Johannesburg - Major retailers struggling with tough times have come up with creative ways of bumping up profits today through promotional Black Friday sales.
Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving in the US and since the early 2000s it has been regarded as the beginning of the Christmas shopping season in the US, and most major retailers open very early and offer massive discounts.
Although South Africans do not celebrate Thanksgiving, local retailers are hinging their hopes on Black Friday and have gone on an aggressive campaign to promote the sale.
For today only, retailers are extending their shopping hours and cutting prices by up to 85 percent in a bid to entice consumers to buy their goods.
Retail and consumer merchandiser HiFi Corp has slashed prices by up to 85 percent and bidorbuy is having its first ever two-hour flash auctions where the latest goods will be auctioned from a starting bid of R1 with no reserve.
The bidder who offers the most wins the item.
Consumers could also get prices halved at food retailer Checkers, clothing discount store Jet, Home Choice which specialises on linen, and electronics shop Dion Wired, while stationery outlet CNA was holding a 20 percent sale.
Deep discounts
Net Florist was cutting prices by 80 percent, and Pick n Pay was reducing prices by up to 58 percent, and Stuttafords was offering a mystery discount exclusive to loyalty card holders.
Troubled national airline SAA is also offering flights to or from Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth and East London from only R693 each way for today only.
Stephen Meintjes, an analyst at Momentum SP Reid, said he believed that retailers were trying to make an early start for the festive season.
“It remains to be seen if the consumers will take up the US trend,” Meintjes said.
“The Black Friday strategy may bring Christmas spending forward but will not increase the overall spending between now and January because consumers are under strain,” Meintjes added.
The economy grew 0.7 percent in the third quarter avoiding a technical recession, although the retail sector grew 2.5 percent from a 0.6 percent decline in the previous quarter.
Syd Vianello, an independent analyst, said it was the first time retailers had promoted Black Friday so heavily.
“When I was looking at the newspapers, I saw adverts from retailers including Pick n Pay, and Spar. I think they are following the American trend.”
Vianello said it was about the right marketing strategy.
“Retailers are trying to catch consumers before Christmas Day, as you know the early bird catches the worm. For example, Checkers is selling anything from TV sets to Omo washing powder. They want to generate sales for big ticket items. Retailers want to get consumers to buy toys now rather than in three weeks,” he said.
BUSINESS REPORT