Black Friday Shopping – What Shoppers Have to Know
‘Shopping Season’ comes to mind while hearing the word ‘Black Friday Sales.’ People all around the world celebrate sales of the year in November. Black Friday sales are pretty economical and affordable, which is the main reason why the majority of the people wait for it.
The people who don’t believe in impulsive buying and are not habitual of making unplanned purchases, leave the sanity at their home and shop their heart out. Roaming around the malls and stores and planning to avail of the discounts and offers—preparing the shopping list beforehand in October becomes normal. Right after Thanksgiving, before the start of Christmas month—the shopping season starts!
Now the question arises: What does Black Friday have to do with Pakistan? And when this trend started in Pakistan?
How Black Friday Came in Pakistan
With the fast-moving world, brands in Pakistan are now becoming more towards how the global market works. With the hype of Black Friday worldwide, a brand in Pakistan took the initiative of introducing this trend in the market.
Back in time, there is no evidence of brands offering discounts and deals randomly in November. Three years back, the hype of Black Friday sale in Pakistan started and successfully made its place.
The brand must have seen or observed the flourishing sales made during this season all around the globe. However, observing the response the brand got, other brands also started to follow the same pattern.
Other brands came up with new strategies and came up with new names such as White Friday, Golden Friday, Mega Friday, etc. Electronic and high-end brands also jumped on the Bandwagon and started doing the same thing. That is how Black Friday came in Pakistan—the story doesn’t end here!
Friday is Never Black!
Black Friday season starts after Thanksgiving in America. However, it is not just celebrated in America alone; it is now celebrated in the UK, Africa, Asia, and Middle Eastern countries. The hype is real—people queue outside hours before the store opens. They prepare the list before the sale even starts, to properly avail the discount and offers.
The brand that came up with introducing this trend in Pakistan came up with wild and creative marketing campaigns. They started their marketing campaign two months before the actual sale. Before that, the Pakistani market did not have any idea about how it works in Western countries.
There was a sale on every product of the website—electronics, bedding, home appliances, apparel, footwear, makeup products, mobile, decor, interior, etc. Moreover, they did celebrity endorsements as well. They came up with amazing deals, offers, and gift hampers as well.
Little did they know, they are going to get an intense backlash. ‘Friday is never Black,’ that is how people started criticizing the brand. As a Muslim Country, Friday is a pious day and holds a lot of respect concerning Islamic teachings. Social, print, electronic all types of media started to criticize the brand for bringing such kind of trend in an Islamic country.
Not just the criticism; a proper petition was filed in Islamabad High Court to ban such trends in Pakistan. Moreover, the petition’s purpose was also quite clear—such trends are destroying the teachings of Islam. With the decision of the government of Pakistan, the brand had to rebrand the trend.
Since the trend was already infused in the Pakistani market, there was no going back. Black Friday was changed into Blessed/White Friday. The rebranding also made a lot of people think positively about the aspect of Friday being blessed. However, some people do not buy from such sales—as according to them, this idea came from western countries.
How Does Black Friday Work in Pakistan?
When it comes to following a trend, you can expect a crazy response from Pakistan. Managing and planning a sale is a huge task; it requires a lot of hard work and management skills. The crowd is crazy, and one must be ready to get a lot of push from strangers—that is how Black Friday works in Pakistan.
Back in time, there was no such concept of Black Friday of Pakistan—discounts were offered on special occasions only. Ever since this whole thing started, people now wait every year for such a sale. They wait around the year to buy heavy and expensive items on sale.
Are you planning on doing some purchasing from Blessed Friday Sale? You need to do a lot of homework! Explore the malls and prepare a list beforehand, this will help you in your shopping at the time of the sale as everything goes out of stock real fast.
Even if you are an online shopping fan, try to fill your cart before the sale starts. Moreover, you can just thoroughly explore the website beforehand and choose the stuff that you are willing to buy.
Is Blessed Friday Sale Suitable for Pakistani Market:
Ever since the whole fiasco of Blessed Friday sales started in Pakistan, brands work on strategies eight to ten months before. They come up with creative ideas to engage the consumers and start promoting aggressively. Blessed Friday Sales are incredibly suitable and profitable for the Pakistani market, and the non-Muslim communities as well.
The month of November leads to Diwali, Christmas, New Year, and the wedding season as well. It is a win-win situation for both the consumer, business, and market.
Buying new furniture, mobile, electronic, home appliances—people eagerly wait for the Blessed Friday sale. Brands have so much to offer, making the consumer more curious and anxiously waiting for the offerings.
When this trend came to Pakistan, it got a lot of backlashes. With the passage of time, it became normal and part of Pakistani culture. Back in time, people used to take committees for buying a heavy product—now they wait for the Blessed Friday sales for their expensive purchases.
Not just the high-end brands, the local brands are also now taking part in this trend. People from all the classes can take part in this trend as almost all Pakistan brands offer discounts and deals in this season.
A centuries-old practice of having a shopping season in western countries has become trending in Pakistan. Nevertheless, it has gained more popularity than western countries due to massive marketing campaigns. Besides, it is not an ordinary event for Pakistan—this event breaks the national records of sales.
With the increasing hype of this trend in Pakistan—it raises a lot of questions. Why can’t Pakistani brands come up with their own trends, instead of following the western countries? Well, now there is no going back as the trend has already taken over the market.
