Tips for the kiasu Singaporean to survive the Black Friday sales

We may not celebrate Thanksgiving in Singapore, but that won’t stop us from partaking in one of the biggest shopping events of the year — Black Friday (Nov 29) and subsequently Cyber Monday (Dec 2).

Offline, one highly-anticipated annual event here is Robinsons’ Black Friday sale, which reached a fever pitch in 2018 when the store remained open for 24 hours and about 1,000 eager shoppers queued outside the store at Heeren.

Hordes rushed in the moment doors opened to snag items such as bedding, electronic products and household appliances.

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This year, the store will be open from 7am on Friday to Saturday 1am, and you can bet that there’ll be a queue. To help shoppers survive the night, the first 300 in line will receive a special The Great Blackout survival kit. 

We can only share that the kit will contain something that shoppers can “rest on, munch on, keep cool, and soothe and quench”. In our heads, that translates to a pillow of some sort, snacks and drinks to refuel and hydrate, and possibly a fan?

Planning to outrace others to nab the best deals? Getting sufficient rest beforehand is crucial, and you better put on those trainers and work on those sprints. But if door-busting isn't your thing and you're gunning for online discounts instead, here are a few tips and tricks we gleaned to make the most of the Black Friday to Cyber Monday sales. 

1. Make a list and research, research, research

It is not enough to know what you want to get, but to know how much the product usually retails at and how much competitors are selling it for.

This may take a fair bit of legwork so it pays to start early if you can, especially if you want to go as far as to compare between physical and online stores.

Lists are also good for knowing how much to budget so you don’t end up overspending or going crazy in the face of discounts everywhere. The challenge is in sticking to it.

And don’t forget to prioritise, because, finite resources.

2. Subscribe to newsletters so you know what’s on offer, and follow your favourite brands on social media

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If you’ve ever been slightly ashamed about being a social media stalker, now’s not the time to be coy.

In fact, the right thing to do in the lead-up to Black Friday and Cyber Monday (and basically any major shopping event in general) would be to unabashedly ramp up on the follows.

Even if you hate subscribing to newsletters (you can always unsubscribe later) for fear of clogging up your mailbox, it may pay off to stalk their social media pages, not forgetting the brand’s IG Stories. 

That’s because those platforms are where brands are likely to post shout-outs about their biggest deals or even share coupon codes. To ensure that all bases are covered, just subscribe and follow. 

3. Use shopping tools like the Black Friday discount calculator 

Never heard of a Black Friday discount calculator? Neither did we, till we started doing research for this article. 

The Omni Calculator combines nine different types of deals — from the popular straightforward percentage discount to ‘two for one’ type offers and double and triple discounts, to make sure shoppers “are covered for every possible decision”.

Because you can definitely lose your head amid a barrage of tempting deals like 'buy two get one free', 'buy one and get the second at 50 per cent off' and buy something you don’t even need.

The site also has a component for you to input whether tax is included in the price, to better suss out if that deal is worth buying.

And if you’re buying online, it’s always worth noting whether there are any shipping costs that will inflate the price further, in which case, you may be better off purchasing it in a physical store here, even post-Black Friday.

That’s why doing your research is so important, so you know whether that 'deal' is really legit or just pure marketing gimmick.

4. Sneaky trick: Abandon your shopping cart

Here’s another nifty trick we learnt as well that can score you an additional discount online. We can't promise it'll work, but it may be worth a try. 

Basically, before you cart out your products, drop everything and leave the website. Hopefully, you'll receive an email soon to remind you that you have unpaid items languishing in your shopping basket. 

If they are nice, they may throw in a coupon code to entice you to return and click on that purchase button. But we can't vouch for whether this marketing hook will still be employed during the madness that is Black Friday. 

Of course, the key here is to make sure that you're first logged in to the website.

So there you have it. Hopefully you'll be able to make the most of all the Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions (if you've verified that it's a steal) and score the best deals on items that you want. 

Happy shopping! 

candicecai@asiaone.com