Black Friday Is Serious Business

> Thandisizwe Mgudlwa

The African Diaspora is intensifying it's struggle towards Black Economic Empowerment.

And Black Friday is proof of that.

Black Friday is an American tradition that has quickly taken root in Africa. 

The large online e-commerce shops and the major retail chains in many parts of the continent will be splashing out with big promotions and marketing campaigns to get consumers to part with their cash.

This day takes place the first Friday after Thanksgiving (25 November 2016) and is a day of big deals and promotions for American shoppers. 

According to organisers, "Black Friday is already popular in South Africa, as is Cyber Monday, the following Monday (28 November 2016) when online shoppers are out in full force looking for tech and gaming bargains. We also see countries like Kenya and Nigeria following suite, with e-tailers planning big discounts."

If you’re a business builder with a small retail operation, you may wonder whether it’s a good idea to take part in the mayhem of the day where crowds pack shops and storm websites looking for bargains."

Dion Chang, Trends expert and founder of Flux Trends says: “We see a massive adoption of North American retail trends in South Africa – it is tested, it works and is already embedded in the minds of South Africans. Africa has an hour glass economy – with the rich getting richer, the poor getting poorer and the middle class being squeezed – people are going for deals just to make ends meet. For big and small businesses, this is definitely an opportunity for them to join and leverage this trend for their brand.”

On the one hand, it’s a great opportunity to build some hype for your Small & Medium Business on a day that consumers are particularly receptive to spending money. On the other hand, your promotions and marketing may be drowned out by the noise generated by retailers with massive budgets for promotions and advertising.

According to previous experience, there is no clear-cut answer about whether Black Friday is a must for small retailers – each must look at its business needs, customer expectations, capacity, and ability to execute before committing resources to Black Friday. 

"What is clear, however, is that you must do Black Friday well if you are going to do it at all – or else you might end up with disappointing results and angry customers."

Elsewhere in the world, "we have seen the rise of counter-movements to Black Friday - for example, Small Business Saturday". 

This originally started as an American Express initiative encouraging consumers to support small, local shops.

It would certainly be interesting to see a movement like this on the African continent. 

"As champions for South African entrepreneurs, we’d love every Saturday to be Small Business Saturday!