By Myles Illidge - MyBroadband

Bob Shop and Massmart have revealed their Black Friday plans, with Bob Shop opting for a six-day-long sale while Massmart will offer month-long Black Friday deals.

Bob Shop’s Black Friday deals will run 20–26 November 2023, and the e-commerce platform will also host auctions for various items, including a Suzuki Swift, with bidding starting at R1.

“From November 20 to 26, Bob Shop will be slashing its already low everyday prices across certain product categories,” said Craig Lubbe, head of marketplace at Bob Shop.

He added that deals of up to 60% off will be offered for various items from its most popular product categories.

“Shoppers can sign up now to get onto the list to receive deals first,” Lubbe added.

The online retailer says its Black Friday auctions will start at R1 and carry no reserve price.

“These auctions will feature top-brand products, including TVs, fridges and smartphones,” said Lubbe. “The highlight will be the hero auction for the Suzuki Swift, set to take place on 24 November.”

Regarding the Suzuki Swift auction, shoppers can guess the winning bid for the car from 13 November to stand a chance of winning R50,000.

“The total prize pot is actually R100,000 because if users refer friends to participate in the ‘Guess and Win’ competition and one of the people they’ve referred makes the guess closest to the winning bid, the original referrer also wins R50,000,” said Lubbe.

Bob Shop will offer R30 shipping for any orders of R100.

Massmart owns online retailers like Game, Makro, and Builders, and its month-long Black Friday promotions will be available in-store and online.

“Customers have made it clear that they prefer longer promotions that give them more time to compare pricing and avoid the traditional Black Friday rush,” said Massmart.

“This also has the beneficial effect of spreading what would otherwise be very concentrated customer demand.”

Regarding its preparations for the rush of customers expected over the promotional period, Massmart said it stress tests its systems by replicating peak period trading volumes.

“We were encouraged by the robustness of our online process during our July 2023 halfway-day sale, which generated volumes similar to Black Friday,” it said.

It added that during the July 2023 sale, it delivered 80% of orders within two days.

“In the first week of our current Black Friday promotion, we have continued to execute in line with our delivery promise,” Massmart added.

Massmart’s approach to Black Friday will see it launch promotions each week across high-demand categories such as Electronics, TVs and Appliances.

It provided examples of the deals customers can expect to see at its stores:

• LG 86-inch Smart Nano UHD TV — R27,999 (Makro)
• Asus 15.6-inch Ryzen 5 Laptop — R10,999 (Makro)
• Defy 700mm Gemini Thermofan Double Oven — R13,999 (Makro)
• Samsung 55-inch QLED TV — R10,999 (Game)
• Hisense 8kg Front Loader washing machine — R5,499 (Game)
• Hisense 508L Side by Side fridge — R10,999 (Game)
• Goldair Side by Side Fridge/Freezer — R9,999 (Builders)
• Samsung 32L mirrored microwave — R1,999 (Builders)
• Bennett Read KPC102 Superchef Multi Cooker — R1,099 (Builders)

Vodacom previously told MyBroadband that customers can expect to get over 75% off deals, ranging from big data bundles to business Internet LTE deals — starting today.

Regarding its online marketplace, Vodacom told MyBroadband that its platforms are ready for the big sales event.

“In the online channel, we have seen a noteworthy increase in website traffic. Our platforms are ready to serve customers as at midnight last night when our weekly black Friday deals go live,” it said.

“We have put measures in place to avoid any infrastructure downtime. In addition, we have also beefed up security controls across our e-commerce channels.”

MyBroadband also asked FNB, JD Group, and Takealot for comment. However, they are still keeping their plans under wraps and did not respond by the time of publication.