The Black Friday Fiasco
Long waiting lines. Heartbeat fast. Waiting for the shutter to open. Keeping the eyes on the prize. You are a part of the Black Friday fiasco — A yearly phenomenon when brands drop their prices insanely, and people wait for hours in the long line just to be the first ones to enter the shop. They spend the whole day simply shopping. Brands drop their prices by up to 90 per cent, and people take advantage of the opportunity to the fullest. From clothes to appliances, books, and décor, you name it. They’ve got a sale on at that favourite shop from where you wanted that knitted sweater and the limited collector’s edition classics book.
And that Black Friday fever made its way to Pakistan as well. Started as Black Friday in some shops, it gained a lot of criticism on its name because of the purity and importance of Friday in Islam, then changed its name to White, Golden and Blessed Friday, and now it’s a norm. Every year, around October and November, brands start their Black/White Friday sale, and people make their way to markets instantly, buying some necessary things and mostly spending way more than they intended. Even though the sales are not insane like in America, where prices significantly drop, it’s enough to make people spend money. From 30 to even 70% off, brands attract customers in any way they can, marketing in a way that makes us think we’re saving money, not spending it. But in Pakistan, the Black Friday fever lasts for a minimum of a week, as compared to America, where it’s for only one day.
The Ultimate Marketing Strategy
Whoever decided to have a day when they would drop their products’ prices significantly to grab extra customers deserves appreciation. And whoever actually views this phenomenon as another strategy for the brand owners to make money and make you empty your pockets deserves an even greater level of appreciation. Because they saw right through the strategy. In the end, this strategy is simply a component of compulsive consumerism. It causes us to spend significantly more than initially planned, often resulting in acquiring unnecessary items that we did not genuinely need. We see a sale ad and start to think that we will actually be saving money. However, in the end, spending money on an item that is half the original price still counts as spending, unlike spending nothing at all. money. But we doubt that much. We begin to view everything as essential when it is not accompanied by a high price tag.
Desires Over Pay Cheque
Brands take advantage of people like us, who spend without thinking, because they only care about their business booming. They don’t care if we impulsively buy things we don’t need or if we go into debt just because we spent our whole pay cheque in one day. They study consumer psychology and then apply it. Brands understand consumer reactions to sales, their feelings about a single, very expensive yet beautiful coat, and how to attract the most customers by initially setting sky-high prices and then temporarily reducing them to their true value. And we contribute to the whole cycle.
Sure, there may be some advantages to having low prices, like people can finally buy their eyepieces and actually save money sometimes, and brands get to generate revenue, but if you look carefully, it’s more in favour of brands than us. We don’t necessarily need a limited collector’s edition of every single book that exists, and we certainly don’t need another chunky sweater when we already have five more just like that. But we still end up buying them. Why? Brands have made Black Friday so alluring and have marketed it in such a way that we find it impossible to resist.
The Consequential Financial Regret
After the sales end and we are at home reviewing the bills for all the new items we purchased, we feel regret. We feel remorse for overspending and regret not exercising more caution when purchasing four pairs of socks at a 50% discount. Financial regret is something all of us have, because no matter how much we keep a check and balance on our spending, sometimes we give in to our wants and end up buying the most expensive thing we would have never bought if it were at its original price. But the brands don’t seem to care about that. When marketing for their sales, they forget to add a warning sign that “too much shopping leads to financial regret.”
Pakistan is Not Made For Black/White Fridays
At that moment, while looking at our bills, we promise ourselves that we will not spend a dime next year on these Black Friday sales and will go straight home after the office, but we can’t seem to escape the inevitable cycle. And we soon find ourselves back in the shops, holding 20 bags containing one actually needed item and several unnecessary products. It’s not just about spending more than intended; it’s more about how we have created this cycle, and we can’t seem to break free from it. Brands, and frankly, even we don’t seem to care about our financial situations, and that makes the whole Friday fever somewhat sad, especially when people go into financial debt after spending more than required. Overall, it does not benefit consumers, especially those of a country with a low economy where the majority of the people go from hand to mouth, such as Pakistan.