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Good morning and welcome to the Daily OS. It's Thursday, the twenty seventh of November. I'm Emma Gillespie, I'm Zara Seidler. For most of the world, Australia included, tomorrow will be the biggest shopping event of the year, Black Friday. Now, if you have been feeling overwhelmed by sales targeted ads once in a lifetime deals flooding your email inbox for weeks,
now you are definitely not alone. Today we are unpacking the origins of Black Friday, how it became such a massive phenomenon in Australia, and the sales tactics experts say consumers need to know about.
M We share an office with a retailer shout out to we love your underwear. And I was in the kitchen the other day asking how Black Friday was going. I thought it had happened already, and the founder looked at me and was like, nah, that's next week. And I had no idea because it feels like it's been going on for so long.
I woke up on Saturday morning to more and more emails and I thought, this is crazy because it was yesterday, alas it was not.
It was not, But that is the feeling that it is omnipresent, It is everywhere all at once. How did this happen? Because I don't remember this always being the case in Australia.
It wasn't always the case in Australia. But as with so many pop culture phenomenons and everyday fixtures in our lives, this is a US tradition. So Black Friday is traditionally the day after Thanksgiving, the holiday in the US which falls on the fourth Thursday of November so today. The term itself, though, is believed to have been coined by police in Philadelphia all the way back in the sixties.
They used Black Friday to describe the chaos of large numbers who visited the city to watch this annual football game and Army Navy Thanksgiving game. Right and retailers then saw this massive influx of shoppers at the time, they started offering discounts to capitalize on those crowds, and the name and sales went national across the US from the eighties onwards. Then, as we know it headed overseas as brands started to tap into global markets. It's shifted exponentially
with the online shopping era. And I've also heard Black Friday referred to black Friday because it's the day retailer's bottom lines go from red to black.
And that being because they get rid of so much stock, there are so many sales. Yeah, it is insane to me that its origins are in Philly at a game. I don't even know what it is, and now it's everywhere in Australia. How did it go from there to here? How did it come to Australia in such force?
It came to Australia in twenty thirteen when Apple, who was a m twenty thirteen. Yeah, Apple was one of the first major retailers to offer Black Friday deals here. It's obviously only grown since then, and I think it's no coincidence that online shopping has boomed since then. Two but interestingly in Australia, and this could be why maybe
we were slower to the uptake. The term was actually quite controversial because black Friday had long referred to these devastating bushfires in Victoria in nineteen thirty eight and thirty nine, which killed at least seventy one people destroyed more than one thousand businesses, so people were quite sensitive about using that term.
Yeah, that's so interesting, and while there may have been some hesitation, it certainly feels like it's here and it's here to stay. Do you have any numbers on how big it has actually become here in Australia?
Big with a capital b zara. The sales that began this week are projected to be worth a record six point eight billion dollars for the Australian economy. That's an increase of four from last year, and almost half of Australian retailers now say that Black Friday has overtaken Boxing Day as their biggest sales event of the year. That's according to some survey data, by zero. And our expectations
are higher now too. So until recently, an average discount of say twenty percent was enough to kind of draw our attention, whereas now that's grown to thirty percent. So we need to see a sale discount of about thirty percent before we feel compelled to participate.
I will not even look at it if it's under thirty perce well, exactly, no wasting my time.
It feels too underwhelming, and the demand has gotten so big here that Australia Post has actually expanded its delivery days to keep up. It's reintroduced seven day parcel deliveries in metro cities to keep up with this current rush.
Yeah, and I want to pick up on something you just said before about the nature of the sales, because off Mike, you and I were talking about the fact that we've seen a lot of tiktoks, a lot of chatter online about some companies that suggesting they've got really big sales, but when you actually look at it, it's perhaps not as big as it seems. What do we know about what the nature of these sales actually are, Like, are they as good as they see?
Yeah, well, you are right to be skeptical. Consumer Group Choice has actually done some digging into sales tactics this Black Friday and then found some pretty concerning patterns. One of them that I saw they were pushing was to be very aware of when you see a big, flashy graphic of say, sixty percent off, you might zoom in and see there's very fine print inside that sixty that says up to sixty percent off the implication sidewide, But
it's really not so. Choice also said that one of the biggest issues is what it's called was slash now pricing to make a discount look more impressive, So was one hundred dollars now fifty dollars, for example. But Choice is found that in many cases that that was price is inflated, or the product was never sold at that rice or was very temporarily sold at that price, so the discount isn't really as good as it appears.
I saw a girl on TikTok talking about the fact that she had had her eye on this T shirt for ages very expensive t shirt, i'll add, but she said it was one hundred and twenty dollars and she was waiting for it to go on sale, and then in these Black Friday sales she says it went up to or it was marked at one hundred and eighty on discount on sale to one hundred and twenty. She's like,
I know it was one hundred and twenty. I see through this, And there's so many comments of people saying, yeah, I've seen this everywhere.
I think it's a very common experience, which is frankly terrifying.
Yeah.
Choice also found examples of products that were cheaper at other times of the year than during Black Friday sales, which I think is an important note too.
Yeah, that is really interesting, and so the idea that these are the best deals you'll find all year might not necessarily be.
True exactly, And this isn't just happening in Australia. The UK Consumer Watchdog tracked thousands of products last year and found the majority with the same price or cheaper at other times of the year. In fact, only two percent of products they tracked were genuinely cheapest on Black Friday itself.
