DARTMOUTH, N.S. - It may only be early November, but Black Friday sales offering a variety of shopping discounts are already underway in many stores across Canada. Black Friday, the day when many retailers across North America offer massive sales to help jump-start the Christmas shopping season, is not until Nov. 27. However, in recent years, there has been an increasing trend to offer cheaper prices and promotions several weeks ahead of the actual day. “Retailers now start their Black Friday sales in the beginning of November,” said retail analyst Bruce Winder. “Best Buy, Canadian Tire, Amazon and a lot of others are out there hammering away every week to offer deals and because of that it has really become Black Friday month now and not just one day.” Winder also pointed out that most shoppers no longer wait until mid-December to begin their holiday shopping. Online and in-store deals have motivated many consumers to purchase products earlier, lengthening the shopping season leading to Dec. 25. “Retailers always want to extend the shopping season and give consumers a reason to log on to a shopping website or to go to the store to buy products,” Winder said. “Retail operators know that shoppers are not going to spend money unless there is a promotion to help them save money at a time when there is an affordability crisis.” Holiday shopping starts early Adrian Fernando, assistant store leader of operations at the Best Buy in Dartmouth, said a lot of customers have flocked to his location and others in the area looking to take advantage of bargains. “Our sales started this past Monday for our early Black Friday promotions, and every week some of those sales will change and then all of the sales will be put back in place during the actual week of Black Friday,” Fernando said. “We get a lot of customers coming in and asking if certain things are on sale and I would say business is going to be double and close to triple the amount that we would usually do, and that includes a lot of online orders.” According to Fernando, there have also been changes in the store’s inventory, with a wider variety of products available for shoppers starting in early November. “This year our hot sellers will be the Bambu Lab 3D printers, and a lot of smartwatches, smartphones and Fitbits,” Fernando said. Winder added that the entire Black Friday concept has become a make-or-break proposition for many companies looking to ramp up pre-Christmas business. “That is why they call it ‘Black Friday,’ because in the past a lot of companies were operating in the red, in other words they were losing money, and then at the end of Black Friday they made so much money that they were in the ‘black’ of making money for the year,” Winder said. “So, depending on the business, this often is a massive must-win month for most retailers.” For shoppers like Jarret Rogers, the early sales are welcomed. “This was regular $100, but I got it for $45,” he said referring to his new headphones. “I really didn’t need this, and I didn’t need to buy anything, but I went into a store because I saw the sales, so I decided to buy it.”
