Spurred on to buy

Other than the weather, Christmas and New Years, the best part of winter is shopping, especially the Black Friday sale. This is the day following Thanksgiving, and replete as it is with special offers and discounts, regarded as the beginning of the Christmas shopping.

While sales go up in malls, online shopping from Friday to Sunday on sites like Myntra, Amazon, Flipkart, eBay is also on the rise.

Black Friday sales have picked up hugely over the last five years as people enjoy buying casual and office wear, and also expensive stuff which is finally affordable. 

Kavita Jain, a businesswoman and socialite from the city was seen shopping with her family at two famous city malls and had shopped for Rs 40,000. She bought a lot of winter coats, boots and T-shirts, home appliances, footwear and home decor as well. 

She shares, “I rarely buy things that are usually very expensive and out of budget. But I buy it all during the sale season.”

While Kavita got things not related to the season as well, for Tanusha Bajaj, a fashion blogger form the city, the sale is about purchasing things that are connected to the season. 

“I do not buy things that are not related to the season though they may be offering huge discounts. Since it is the holiday season my friends and my family tag along. This is a blessing.”

Discounts come in all shapes and sizes from a flat 35 per cent to up to 50 per cent and more. Some places give discounts in the form of coupons that offer customers to buy stuff and get free coupon. 

While these discounts might not matter to some for others they do. “Avid shopper that I am, lately, I am spoilt for choice. With countless shopping portals these days, people have innumerable varieties and services to choose from. I like the shopping experience and the merchandise displays especially during this sale season of Black Friday. On Friday I shopped for nearly Rs 80,000 and I am planning to buy more today,” shares Taher Ali Baig, a businessman.

The enthusiasm of the employees and people around the sale season makes him happy and forces him to buy a lot more. “Hyderabad has been pretty good at gathering some exclusive brands and I am happy the way shopping experiencing is taking shape in the city lately” he says.

There is however, a growing tribe of online shoppers. “No matter how better we can understand the quality or fitting in the mall, online shopping is my thing. I have purchased electronics and a lot of kitchen items for my mother as there is a good sale online and the discount is the same. It is better to buy things online rather than waste time and energy at the malls,” shares businessman, Huzefa Roha. 

Yash Chawla, a city-based Radio Jockey and show producer plans to buy two watches from the online sale though only one offers a good discount price. “Black Friday just triggers me to buy things, even if they are not in an offer price. I keep hearing in my office that people are buying so much stuff, so it just makes me want to buy more,” he adds. 

Nishka Agarwal, owner of an online shoe brand shares that sales improve with a discount even in the wedding season of November and December. “It is the season of sale of our shoes and also the season of offers. So we look at customer satisfaction and give them a flat Rs 750 off or discount up to 50 per cent,” she concludes.