Black Friday fever is running high and local retailers are pulling out all the stops to dabble in the black this coming Friday. Options open to shoppers include debit and credit cards, gift cards, buy now pay later, in-store credit and, of course, cash. But research by Finder.com shows that South Africans are only likely to buy items discounted 50% and up, with one in five South Africans saying they’ll need a whopping 90% discount for them to shop the sales.
While Black Friday offers a great buy opportunity, retailers are facing a supply chain crisis caused by Covid-19 disruptions, a boom in demand, impending strikes and shortages of workers, equipment and space. Although retailers have given the assurance that they will be well stocked, it may influence sales from previously burnt consumers who experienced substantial delivery delays from online stores in the past few years. In some instances shoppers waited more than a month for their Black Friday purchases.
Where there’s bargains there are scammers. Banks have warned consumers to be vigilant when shopping online, offering advice on how to stay safe, while warning shoppers to deal with only reputable and familiar websites.
An even bigger fear is a flare-up in Covid-19 cases. With many people vaccinated and the country at Level 1, many consumers could become complacent and hit shopping malls under a false sense of safety. The SA Medical Research Council has already picked up early signs of an uptick in Covid-19 cases as we head into a fourth wave of infections.
With tighter budgets, possible delays in deliveries and the real fears of scams and Covid, retailers may be in for a surprise this year.
In the markets, a combination of rising Covid cases and lockdowns in Europe, along with talk of a faster pace of taper in the US, has seen risk aversion and a continued move into the dollar, writes TreasuryONE. “EM currencies remain under pressure, with the rand testing R15.78 on Friday before closing at R15.72. The unit opens the new trading week at R15.74, with the key technical levels being R15.55 and R15.80 for now,” comments the forex trading house.
Here’s a roundup of the world’s top and most interesting headlines:
SA Business
$138m later: The Sentry reveals Kabila’s brother laundered $2.4m through Joburg properties – Daily Maverick
Aspen’s sales windfall totals R1.8bn – Cape Business News
TAKE A LOOK | SA’s MeerKAT telescope spent 1,000 hours staring into space – here’s what it saw – Business Insider
Global Business
Covid: Austria back in lockdown as protests rock Europe – BBC News
KKR makes $12 billion bid for Telecom Italia at 46% premium – Bloomberg
Here’s what 14 top executives are saying about the ‘metaverse’ – Business Insider
Markets
Most Asian markets drop on renewed Covid, inflation concerns – AFP
The $5 billion hoard of metal the world wants but can’t have – Bloomberg
Strange days: Share prices are soaring while South Africa Inc is struggling – Daily Maverick
Opinion/In-depth
Power politics: Who is really responsible for the Eskom disaster? – Daily Maverick
The story of denim: Is it going through an identity crisis? – The Independent
Ramaphosa presidency’s dithering over rampant corruption is the stuff of legend – Daily Maverick
Video
Is New Delhi on track to become the world’s first fully solar-powered metro? – Euronews
Chris Logan on Tongaat’s monster R4bn rights issue – Biznews
TWYG Fashion Awards | Young designers saving the planet – eNCA
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