28 Nov 2021

Can you recall  previous years Black-Friday promotions that caused stampede and had many retails stores flooded with consumers, leaving no space for one to manoeuvre with ease while shopping?

Well these incidents had store managers pondering on best ways to run a sales promotion of such magnitude successfully and efficiently without causing any damage or mayhem as experienced before.

BOPA team visited a number of shopping complexes across the city on Friday and observed  a slow start for Black Friday.

Game Stores Gaborone Manager, Ms Kedithotse Ngakane said in an interview that experience from previous promotions coupled with COVID-19 restrictions prompted them to review their processes in view to deter virus spread and damage to property.

Ms Ngakane said property was vandalised during similar promotions in 2019. 

She explained that they used to start their sales promotions from Friday midnight and went on throughout the next day, which propelled customers to flock their stores, something she labelled risky. 

This contravened the standing health restrictions and protocols set by the COVID-19 task force to help lessen virus spread.  

“In view of all these standing circumstances we decided to halt the usual Black Friday promotions and replaced them with Black November, she said.

As the name suggests, Ms Ngakane explained that Black November basically allowed them to run a series of promotions over four weeks in a month.

She said they placed an advertisement every Thursday of each week which showcased promotions for various items sold in their stores. 

This worked well for us since it gave us an opportunity to promote various items within our shops within a space of a month, unlike before where we ran one advert that worked for only a day, she expounded.

Ms Ngakane mentioned that returns from this promotion were quite pleasing as they reflected over a month period as opposed to before when it was only for a day. 

Our electronics and appliances proved to be selling fast hence, they were being bought in large numbers during the Black November, she said. 

However, a number of people interviewed were of the view that they no longer derived value from Black Friday sales. 

They said in most instances, retail stores used Black Friday to reap them off looking at price differences on items.

One Ms Thato Mokgalo said she had realised that some shops were using Black Friday as part of the usual end of month special. 

Ms Mokgalo said what she had also observed was that many people were now not only ‘street wise’ when it comes to the concept of Black Friday but critical on how they spent their money.

Another consumer, Mr Lawrence Modiega was of the view that people did not have the buying power due to COVID-19, which left some unemployed or with reduced monthly income.

He said people no longer bought  impulsively but were more prudent in their spending.

He further noted that even those who used the opportunity presented by Black Friday, were selective on what they bought and focused on critical items which were of value.

History has it that Black Friday which is now popularly used in the United States of America refers to the day after Thanksgiving. 

It is often considered the first day of the holiday shopping season and is known for featuring discounts from retailers.

Black Friday is always the Friday after Thanksgiving, which is always the fourth Thursday in November. 

In 2021, Black Friday was on November 26 and next year it will fall on November 25. ends