Consumers have expressed mixed feelings about Black Friday sales this year. Many retail stores are participating in the annual Black Friday campaign, even though previous years’ excitement about the day, has significantly tapered down.
It took South Africa years to adopt the Black Friday tradition which is an American concept that also marks the start of the Christmas shopping season. Once the idea took off, there was a lot of excitement and anticipation for the big sales day.
However, that excitement has since died down. This year, retail stores did not see a significant increase in foot traffic. Massmart says part of the reason why not many people shop in-store, is the convenience of online shopping. The giant retailer says it ensured that it stocked up on enough essentials, appliances and luxuries for the day.
Vice-President of Marketing at Massmart Katherine Madley says, “For a Black Friday point of view, we’ve really gone all out our merchants have really gone all out for people to stock up, so we’ve got a lot rolling in not only on foods but also on some luxury you know your snacks your chocolates of cause a lot of cold drinks and those kinds of things are rolling very hard for our customers.”
Video: Black Friday grips South Africans
Consumers have expressed mixed views on Black Friday.
“It’s the first time that I’m getting something cheap,” a consumer says.
“There’s not much difference in prices, things continue to be expensive, while salaries are stagnant,” explains another one.
One consumer laments, “Black Friday is no longer the same, back then it could have been really packed here by now.”
Massmart says its Black Friday sales will be extended to the end of November, both online and in-store.
Video: Black Friday|Retailers see change in consumer buying patterns: Liabo Setho reports
