The Black Friday shopping frenzy caught up with people across the globe after Thanksgiving Day and deal shopping was so intense that Costco’s website and app in the US went down and long queues were seen outside hypermarket stores like Walmart, Target, and Best Buy. According to USA Today, At a JC Penney store in Merritt Island, Florida, shoppers started lining up before noon for a coupon giveaway at 2pm on Thursday. By the time the store opened, hundreds had lined up.
“Major retailers, including Best Buy, Target, Macy’s and for the first time Bed Bath & Beyond, have in-store specials for those who want to shop on the holiday,” said the report.
According to the US National Retail Federation, shoppers are expected to spend $728 billion to $731 billion (roughly Rs. 52,00,000 crores) in November and December. Market research firm eMarketer predict the shopping may even hit $1 trillion (roughly Rs. 72,00,000 crores) this year.
Smartphones and gaming products were once again topped the chart for shoppers on Day One.
The US carriers AT&T, Sprint and Verizon put special Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals on Apple iPhones.
Best iPhone deals were: Get iPhone 11 for $0/mo at Sprint when you trade in your iPhone 6s or newer in any condition; save up to 60 percent on the Apple iPhone XR; save up to 57 percent on the Apple iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone 8 at Sprint and save up to 60 per cent on a wide range of Apple iPhones, the carriers said in a statement.
Apple on his part once again put sizzling Black Friday deals on offer — from iPads as low as $237 to MacBook Pros up to $1,700 off.
According to Appleinsider.com, the best Apple deals for the next three days were: Apple AirPods with Wireless Charging Case: $159.99 ($40 off); 2018 15-inch MacBook Pro (2.6GHz, 32GB, 1TB, Radeon 560X) Gray: $2,299 ($1,300 off); 11-inch iPad Pro (1TB, Wi-Fi): $1,099 @ Amazon ($250 off); 2018 13-inch MacBook Pro (2.3GHz, 8GB, 512GB) Silver: $1,499 ($500 off); 2017 MacBook Air (1.8GHz, 8GB, 128GB): $699 ($300 off) and 2019 MacBook Air (1.6GHz, 8GB, 128GB): $899 ($200 off), among others.
The newly-launched Apple AirPods Pro with Wireless Charging Case was available for $234.98 ($15 off).
The 44mm Apple Watch 5 (GPS) Gold Aluminum, Pink Sport Band was available for $409 at Amazon ($20 off) and 44mm Apple Watch 5 (Cellular) Black Stainless, Black Sport Band was going for $669 at Amazon ($80 off).
There were queues for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, VR, and PC games across retail stores.
According to Wired.com, Nintendo Switch with Spyro Reignited Trilogy game was available for $289 ($45 off). The Nintendo Switch alone costs $299.
Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons were available for $60 ($20 off) at Walmart and Best Buy.
Sony PS4 1 TB along with God of War, The Last of Us Remastered, and Horizon Zero Dawn games were going for $199 ($100) off which was steal deal.
PS4 Pro with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare game was available for for $299 ($100 off again).
Microsodt Xbox One S with Sea of Thieves, Fortnite, and Minecraft games was available for $150 ($100 off) while Xbox One X with Jedi: Fallen Order game was being sold for $349 ($150 off) at Amazon, Best Buy and Walmart.
Xbox One Controller was available for for $39 ($30 off).
Black Friday, or the Friday after the Thanksgiving Day in the US, is regarded as the beginning of Christmas shopping season.
Thanksgiving being one of the biggest shopping seasons in the US, online stores all over the world including the UK, Japan, Australia, European Union and India are also offering Black Friday sales.
Cyber Monday is a marketing term for the Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday. It was created by retailers to encourage people to shop online.