RETALIERS are expected to cash in on this year’s Black Friday as bargain-hungry shoppers will be demanding even more discounts and ideal shopping experiences two years into the Covid-19 pandemic.

South African e-commerce space Loot.co.za has ensured that the infrastructure and technology behind its platforms were 110 percent ready to deliver the customer experience that would bring its customers back for more deals during the month of Black Fridays, said the company’s chief executive Greg le Roux.

He said the pre-planning with all its strategic partners was completed and Loot.co.za was happy to announce that it was ready.

“Every Friday in November, Loot. co.za will be dropping new deals.

“This means that new deals are dropped on the 5th, 12th and 19th of November.

“All deals are valid from when they are released until the end of Cyber Monday. During the week of the 22nd of November, new deals will be dropped daily.

“This will includes Black Friday itself when the crème de la crème of deals will be released.

“For the first time ever, Loot.co.za will also be hosting a not-to-be-missed, Cyber Monday sale.” Le Roux said.

Historically, Black Friday has been driven by tech and home electronics, which Loot.co.za said was expected continue and had much more to offer.

Le Roux said it would have the largest range available to its discount hungry customers.

“To name but a few, Black Friday deals include offers on Lenovo laptops with savings of over R3 500, selected Defy appliances with savings of over R2 500.

“Selected fragrance deals will be available with up to 90 percent off savings. For outdoor and DIY enthusiasts, there will be deals on Bosch, Ryobi, Dremel and so much more.

“All these are just the tip of the iceberg, you will need to visit the site to browse all the great deals.”

The company said that with 13 different payment options, it would be easy to shop online at Loot.co.za this Black Friday.

Some of its payment partners included Visa, Mastercard, Discovery Miles, Ozow and Mobicred. Shoppers will also be also able to pay via EFT.

“To ensure we can deliver to all corners of South Africa, there are numerous delivery options available including door to door courier as well as click and collect.”

Meanwhile, FortiGuard Labs has urged consumers to be vigilant over the Black Friday period.

It had observed more and more scams involving counterfeit websites that appeared to be legitimate e-commerce sites as Friday and Cyber Monday kick off the holiday shopping season.

“We say ‘appear to be’ because, to the untrained eye, these sites may look safe, but if you aren’t paying attention, they can steal your payment (and possibly payment information) via a purchase you thought was legitimate.

“Fake e-commerce sites are quickly becoming the latest threat to consumers and they cover a wide range of products to lure potential buyers.”

It recently came across a live, active scam that leveraged the look and feel of the world’s largest companies and their respective trademarks to compel and lure victims into making purchases from their site.

According to FortiGuard Labs, the sites were in no way affiliated with the trademark/IP owner, and were recognisable, in part, because they used the same template over and over in a digital game of whack-a-mole (meaning that as soon as one site gets shut down another one immediately pops up somewhere else).

It said that 30 percent of all retail sales occurred between Black Friday and Christmas Day.

FortiGuard Labs said that since the advent of Cyber Monday, brick and mortar and e-commerce stores alike stood to generate a significant portion of their annual revenue over this shopping “holiday” weekend, often allowing retailers to catch up on revenue and meet goals and sales numbers for the year.

given.majola@inl.co.za

BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE

#loot

Retailers in the country are gearing up for bumper Black Friday