Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News – 22-11-2017

A Wits University marketing professor says Black Friday is not driven by religious beliefs.

South African consumers are gearing up for another Black Friday, when the country follows the American tradition of massive retail shopping sales.

Last year there were stampedes with people getting hurt as they fought over the last item on sale.

Steve Burgess says Black Friday is more associated with the holiday season when companies shut down and people usually go on vacations and also shopping.

“This is not about religion at all. Most of your listeners are going to be people who adhere to the Islamic faith tradition. So the motivation are not really driven by religious beliefs, they’re driven more by the fact that you have this expectation that this time of the year people are going to be shopping, the seasons are changing and people are taking advantage of that.”

Burgess says Black Friday is also an opportunistic day for retailers to offer so called deep cut deals to consumers who may not really need anything.

He says retailers use Black Friday to move stock that is obsolete.

“Many times consumers will look at this and think this is actually a pretty good deal and I don’t need the bells and whistles on the new model. Usually there is a lot of scepticism around the world, but usually retailers are trying to move stock into people’s homes before the Christmas holiday shopping begins.”

Burgess says consumers need to think carefully about what they want before going on a spending spree and getting caught up in the rhetoric that they have to buy.

Twitter: @FaizelPatel143