bargain rather than what you really need or want.

Also it may be wise to register with retailers and also follow them on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and any other social media. You will then be alerted to all the retailer’s discounts and also not have to take time registering on the day and missing out on certain bargains. Game, Marks and Spencer, John Lewis and Debenhams will also have great bargains.  Some of the retailers also have Apps that you can register to. Happy shopping.