Black Friday: date and tips for Black Friday

Merchants are preparing to display their discounts for Black Friday, which will take place on November 29 this year, but are the pre-Christmas mega sales really worth the candle?

Last year, Black Friday reached records despite inflation, when 200 million Americans took part in the event spending an average of US$321, according to the Retail Federation (NRF), which which is equivalent to a total of $60 billion, AFP reported.

Where does Black Friday come from?

The term Black Friday is the Quebec term used to designate “Black Friday”, an event popularized in the United States towards the end of the 20th century.

“Black Friday” was born from the haste of large merchants to decorate and display their promotions for the holiday season the day after “Thanksgiving”, called Thanksgiving in Quebec, which is held on the fourth Thursday of November in UNITED STATES.

According to Britannica, the English nickname, which means “Black Friday” in French, originated in the 1960s in Philadelphia, where police officers called the day that because they had to work overtime to deal with the chaos in the downtown area. city.

If the negative connotation had not initially pleased merchants, some retailers would have changed the narrative by indicating that, in the business world, red would be used to describe the state of losing money, while black would rather designate making a profit, according to the Encyclopedia.

Why “Black Friday”?

While the event crossed the border to become popular in Quebec, the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) decided, in 2013, to give it the terms “Black Friday” and “Pre-Christmas Mega Sale” to designate the concept.

This decision was taken in order to avoid negative, even disastrous, connotations, or those that refer to illegality, as in the expression “black market”. “Black Thursday” had, for example, been used to invoke the stock market crash of 1929 which preceded the Great Depression, we can read on the OQLF website.

Are the discounts really worth it?

In recent years, many consumers have taken to social networks to denounce apparent discounts which are sometimes more of a trap for customers.

In some cases, Internet users have even noted labels on which prices were increased in the days preceding Black Friday before the product was placed under a poster announcing, for example, “30% off”.

Last year, a video reached more than 44.5 million views on TikTok when a user filmed herself removing “Black Friday” posters to reveal the exact same price underneath.

In 2022, British consumer media “Which?” had done the exercise, examining the price history of 214 products, revealing in his study that 86% of the items were available at the same price or less over the previous six months, while none were really at its lowest.

So, before jumping on a good deal, it is better to make sure to do your checks by comparing, for example, the price of the item beforehand online on multiple platforms.

Good deals or not: 5 signs to recognize

Marketers know how to use marketing in their favor, and sometimes, using certain strategies to encourage consumers to spend quickly, without thinking.

Here are some maneuvers used to take into account when shopping, to avoid falling into the trap:

1- Don’t succumb to urgency

Today, the famous Black Friday discounts extend over several days, although many major retailers will pretend that they only last for a single day to create a sense of urgency to make a purchase.

It is therefore worth taking a step back before jumping at the opportunity, which may seem golden at the moment, but lead to regrets later, reported “24 Heures” last year.

“Flash” sales

In the same vein, certain transactional websites use countdowns to urge the customer to make their purchase, notably by creating a “feeling of excitement,” noted Jean-Luc Geha, visiting professor in the marketing department of HEC Montréal.

2- A price drop… but why?

Some items are indeed displayed at a huge discount of 50 to 75% off, and while that might be enough to add it to your cart, it’s worth wondering if that’s not hiding something else.

Indeed, such a discount can be a sign that an object is about to become “obsolete” very soon, or that it was purchased in too large a quantity, the professor indicated.

3- The great deal to bait

In some cases, merchants will wholesale a particularly attractive discount, on which they ultimately make virtually no profit, in an attempt to attract customers inside the store.

So, just because a store has a really good discount doesn’t mean you should let your guard down for the store’s other offers.

4- Cheaper in the United States

The grass is always greener on the other side, and if certain discounts seem particularly attractive on the other side of the border, it is sometimes better to abstain before going to the United States for your holiday shopping.

• Also read: Black Friday: These items you shouldn’t buy across the border

Indeed, product safety standards are not always the same from one country to another, as is the case for children’s products which must be certified in Canada, or electronic devices, which when not certified, may constitute a risk of electric shock or fire.

Sporting goods and medicines were also not to be purchased in the United States.

5- “Free delivery with the purchase of…”

When the time comes to pay, it is not uncommon to see a light appear indicating that delivery will be free above a certain amount.

This strategy, which uses the “power of free”, often encourages consumers to add an item to their basket, since they will prefer to put their money on an additional item rather than paying the few dollars for delivery.

In the customer’s mind, those few dollars then become a discount on said additional item instead of being paid in a vacuum, even though in the end they may still spend more than the minimum required.

This strategy is also the most common way to persuade buyers (64%), according to data from the Quebec Retail Council (CQCD) reported by “24 Heures”.

Frauds and scams

Beyond fake discounts, consumers must be even more vigilant as discount days such as Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday are ideal playgrounds for fraudsters.

The latter often take advantage of the upsurge in online shopping, which causes significant traffic from seasoned buyers, but also those who are less accustomed, to display false ads.

• Also read: Black Friday: six tips to avoid falling into a fraudster’s trap

Cybersecurity expert Steve Waterhouse last year urged Internet users to exercise caution by avoiding impulse purchases and being particularly wary of offers that are “too good to be true,” speaking to QuB Radio.

In terms of prevention, he recommended asking the opinion of someone close to you, checking the reputation of online sites before purchasing, and reporting any suspicious activity to the Fraud Center of Canada.