With Black Friday set to fall on 29 November 2019, a number of South Africans have already begun planning their purchases.

However, consumers may not realise the extraordinary amount of work that retailers put in to make sure that things run smoothly on the day.

Speaking to BusinessTech, Makro said that the preparations for South Africa’s biggest shopping day start months in advance.

“Makro has been planning for Black Friday for the past 6 months. Our buyers work on getting deals very early in the year,” a spokesperson said.

“Customers shop across our range, from wine to fridges. Some of our most popular products are gaming consoles, washing machines, TVs, laptops & beer.”

As in previous years, Makro said that its Black Friday sale will take place over five days with the sale dubbed ‘Black 5 Day’.

New technology

Makro added that Black Friday provides an opportunity to focus on certain new technologies and features that will help deal with the influx of shoppers.

In 2018 this included an ‘online drive-thru service’ at the Makro Riversands store, with Makro focusing on checkout process in 2019.

“We have been focussing on improving our checkout process by reducing queues through the mobile pay-point system,” it said.

It added that it will also be focusing on special deals through its mobile app.

“Our aim is to save customers money over the period. Look out for an even broader range of deals available through mRewards.”