Singles’ Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday – here’s what you need to know

Want to know what deals we have lined up for you this Black Friday season? You’ll find an overview of our offers in time for each sale.

It starts around the beginning of November at the latest. More and more, those two magic words get typed into Galaxus’ search bar: «black friday». We hear you. You want to know what amazing deals we can offer you. Are you on the hunt for that special piece of furniture you’ve had on your watch list for a long time? Perhaps, finally, a fully automatic coffee machine to make working from home more pleasant? Or do you long for a robot vacuum cleaner to keep your floors clean? Come now, admit it, you’re really after that one Lego set you’ve been eyeing for ages…

To make this Black Friday something to look forward to, here’s a little list of questions we get asked most often. With answers provided, of course.

When is Black Friday?

As mentioned above: 26 November. Here at galaxus.ch, deals will start appearing at the start of day, i.e. 12:01 a.m., and last until midnight. By the way, Black Friday was invented by US retailers. The special holiday was meant to boost business after Thanksgiving Day. There are various theories surrounding the origin of the name «Black Friday». My favourite states that the day used to be so lucrative that merchants would end up with black fingers from counting dollar bills.

When can you see Galaxus’ Black Friday deals?

Needless to say, there will be many deals awaiting you on Black Friday itself – over 350, to be exact. But you’ll find special offers even before that at Galaxus, namely starting 22 November. You can find them in our magazine, for example. Simply filter by «Promotion» under section and then «Black Friday» under topic.

How high will discounts go on Black Friday?

It all depends on the product in question. Since margins tend to be low for retailers in the electronics sector, smaller discounts are generally the norm there compared to other sectors, such as furniture or clothing. In short: the better our buyers negotiate with manufacturers and suppliers, the sweeter the deals you get.

Is Singles’ Day the same as Black Friday?

No, Singles’ Day is a Chinese invention meant to boost their sales. Black Friday, on the other hand, an American one (see above). In China, people shop until their smartphones glow on Singles’ Day, or 11/11. Retail giant Alibaba alone reported sales of around $64 billion on one single day in 2020.

Is Cyber Monday the same as Black Friday?

Okay, the chances that anyone who can distinguish between Monday and Friday asked this question are slim. Cyber Monday is the last in a series of crazy shopping days. On 29 November, online stores (yes, digitec, too) offer one last round of special deals before Christmas. Cyber Monday was invented by the Americans. Once again. The Monday following Thanksgiving (itself the fourth Thursday in November) was and is a response from online stores to Black Friday, which was originally launched by brick-and-mortar retailers.

Be that as it may: discounts and promotions are available on all three days. The vast majority of retailers use each of the three occasions as an opportunity to encourage customers to shop – as do we.

What impact will global supply shortages have on Black Friday?

There’s no one reason for poor product availability. The situation also varies from industry to industry and country to country. Check out Alex Hämmerli’s helpful overview here:

Currently, there’s a shortage of many products, particularly those that require semiconductors and computer chips. And there are a lot of them. The lack of graphics cards is reaching near-legendary status. Earlier this year, game consoles were also affected; today, smartphones, printers, baby monitors, laptops, PCs, robot vacuum cleaners, and even refrigerators and fully automatic coffee machines are also sometimes unavailable. Experts believe the semiconductor shortage will last for months or even years, as the factories that could combat the shortage through higher production have long construction and lead times. Only one thing is certain: in our economic system, high demand in the face of scarce supply usually causes prices to rise.

Has the list of Black Friday deals leaked?

No, no, and no again. That’s only happened to us once. But it’s almost endearing that so many of you still remember this embarrassing event from two years ago.

We already made sure to protect our Black Friday deals much better back in 2020.

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