Cape Town - On Friday, from the stroke of midnight in some cases, South Africans will be scouring the internet for heavily discounted deals in what has become one of the most important shopping days on the SA calendar.
Vincent Hoogduijn, the CEO of e-commerce at Media 24, says that that while discounts are real, consumers must spend wisely.
“The discounts are huge,” he says, adding, “I do think that greed comes into play, so the willingness to spend is much higher on Black Friday.
“So the opportunity to sell certain products at a price level that normally wouldn’t sell certainly is going to sell on Black Friday, because people are geared to spend. But the discounts are substantial and they are real.”
Hoogduijn says that shoppers shouldn’t buy goods because of fear of missing out, or FOMO.
“Don’t spend because you think you’re going to miss out, because there is a huge FOMO movement during Black Friday. Spend wisely, not just at Spree, but in general. There are always good deals,” he says.
“As always, there are certain things that you may or may not need. So spend wisely – and do your homework.” Hoogduijn says online shoppers should make use of one of the benefits of shopping over the internet – price comparison – to compare deals before deciding to buy.
“You can just sit down and relax and look at all the properties online to see what you want to buy and then just make up your mind. And from a financial point of view, if you can’t help yourself, please manage a budget before you go online and spend at all.
*Fin24 is part of Media24.
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