The most awaited Friday in the entire year:Black Friday! YES! That’s right. Who doesn’t love Black Friday? The anticipation and the excitement are all too real, especially now that we are in November. Regardless of how challenging the times have been, but Black Friday will surely brighten up the mood and officially kickstart the holiday season. So, here are the 10 tips that you should follow to get the best out of Black Friday in Singapore.
Do your research well & early
The word “research” may not be your favorite word at all. It might remind you of many challenging times, such as writing papers and assignments at school. However, if you wish to succeed and get the best out of Black Friday sales in Singapore, you really need to do research. And we’re not just talking about one time research; we’re talking about a lot of research well and early before Black Friday.
How will this research look like? Well, you will need to find all the brands that you will want to buy from or most likely will want to buy from. Know their products, make a list of things that you are targeting, get familiar with the options. If you have the time and space to do it, you can even browse for products that you would never shop for. Why? Because the best time to buy for things that you don’t usually want to buy in normal price would be Black Friday.
Research, research, research. The more you know, the more it will be easy for you to navigate through the chaos of Black Friday. If you haven’t done any research and you just came in to look and weigh your options on Black Friday, you will lose from all the other shoppers who are also targetting the same products that you are targetting.
Compare prices between different retailers
A part of your research goal should be to compare prices between different retailers. This sounds like a bit too much, but it’s really not. Because, you would be surprised at how much you can get not only by finding a discount, but the biggest discount at the cheapest retailer. It’s crazy!
To know this, you can’t start comparing on Black Friday, you would be too late then. What you need to do is to know which retailer you should target for that specific product. And then if you are buying another brand, compare the prices from different retailers again! Trust us, it will be so worth the effort.
Don’t wait until the actual day to start looking around and wondering if you have the best price. Your goal on Black Friday is just to shop, not to research and think. Your goal is to grab and buy. So, all of the thinking and considering and planning need to happen before the actual Black Friday.
Look for early bird discount
Yes, there are actually early bird discounts. If you want to get the most out of your Black Friday this year (or any year), find early bird discounts. This will maximize your shopping goals because you can aim for the early bird for all the items that are available prior to the normal Black Friday, and focus on only buying items that are available on the Black Friday. It’s all about strategic thinking and planning before the day. Especially if you are a big shopper, you don’t want to miss out on opportunities to get early bird discounts. Scout and maximize.
Plan where you want to shop, online, or offline
Planning is a major key. You cannot be waking up on a Black Friday, sipping tea or drinking coffee chilling, and then deciding where to go after you have had your full brunch late in the morning. That won’t work; not on a Black Friday. If you only want to get one or two items just for fun, sure, go have your coffee and enjoy your brunch. But for those of you who are serious about Black Friday, you know this is not the way to go.
Plan where you want to shop. Know the distances between shop one, to shop two, until shop ten, however many shops you would like to conquer on this Black Friday. Calculate the time it would take for you to get from one place to another. Utilize the time when you commute from one shop to another to shop online (if possible). You have a limited amount of time to maximize those discounts! So, make every minute count. Again, this is why research is such a powerful key to success during a Black Friday.
Get Social, follow brands on social media
We don’t know what type of person you are, but we have met people who don’t really like to follow that many retail brands on Social Media. They really want to keep it private and only for friends and families. And that’s okay too, we’re not saying that you have to break your own preference and use your social media to follow brands. However… maybe you can consider following all your favorite brands just for Black Friday.
Like, seriously! This is a top tip. Your favorite brands will be posting all the latest information, all the latest promotions, all the schedules, and everything about their Black Friday sales on their social media. They want people to know what’s going on, and you want to know what’s going on because you want to get the most out of your Black Friday this year. So, here’s what you will do after reading this point, before moving on to number 6: get on social media and follow all the brands that you love that you want to shop from this Black Friday. We promise you, you won’t regret it.
Sign up for newsletters
Don’t wait, do it now. Sign up for all the newsletters from your favorite brands. Why is this such a great tip? Newsletters are special for brands. They treat newsletters as people who love the brand, who want to connect with the brand. As a result, people who submit their emails on a newsletter list are treated like special members. They get insider information, they get promotions early, and many more. This is why you should sign up for as many newsletters as you can for Black Friday.
We understand that it might feel overwhelming and you don’t want to be bombarded by newsletters. But remember this: you can always unsubscribe after Black Friday, but you can’t redo a Black Friday. So, this is all about priorities. If you want to get the best deals, you need as much information as you can from your beloved brands.
Set a budget and stick to it
Okay, as much fun as Black Friday could be, you also don’t want to be unwise in your money management. The thing is, shopping is fun, but to be over budget in shopping isn’t fun. This is where planning is crucial. You need to plan so that you can calculate how much will all the things that you want to buy cost. Will your shopping list exceed your budget? Or will it fit your wallet capacity?
To do this, you need to avoid impulsive purchases. Make a plan on the things that you want to spend your money on and stick to them. If you decide to make last minute changes and buy something spontaneously, then stick to the budget. Don’t hoard everything, you can always save some more money and buy them later.
Make sure you check the fine prints before buying
Sometimes we can get carried away in the Black Friday hype and wanting to get the most out of Black Friday, that we forget to check for quality. We want to get good bargains, but we don’t want to bargain for quality. You want to get good quality products at a good price; that’s the point of Black Friday.
In a normal shopping experience, you would probably be more careful, slower in picking products, and take time to double check what you’re buying before you actually pay for them at the cashier. Sometimes in the midst of the Black Friday chaos, we forget to double check the items that we want to buy. What will end up happening is that you will go home, open up your shopping bag, and realize that you just bought a T-shirt that has a defect. You don’t want that at all, so be sure to check the fine prints before buying.
Avoid sketchy website
This is a classic tip. Many people will want to take advantage of Black Friday in a negative way. They will exploit customers and trick them using fake websites. Before you get too excited with all the good promotions that the brand is offering, make sure the brand is a reputable brand and that the website is legit. The last thing you want on your Black Friday is to experience people stealing your money because you just logged in to a scam website. Do research, don’t be hasty and do the effort to make sure the brands you want to buy from are all legit and safe.
Get good & stable internet connection
This final tip might sound funny, but if your internet breaks down before you can complete a purchase on Black Friday, it won’t be as funny as it sounds. You really need to make sure that you internet is stable. You really want to make sure that you can complete your entire purchase without a glitch. Make sure you have paid for your internet services. If you know your apartment or your home has a bad internet connection, get out of there and find a place with a stable connection. Don’t risk it, be smart.
Happy Black Friday shopping, everyone!
