With a few simple steps, you can save yourself a lot of time and money – and ensure you get all the items that are on your wish list. The points below provide a basic overview of how to prepare for Black Friday 2018.
Make a wish list
Make a list of all the items you want to buy on Black Friday. It sounds simple enough, but a physical list will ensure you do not forget anything or buy things that you did not initially want to. Once you have bought an item, cross it off and move on to the next one.
Order of importance
On your list of items, you want to buy, order them from most important to least important. This will ensure that you first buy the items you want the most before you run out of time or money – or stores sell out of their stock.
Have a budget
Set out how much you are willing to spend in total for the day, and how much you would like to spend on each item. For example – my budget for the sale is UGX 850,000. The budget for the items I want is UGX 450,000 for a smartphone; UGX 250,000 for a hard drive; and UGX 150,000 for a Bluetooth speaker. Once you have bought something and crossed it off your list, deduct its price from your total budget. Related Article: The Ultimate guide to shopping on Jumia
Have reference pricing
Once you have made a list of the items you want and set your budget, start collecting reference pricing for what you want to buy. As an example: if you want to buy a Samsung UA40M5000 – 40″ – Full HD LED TV, start checking now how much it costs and if it comes up in any specials before Black Friday. If you look around in October and early November and see that UGX 1,700,000 is the best price you can find, write the reference price next to the TV on your list. Come Black Friday, you will not fall for the “amazing price” of UGX 1,649,999. Reference pricing will help you make more informed decisions about your purchases.
List of stores
It can also be helpful to make a list of stores you want to check out. This is for two reasons. In case you have extra funds and time, going to your favorite stores could result in you finding a good deal in a category of items you want. More importantly, though, it will let you quickly navigate from store to store while checking the prices of items you want to buy. A quick look at various stores for the same item will give you a good overview of Black Friday prices on offer.
Check delivery times
While online stores may offer good deals on Black Friday, keep an eye out for their expected delivery times. If you are buying items for a holiday, a birthday, or Christmas, make sure their promised delivery time is well before your target date. Jumia promises delivery within 6 business days from when the order is placed.
Wake up early and check sale dates
Once you have your item, price, and store list, see when the sales start. Certain stores will start their sales on Monday on the week of Black Friday, while others may run for several days after Black Friday. Jumia, for example, will be hosting a longer 4-week Black Friday sale. Make sure your timing is scheduled accordingly. You will also have to wake up early for certain sales, which start just after midnight on the morning of Black Friday. You need to get ready for these discounts. With the above guide, start preparing to go shopping this Black Friday. Also, share with us some of your shopping behaviors on such days in the comments section.
