Black Friday 2024: how to make the most of it

For anyone looking to get a good discount during the year, Black Friday is the day to aim for. Each year, hundreds of retailers all join in to offer huge reductions across all their products. Knowing all about this day is key to reaping the benefits it can offer.

What is Black Friday?

Black Friday is originally a US day dedicated to offering massive sales. It takes place directly after Thanksgiving which is the fourth Thursday of November. This does mean that as Black Friday follows Thanksgiving, it shifts date each year. This year, Black Friday is on 29th of November, but in other years it can be earlier in the month.

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While Black Friday has been popular in the US for decades, it took a lot longer for it to make the move over to the UK. In fact, Black Friday only became a shopping sale day in 2010. This was because Amazon, a US company, had been offering Black Friday sales already, and was part of the UK market. As such, the day began to permeate into the UK shopping industry. After the initial 2010 launch of the UK Black Friday, the sale day expanded when Asda (owned by Walmart) started running the same sale as well.

Pros and cons of Black Friday deals in physical shops

Grabbing some Black Friday deals in physical shops as both benefits and disadvantages. When it comes to the benefits, one of the biggest ones is getting bigger and better promotions physically in the store. Additionally, while Black Friday deals online can often go out of stock quickly, shopping in person isn’t quite as stressful in this regard. This is because fewer people tend to shop in person meaning physical stores are less likely to run out of the items.

However, shoppers do need to go there in person. Depending on the shop, the opening hours in person can be early. On the one hand, this is good, but for some popular stores, this can result in people queuing early in an attempt to get in first to grab the best deals. It can become aggressive as people all aim for the same deals and items.

Pros and cons of e-commerce Black Friday deals

Similar to in-person Black Friday deals, there are pros and cons to grabbing these online. For instance, regardless of when the shop opens, it’s easy and convenient to get online and grab the deals. Just like in-person Black Friday deals, some of these kick off very early, giving customers access to these deals as soon as the clock goes past midnight. Customers can get advanced warning and access for many of these deals when they subscribe or are a member of the retailer, getting the jump on other shoppers.

However, some of the deals might not be as good or as big as those found in-store. Additionally, customers run the risk of having an Internet glitch or even being locked out of the site due to the unusual high levels of traffic that can come alongside big deals.

Extra savings with discount codes

In addition to Black Friday deals, there are additional savings to be had when discount codes are used. These can often be used in addition to the Black Friday offer. Finding these codes is also relatively straightforward. There are many discount code websites available. One of these is Discoup.com which collects all the discount codes available across all retailers. The codes are also vetted and checked to ensure they work and have not expired. Discoup.com/uk also makes sure that all the codes are updated with the latest offers and even has some exclusive discount codes available. Adding any of these codes to a pre-existing Black Friday deal gives shoppers even more money off.

Examples of online retailers with great Black Friday promotions

There are many deals for Black Friday floating around. With the majority of UK retailers taking part, there’s something for everyone. However, here are some of the online shops that typically have very lucrative Black Friday promotions each year: Argos, John Lewis, Asda, Marks & Spencer, ASOS, Curry’s and Apple.Impressively, many of these stores actually start offering their discounts and deals before Black Friday actually hits. For some, these can be as early as five days before, making it worth keeping an eye out for deals from 24th of November.

David Prior

David Prior is the editor of Today News, responsible for the overall editorial strategy. He is an NCTJ-qualified journalist with over 20 years’ experience, and is also editor of the award-winning hyperlocal news title Altrincham Today. His LinkedIn profile is here.