Black Friday and Cyber Monday are two shopping ‘holidays’ that get bundled together, but what exactly is the difference between the two? With many people wanting to get their festive shopping out of the way before December madness hits, November is sure to be a big month for retailers. Black Friday and Cyber Monday offer great opportunities to score big deals on the items you want, so it’s important to know the difference between the two.
When did Black Friday start?
We’ve covered this a bit before, but Black Friday‘s origins stretch a fair while back (with some pretty surprising origins). Black Friday as we know it now dates back to the early 1950s, where such big sales would take place that annual store profits would often tip into “the black” (meaning no longer “in the red,” which is accounting parlance for losing money) once all the receipts were tallied.
Shoppers came in droves because the day after Thanksgiving was typically a day off, making it the perfect day to shop. Then the internet happened, and Black Friday quickly spread around the world. Now, years on, in addition to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, many retailers are spreading the love with additional shopping weeks and days spread throughout November and December. This includes Singles Day and the price-smashing PriceCheck Wonder Week, which knocks up to 70% off on electronics, TVs, fashion, tech, gaming, and more!
When did Cyber Monday start?
Unlike Black Friday, Cyber Monday has a fairly recent history. The first Cyber Monday can be traced back to 2005, where online stores decided to run their own big sales to compete with the brick-and-mortar juggernaut that was Black Friday.
Why Monday and not Saturday? While you would think it would make more sense for the big cyber sale to be on a weekend (that’s when people shop, right?) the truth of consumer behaviour is that people love shopping online while at work.
Aren’t they really the same thing?
While both Black Friday and Cyber Monday are now physical and online sale days, traditionally, they each started in the realm of the real-world and online world respectively.
Cyber Monday has also evolved to not just being any online sale for all categories, but a particular focus on gadgets, electronics, gaming, and tech-related product specials. Now, you could find any good deal of Cyber Monday, but you’ll be wanting to look at what the big tech retailers are doing specifically.
If you want to keep an eye on the best Cyber Monday deals in South Africa, then PriceCheck should be your first port of call. The special humans at PriceCheck will be keeping track of specials from these stores and many others on the day and will make it easy for you to find the best savings possible!
PriceCheck tip: Find your new TV by checking out PriceCheck’s roundup of best TVs for under R5,999.
