Thanksgiving might be old news up here in the Great White North, but in the States, the festivities are just getting started. Thanksgiving is a big deal to Americans, much like the day that follows: Black Friday, the biggest sales event of the year.
If you’re new to Black Friday (and the lesser-known Cyber Monday, in which prices drop on online purchases only), here’s your guide to snagging the best possible deals this holiday season.
Why should Canadians care about Black Friday?
Even ten years ago, we rarely heard about Black Friday north of the border. However, if you’ve been paying attention to digital trends (or you’ve just started getting a lot of advertorial emails in your spam inbox this time of year), you might have noticed that Canadians are jumping on the Black Friday bandwagon in a big way.
The statistics don’t lie. Canadians are following the lead of our southern neighbours. Google Canada searches on mobile for “Black Friday,” “deals,” and other similar keywords have increased 100% over the past three years, indicating that no matter whether you punctuate your sentences with “eh?” or not, you’re still not likely to pass up a great deal.
When is Black Friday 2019?
Every year, American Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday of November. The following day is Black Friday. This year, Thanksgiving falls a bit late in the season: November 28. That means that if you hope to find great deals, you’ll have to stay awake until midnight on November 29, 2019.
Black Friday deals sometimes show up in early November as “Black Friday preview” offers. Target and Amazon are two major corporations known to utilize this business model. Still, these mini-Black Friday deals are unlikely to satisfy the truly savvy bargain hunter. For the best deals, you’ve got to wait it out until the day itself.
How can I prepare?
The fun officially kicks off at midnight on Friday. Rarely, stores will open their doors before midnight—even as early as dinnertime on Thanksgiving. However, this is the exception to the rule. Generally, Black Friday events don’t start until early Friday morning. Black Friday can be nothing short of overwhelming if you hit your local malls or brick-and-mortar stores, which is why a lot of people choose to do their shopping online. Who can blame them? There are countless Black Friday horror stories that will make you want to stay home. Plus, there’s always Cyber Monday, falling on December 2, 2019.