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Black Friday and Cyber Monday are two of the biggest shopping days on the retail therapy calendar – and signal the beginning of Christmas shopping globally.
The huge weekend of deals officially starts with Black Friday on November 24th – which the Friday after the U.S holiday of Thanksgiving – and continues through the weekend ending with Cyber Monday.
Most big brands combine the two sales, while others have different offerings each day or only participate in Cyber Monday online not in store.
Australians spent $7billion on Black Friday sales in 2022 – and that figure is likely to increase again in 2023.
What is Black Friday?
Black Friday is now considered one of the best sale dates of the year, with 36 percent of Australians holding back their spending for the deals on offer, Choice reports.
But the leading consumer advocacy group says it’s important to ‘shop smart’ and compare prices across brands.
‘The first place you look may offer a 10% discount, but there’s a good chance it could be reduced by 20% elsewhere,’ CHOICE Editorial Director, Mark Serrels said.
He added that you can also ‘ask for a discount’ even if the item is already on sale.
‘You’ll find you can usually shave a bit off the purchase price, particularly with big items such as mattresses and whitegoods,’ he said.
Shoppers should also make sure they are buying from Australian websites – many brands are global so accidentally purchasing from an international site could bite into the bargain.
What is Cyber Monday?
Large retailers typically keep the sales going – but the last bargains are only available online.
The event was created so that online retailers could profit from the Black Friday fever associated with the giant sales.
How to avoid a scam
The ACCC has issued urgent warnings about scams over the sale weekend – highlighting the increased impersonation of high-profile Australian retailers online.
The National Anti-Scam Centre has detected a concerning increase in the number of reports of fake websites that look like genuine online retail stores belonging to many big-name, high street brands, the watchdog reported.
This year there have been 2760 reports of fake online store with Australians losing over $6million to the sophisticated scams.
‘Scammers are opportunistic criminals who will try to take advantage of people doing their Christmas shopping online during the upcoming Black Friday and Cyber Monday period,’ ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said.
‘We have seen an alarming increase in reports of fake online shopping website scams, which use the latest technology to look like genuine, well-known Australian fashion and footwear labels.’
And Choice agrees – but says people can protect themselves.
‘Keep an eye out for unusual URLs, big discounts, missing information or poor formatting and spelling, which may indicate the website is not legitimate,’ Mr Serrels said.
