Black Friday has hit Australia, and it’s a day when online discounts are aplenty just in time for the Christmas shopping frenzy. But it also just happens to be Buy Nothing Day – so what do you do?
The concept for Black Friday emerged from the United States in the 1960s, and it’s a once-a-year shopping sale event the day after the traditional American holiday Thanksgiving.
But an increasing number of Australian shoppers are into it, and online retailers are loving it.
In a recent article in the Courier Mail it was estimated that 11 per cent of Australians were planning to buy online on Black Friday- which probably doesn’t sound like a huge amount.
The concept for Buy Nothing Day also arose out of the US in the early 1990s and has grown into a global protest against mass consumerism – that is shopping for shopping’s sake.
So what are Australians likely to do on Black Friday?
Women make 85 per cent of consumer purchase decisions and in August this year, the National Australia Bank retail index estimated that consumers spent $20.6 billion online in Australia over the past 12 months. It’s estimated that women spent $17.5 billion over the same time period.
According to ING Direct, Australians are already likely to spend more money on Fridays than any other day of the week with $112 being the average spend compared to $93 every other week day.
Gen X are said to be the worst culprits and spend an average of $139, meanwhile Baby Boomers fork out $111.
Surprisingly, Gen Ys spend a modest $103. This might reflect gross salaries being higher among many Gen Xer’s than Gen Ys.
Men also out spend women on Fridays with $115 going out of their wallets compared to $108 from the purses.
As estimated 20 per cent more cash is withdrawn from ATMs on Fridays than any other day. Most likely as people gear up for the weekend.
And to reflect that Australians tend to like an end of week celebration, most spend 33 per cent more money on dining out on Fridays that they do during the rest of the week.
So which shops are discounting?
While the Aussie dollar is no longer as strong against the greenback, it is trading around the $US0.74 mark and some economic commentators believe it is on it’s way down as the US economy picks up.
This presents opportunities for shoppers at global mega brands or electronics stores, such as Apple, JBHi-Fi and Kogan. A decent list of discount codes and offers can be found via the official Black Friday Australia website.
Want to try something different this Black Friday?
If you are looking to get amongst the shopping deals this Black Friday, but you also want to take a stance on something, the female-focused website femeconomy.com.au is a start-up that promotes only brands that have 30 per cent or more women in leadership positions.
Here’s nifty list on the Femeconomy brands that made the list of the best gifts for under $50 this Christmas.
