POLL | Will you be hitting the shops on Black Friday?

Arguably the biggest shopping holiday of the year, Black Friday is around the corner and thousands of eager shoppers are expected to head to stores across the country to nab a deal.

Major retailers have announced their specials — some great and many blah — which will go live at midnight.

Last year South Africans spent billions on purchases during Black Friday, with FNB recording a 19% year-on-year increase and transactions worth more than R2bn processed on its Speedpoints.

FNB card holders made purchases in excess of R2.5bn on Black Friday, an increase of 15% compared to 2020.

Standard Bank said its total card transactions for Black Friday 2021 increased by 17% compared with the same period the previous year, with the average value of transactions up by 13%.

With lockdown restrictions a thing of the past, many have shared their excitement at heading to stores to pick up an item or 10, while others said they would shop online.

More said they were avoiding the “scam” of Black Friday or did not have money to splurge this year.

Tech expert and founder of World Wide Worx, Arthur Goldstuck, told TimesLIVE that products meant to help beat load-shedding would be in high demand.

He also predicted TVs would sell fast.

“Black Friday is always a bonanza time for TV buyers, and we expect the category to dominate this year. It will be led by three drivers: smaller units plunging in cost, ultra-large-screen TV becoming affordable, and new display technology coming to lower cost devices.”

Those who are not sure if they are getting a “once in a lifetime” deal can turn to online price trackers such as software developer Ashton Hudson's Serval, which looks at a product's listing price on Takealot over several months.