Aussies who shop online can piggyback off Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals

The US tradition of “Black Friday” is catching on in Australia, with online shopping sites adopting special deals today through to “Cyber Monday”, which are readily available for Australians.

Black Friday marks the day after Thanksgiving in the United States, where Americans take advantage of the biggest deals in retail, similar to that of Boxing Day in Australia. 

According to the Black Friday shopping website, the day was coined in the 1960s when police in Philadelphia griped about the congested streets at the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. Black is also a connotation in the retail world for when stores move from “red”, meaning losses, into “black”, referring to profit. 

The term “Cyber Monday” was brought about by marketers more recently who wanted to boost the popularity of online shopping. But findings by Australia Post indicated Australians won’t be needing too much encouragement this year. 

Australia Post released the results of the nationwide survey on online shopping, and found that 87% of Aussies will be shopping online this Christmas. This is quite a hike from last year, which saw a mere 52% of Australians shopping online for Christmas. 

RELATED: More Aussies shopping on the way to work, says American Express 

To deal with the spike in online shopping over Christmas, Australia Post extended their opening hours over the silly season, and have a disguise packaging service for gifts. They are expecting to deliver 1.3 million parcels a day in December from online purchases. 

Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals for Aussies

If you look up your favorite shopping website, you’re likely to find plenty of Black Friday promotions. But for inspiration, here are some to get you started:

• The US department store Macy’s is sentimentally known by Americans as the original champion of Black Friday, because of its annual Thanksgiving Parades. Macy’s online even has its own Black Friday Page, and has free shipping on orders over $50. 

• If you’re still curious about US department stores, Nordstrom online does international orders and converts each product from US into AUD. The department store has a good range of brands, where the prices are generally much cheaper than Australian branded boutiques. 

• Luxury bedding site Sheridan’s Black Friday sale will likely entice you with 40% off everything.

• UK clothing website ASOS is having a 20% promo on the entire website. It has a great selection of international clothing brands for men and women and an Xmas gift section with cheap price points good for Kris Kringle. 

Credit card tips for shopping online:

• Scroll down to the bottom of the page to check how secure the website is. Bonus points go to websites that have Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and encryption. Better still, look up user reviews of each website your shopping at to check for any red flags.

• Make sure you’re using a credit card with a low or no foreign exchange fee if you will be purchasing from overseas stores this Christmas. For instance, the 28 Degrees Platinum MasterCard has no foreign exchange fee. You can check out our entire online comparison tool for credit cards here or head on over to our rewards credit cards section for cards that allow you to rack up points with each purchase.

• Check your credit card debt before you get sucked in by the generous sales. You can always check out Santa Saver stories for the latest tips on cost cutting to make up for your Xmas expenses.

• Manage your budget by doing the math with the Mozo Budget Calculator, and you’ll know where you stand if you wish to shop on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.