On November 25th, the biggest shopping event of the year will be back again. In recent years, Black Friday has gathered plenty of momentum in the UK, and in 2016 it is poised to generate more sales than ever. What are the best ways to ensure that you can get the best deals on gadgets when you go on a spending spree once Black Friday gets underway?
High street tips
Many people will have seen footage of people queuing up early and cramming into shops to fight over heavily discounted electronics and other products, when Black Friday rolls around. While this may put you off the idea of venturing out to the high street at all, the good news is that in most parts of the country, this kind of localised chaos is unlikely to ever actually match the pictures in the press. In fact, Black Friday in 2015 was surprisingly quiet in the bricks and mortar world. If you want to avoid disappointment, it is a good idea to order items online for collection in-store, since this will mean that you do not have to get involved in any kind of consumer scrum.
Online advice
When it comes to buying gadgets online during Black Friday, there are some things to consider ahead of time. Firstly, the volumes of traffic that retail sites have to handle will be much higher than usual and it is not uncommon for some major sites to suffer outages and generally perform in a more sluggish fashion. So when it comes to picking up electronics at bargain prices in the e-commerce sphere, patience is the main quality required of customers. You should also keep an eye out for early offers made available in the run-up to Black Friday by retailers like Amazon and Argos, as many firms now build hype in the week leading up to the event, with short term deals which are worth catching while you can.
Other options
If braving the high street or sitting with your laptop or smartphone and constantly refreshing websites both sound like unappealing ways to spend your time, getting access to Black Friday goodies can be achieved in a third way. Visiting your nearest supermarket on Black Friday could be a good idea, since Tesco and its rivals tend to also embrace the event and yet are better equipped to deal with a major influx of customers than the majority of their high street counterparts. You can buy everything from TVs and games consoles to smartphones, cameras and home appliances from supermarkets. If you combine your Black Friday visit with a trip to pick up some groceries, then you can kill two birds with one stone.
Black Friday is not everyone’s idea of fun, but with the right attitude and some prior planning you can make sure that it is an event that leaves you with some affordable gadgets to act as Christmas gifts this year. And, don’t forget to insure your gadgets. Repairs can be very expensive.