Gosh, I think tracking behaviors here would be so interesting. We've like been primed and conditioned to believe everything we are sold.
Oh, the consumer psychology of it all fascinating is a whole other podcast.
It really is. M That is obviously one side of the coin. What else has Choice highlighted could be happening here?
They highlighted this artificial urgency, which we've touched on a little bit, but things like a countdown timer when you see warnings of limited stock. You know, you put something in your cart and it says only two left, hurry or sale end soon. Those kinds of messages are really designed to pressure you into buying something immediately without properly comparing the prices or thinking about whether you actually need the item. There's also this issue of what are called
doorbustered deals. Now, these are heavily advertised products at genuinely low prices, but retailers will often have very limited stock, so it creates this hype. But the point really isn't for retailers to sell those items. They're trying to get you in store or onto their websites where you'll hopefully buy something else, or more than one thing. Another tactic is the bundle deal. You might see, you know, buy two get one free or similar offers, so you might
not actually need three of something. You're not saving any money, you're spending more, but you feel like you're getting more.
Goodness me, I'm just realizing how many of these tactics I've fallen victim.
Too, you and me both.
Yeah. Anyway, we'll be back with the rest of today's deep Dive after a short note from today's sponsor. Okay, Sha m I've already highlighted my vulnerabilities here. I am not a very savvy shofer, and I imagine that some of our listeners might be feeling the same way. Yeah, for anyone who is feeling just a bit overwhelmed by everything that is going on around Black Friday. Do experts have any advance for shoppers about what to do how to navigate this period. Yeah.
I think. First of all, it's not your fault. It's not our fault that we are so enticed by these deals. They are designed to get us excited and overwhelmed in this way to spend money. But there are a few practical steps from the experts, such as doing your research. Now.
That TikTok example you gave Zara is a perfect one, because if there's something you're genuinely planning to buy and you have tracked it and take a note of prices leading up to the sales, you have more of a real world sense of the value of the deal you might or might not be getting. There are price tracking websites or browser extensions that you can install where you can see the price history of products, so do a little bit of digging there. Second, I know this is hard,
but set a budget and stick to it. That's the advice that comes up time and time again. The whole point of these tactics is to get you to spend more than you planned, but having a really clear budget can help you stay focused and finally read the fine print. There are often tricky returns policies around heavily discounted items. Some retailers might make it harder to return sale items, so you need to know what your rights are in that case and ask yourself if you actually need it.
I know that this doesn't really align with the girl math life that we live, but she asked, because something is on sale, yeah, doesn't mean you need to buy it.
Well, I now have a running list on No one asks this, but I'm just going to share it. If I have a running list on my phone of like things I want, and I will just revisit it every month. Yeah, the number of things I take off that list because I have not thought about it since I first wrote it down. Like I'll have a moment where I'm like, oh, I need this, then I'll write it on the list, and then I only revisit it on a monthly basis, and then I realize, no, I in fact didn't need
that top in four colors. Smith's so funny because in the moment, you feel like you need it and then when a better time lapses, you realize.
You actually don't that it is actually incredible advice.
I'm going to stay it for my discipline and my willpower.
Something that happens to me if I impulse by is I will get something, and then a few months later I'll find almost the same version of it somewhere in my wardrobe. Like I'm often repeat purchasing and then realizing, oh wait, you have basically this dress already. You just forgot your own.
There you go. We are all just the same at the end of the day, aren't we am? I do just want to end on I guess a local note. We've highlighted the fact that it was a US centric thing that has now spread globally, including here to Australia. How have OZSI retailers responded to Black Friday this year?
There is a really interesting divide here between major retailers and small businesses. So overall, forty four percent of OUSSIE retailers are taking part in Black Friday this year. That's I thought, yeah, well, same, but it is up three percent from last year according to Deloitte. But we've also got this zero survey that found less than forty percent of small businesses are participating in Black Friday this year. That's down from twenty two percent last year, so a
massive drop for small businesses. Many say that it's because they just can't compete with larger retailers who can offer all these deep discounts because of their scale, because of their inventory and stock. A lot of slow fashion retailers you will hear them talking about that. You know, they do their best to price their products fairly year round, and they don't have the inventory and the resources to match these kind of low low prices. So not every
business is jumping on the bandwagon. Some are quite vocal about the pressure of these sales, and I think it's it's up to you as an individual, what businesses do you want to support and why. Before we wrap up, though, I do have a bonus tip for Black Friday, how to make lemonade out of your inbox being completely flooded. This is the time of year when you can unsubscribe
from all the retailers you no longer care about. So I've been going through as like a little bit of a Black Friday mindfulness exercise.
I have a culling, yeah, waking up every.
Morning going unsubscribe, unsubscribed, unsubscribed.
Yeah, and you've just I mean just a really clear note tdaight not reachtailer. You stay subscribed to us. Hang out however, everyone else gone, get rid of that. Gone, And thank you so much for taking us through that, and I guess adding some sense to the madness around us. So helpful.
Thank you, look after yourselves out there everyone the crazy world.
Thank you for joining us for another episode of The Daily oz. We'll be back later today with the headlines as usual, but until then, have a great day. My name is Lily Maddon and I'm a proud Dunda Bungelung Caalcutin woman from Gadigol Country. The Daily oz acknowledges that this podcast is recorded on the lands of the Gadighl people and pays respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island and nations. We pay our respects to the first peoples of these countries, both past and present.