The biggest deals of the year are approaching and shortly you'll be bombarded with marketing emails and messages from various brands. From my 10 years of experience as a personal shopper, I've concluded that unless you have a full-proof plan to tackle these sales one is sure to overspend or make purchases that are regretted later on.
First, a little history, what is the Black Friday sale?
According to Wikipedia, Black Friday is a colloquial term for the Friday following Thanksgiving Day in the United States. The day following Thanksgiving has been marked as the commencement of the United States Christmas shopping season since 1952. In order to reap the benefit of this, virtually all retailers in the country, big and small, offer several sales including limited quantities of "doorbuster" items to entice traffic.
Now Black Friday as far as I remember was a very strategically placed shopping spree in the United States but now the whole world participates.
To help you deal with this I’ve put together a list of tips & tricks to shop smartly in sales and get the best benefit out of huge discounts offered by brands.
Make a Shopping List: When you walk into a store without a list of items that you need, be sure you will be swayed with the discounts. This often leads to buying items that you may not need or wear, but the discount was too good to resist! Make that list to avoid impulse buying and to keep you on track. Keep in mind that things like makeup have an expiry date, so be wise when creating a shopping list for the immediate use of products or for future use during the year.
Statement Pieces or Unexplored Styles: This is a good time to buy that statement piece of jewelry that you have had your eye on or the garment style that you are considering exploring but are unsure of. The marked-down price ensures that your cost per wear is in check even with limited use of the item.
Best time to Invest in Basic: This is the best time to purchase all the classics, essentials and yearlong staples like denims, trousers, lingerie, shoes, and other regular essentials. Why spend the total cost when you can avail the discounts. Create a detailed list of these items to ensure you don’t miss out on the great discounts.
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Don’t fall for those marketing emails :
Trust me, don’t get fooled. It’s marketing hype, the email will scream a flat discount but in reality, it will only be a small section – usually deadstock with minimal discounts on the latest season when you finally walk into the store. Read those emails, but don’t walk into that store just because it said 90% off.
Buy early - Most shops have started their black friday sales a week early at least. Infact for electronics, gadgets and toys, there is a whole “buy now, we will match the price for black Friday” is very common with bigger box stores. This delivers you some peace of mind, and you don't have to rush out on the day itself to buy things. You can plan your shopping list in a way that concentrates on different categories and gives you ample time to buy things you need, instead of rushing on the same day.
And a personal tip - SHOP LOCAL We all love to buy our trendy pieces, our big labels and street styles. Local homegrown labels are doing so much in the fashion space to create a small tiny effect of sustainable working conditions, proper wages, sourcing ethically, creating/curating responsibly. They don’t have big pockets to give you a 90% - 75% - 50% discount. But if we want to bring even a tiny bit of change in the world, go have a look at those local brands and buy from them.
You can also watch the video - What to Shop & What Not to Shop During Sale | 5 Proven Hacks to Shop Smartly During a Sale | Jainee
The key to sale shopping is to buy things you actually need and the rest will get sorted! Hope you guys find the video helpful!
Also, read Carry 4 things and become a Zero-waste shopper
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Jainee Gandhi
( Singapore )