It’s never too late to grab some bargains for Christmas…..
Candles2go customers are fast becoming aware that the merry month of November is a great time to shop thanks to a week-long sale period that sees prices across pretty much everything – from candles to diffusers, Christmas gifts and great stocking fillers– will all be slashed significantly.
Black Friday deals just gets more intense with each passing year. Thanks to the annual sale event, savvy shoppers can save plenty of money in the run up to Christmas – and even help eliminate the pressure of last-minute gift shopping.
Despite Black Fridays origins being in the US, Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales have become very popular in Australia with both retailers and shoppers alike, forever changing the local shopping calendar.
Outside of the Boxing Day sales, the last couple of weeks of November are when stores across the country offer some of their biggest discounts across a plethora of products to lure shoppers.Retailers are definitely reaping the benefits of adopting the Black Friday sale period, with November 2018 recording the highest online retail turnover to date, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
The ABS reports that overall Australian retail turnover rose 3.6% during Black Friday 2018 compared to the previous year.That’s a clear indication that Aussies love bargain hunting while comfortably settled on a chair or their couch. That’s somewhat of a contrast to the US, where the concept of ‘door buster’ sales are still popular – shoppers queue up outside brick-and-mortar stores and jostle for the best bargains.
When is Black Friday and Cyber Monday ?
Black Friday is the Friday immediately after the Thanksgiving holiday in the US, so this year it will fall on November 29, 2019.Cyber Monday, as the name may suggest, is the Monday immediately after Black Friday. So Cyber Monday 2019 will fall on Monday, December 2. Although the two days are, on paper, individual sales, it’s become hard to distinguish between them.
More often than not, retailers begin their Black Friday sales well before the actual day and end the sale well after Cyber Monday, giving shoppers an extended week (or two) of excellent bargains.With Black Friday and Cyber Monday so late in the month, it's actually the perfect opportunity for you to get your Christmas gift shopping out of the way, and save some cash while you're at it.
What’s the difference between Black Friday and Cyber Monday?
In the US Black Friday meant physically going to a store to shop, mostly to shake off the turkey sweats, while Cyber Monday was exclusively for online deals. Now, however, there’s barely any difference since most deals offered through the November sale period are also available online.As an online sale, Cyber Monday is a more recent development, coming after the advent of the internet and e-commerce.
It traditionally marks the point when people realise they needed to get a wriggle on and start buying Christmas presents.Another point of difference that’s more valid in the US than anywhere else is that Black Friday was traditionally more about electronics and other high-ticket items, while Cyber Monday was more about lifestyle goods. Nowadays, though, they’re all just one big smooshed-together shopping spree over an entire week or two.
Why Black Friday and Cyber Monday matter…,
Black Friday and Cyber Monday have changed the way we shop in the run-up to Christmas, and they’ve had a massive effect on the retail industry, especially online.For the shoppers, the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales frenzy means a whole week or more of what appear to be good deals, but if you aren’t too careful, you could end up going overboard.Last year, Australian consumers were so focused on Black Friday sales that December’s overall retail turnover fell, according to the ABS.
This year, the Black Friday weekend falls across the end of November and into December – which makes the perfect time to get your Christmas shopping sorted.As Black Friday gains in popularity in Australia, more and more retailers are joining the bandwagon and offering greater discounts. And with competition between retailers gaining momentum, we saw Black Friday go from being a single-day event prior to 2015 to being spread over an entire week – if not more – in 2018.
While it’s hard to predict exactly what could happen this year, here are some safe bets:• After its debut Black Friday sale last year, Australian retailers will make sure to get a cut in the price cuts• You’ll want to hold off buying Christmas Specials as you will always get a big discount• It will be a great time to get a move on with your Christmas Shopping as prices are likely to be slashed• You should definitely find some great deals with huge savings on offer
Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals:
There's no way the Australian Black Friday bandwagon will slow down this year. In fact, we fully expect it to outdo last year’s performance. What we’re hoping is that retailers extend their deals for a longer period of time to entice shoppers.In 2018, some retailers in the UK and US promised to ‘future price match’, meaning consumers could buy something during the Black Friday sales and know that if the price dropped later, they could reclaim the difference.
While that didn’t happen in Australia, we’re hoping it might catch on soon.What did happen, however, was that discounted prices were being offered especially on high-ticket items. This offer was so tempting that our Australian customers paid the full Black Friday price in the third week of December, long after the actual sale had ended.However, despite all this, we’re still expecting that the best deals will be found surrounding Black Friday – as ever, our advice is to know your budget going in, set a maximum price you’re willing to pay (having done the research to know what sort of prices your desired tech has been at throughout the year) and stick to it.