• Black Friday: British shops are empty as customers move online
    49 replies, posted
Some of Britain's biggest websites felt the strain today as desperate shoppers turned to the internet in search of the best Black Friday discounts. Hundreds of extra staff were brought in with many working through the night to get shops ready - but stores were left deserted as millions turned to websites to find early Christmas deals in what is expected to be the UK's first £1billion online shopping day. [URL]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-34931837[/URL] [URL]http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3335865/Black-Friday-slow-start-shoppers-switch-online-deals.html[/URL] [IMG]http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/11/27/09/2ED8F8B300000578-3335865-image-m-62_1448615019389.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/11/27/08/2ED8D5E300000578-3335865-image-a-54_1448614685750.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/11/27/15/2ED9336700000578-3335865-image-a-71_1448639289501.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/11/27/09/2ED9077500000578-3335865-image-a-64_1448615388111.jpg[/IMG]
Well, I suppose if Black Friday is supposed to look like it does in the USA with hordes of 'customers' (feral ghouls) invading shops, then I'd buy online rather than go into a store.
Though I do feel sorry for all the staff who were brought in for no reason, Black Friday is an awful thing (the stampedes of people I mean, online deals rock).
Every single notable danish online shop that held Black Friday was sold out 5 hours after they opened up. Meanwhile the nearby mall was impossible to get anywhere near.
[QUOTE=UberMensch;49197659]Though I do feel sorry for all the staff who were brought in for no reason, Black Friday is an awful thing (the stampedes of people I mean, online deals rock).[/QUOTE]
I'm happy leaving all that stupid fighting for discounts things to Americans
There's nothing to buy online either, its like 10% off on stupid shit I don't need. Wish this whole thing would go away because I'm sick of hearing about it.
Mainly because its fun to laugh at the videos
Those shops all look impossibly empty, people still go to stores, those look like they were taken before opening or something.
It was dead on the roads, every shopping car park looked as normal, I suppose why bother fighting for deals when you can just click a few times on a mouse and get someone to deliver it to your home.
Yep, I went online!
[QUOTE=Thomo_UK;49197695]It was dead on the roads, every shopping car park looked as normal, I suppose why bother fighting for deals when you can just click a few times on a mouse and get someone to deliver it to your home.[/QUOTE] Not to mention you can be open to several items at once; if you were in store it would require a violation of space-time.
[QUOTE=Sableye;49197679]Those shops all look impossibly empty, people still go to stores, those look like they were taken before opening or something.[/QUOTE] [IMG]http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/11/27/08/2ED8D5E300000578-3335865-image-a-54_1448614685750.jpg[/IMG] I was here just an hour ago and it was busy, busy like any other day there, nothing special
[QUOTE=Rct33;49197826][IMG]http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/11/27/08/2ED8D5E300000578-3335865-image-a-54_1448614685750.jpg[/IMG] I was here just an hour ago and it was busy, busy like any other day there, nothing special[/QUOTE] You were there in that store just an hour ago and have already arrived back in the states? U wot m8
last time I went into a physical store during black friday the deals were basically like an average day online, I don't know what they were trying to pull but a whole bunch of annoyed people were basically just coming in and leaving in at least a few of the consumer electronics stores I went into
I wonder how many retailers must be bricking it already? I don't want to be overly negative but I can see a few retailers going broke in January if things go on as it is.
[QUOTE=UberMensch;49197659]Though I do feel sorry for all the staff who were brought in for no reason, Black Friday is an awful thing (the stampedes of people I mean, online deals rock).[/QUOTE] hell i don't, working a free day in retail with no customers? that shit is easy
[QUOTE=UberMensch;49197659]Though I do feel sorry for all the staff who were brought in for no reason, Black Friday is an awful thing (the stampedes of people I mean, online deals rock).[/QUOTE] those are like the best days, like double pay without dealing with terrible customers
[QUOTE=Antlerp;49197838]You were there in that store just an hour ago and have already arrived back in the states? U wot m8[/QUOTE] Pretty sure the flag only displays the country you made the account in, doesn't keep track if you happen to move
[QUOTE=*Freezorg*;49197985]Pretty sure the flag only displays the country you made the account in, doesn't keep track if you happen to move[/QUOTE] Not true, it keeps track of my different locations
[QUOTE=*Freezorg*;49197985]Pretty sure the flag only displays the country you made the account in, doesn't keep track if you happen to move[/QUOTE] Nope. I'm from the US but moved to the UK a few months ago and it updated immediately.
Honestly, amazon has gotten so convenient for me that I didn't even consider going out to shop. Their prices are competitive enough for me, and driving out to deal with crowds of people just isn't appealing.
[QUOTE=FFStudios;49197866]hell i don't, working a free day in retail with no customers? that shit is easy[/QUOTE] As someone who has worked on the floor, it's terrible - you're left with menial tasks because managers need to find something for you to do.
Not surprising that people would rather shop from the comfort of their own home instead of waking up early, getting breakfast, showering, drive to the mall, wait in traffic, etc.
Black Friday (or Overconsumption Day as I call it) was an American tradition in the first place, therefore they should keep it in my opinion :v:
[QUOTE=FFStudios;49197866]hell i don't, working a free day in retail with no customers? that shit is easy[/QUOTE] As someone who works in a (small) supermarket I can tell you that a day without customers would be the fucking dream. Sorry to rant a little but fuck, I have to be in that shop for 5:30AM on a FUCKING SATURDAY MORNING so I can take the delivery for the weekend newspaper, count all the papers to ensure the delivery is correct and scan them onto the stock database. Then I have to take every magazine, insert and supplemental and put them all in there BY HAND before setting them out on the rack. The shop opens at 6AM, and in total there are about 250 of the pissing things with anywhere between 1 and 3 things to shove into them, I have to do it alone AND be on hand to staff the till, I am the only guy staffing the till at that time of day, the other two guys are either baking the bread or taking the things that went past their sell-by date off the shelves. And yes, there WILL be people queuing up and knocking on the door to the shop at 5:45 asking if they can just "pop in and grab a paper"... sorry I told you LAST WEEKEND that A: We can't trade outside our licensed hours and B: the papers have NOT FUCKING BEEN DELIVERED YET, and it's not like you are also working a shitty dead in the morning shift at work. That I could understand, that I would sympathise with, but no, you got up and are still in your Pyjamas, [I]"I though I'd get up early and pick up a paper before they are gone, I just drove all the way down here and you're telling me there isn't any?"[/I] Ho ho I would call the irony sweet were I not so tired I can barely think cohesively. So go on, storm off to the corner shop and find out for the third time running that all the papers come on the SAME delivery van so they don't have any in stock either, I will take some satisfaction in hearing your angry ramblings from across the street. In case you haven't noticed, spending two years getting up early and not being able to enjoy a weekend while having to deal with people who somehow make me feel like I am less human than a vending machine has left some VERY pent up emotions that could use a little venting from time to time... Please don't work retail if any of you can avoid it, for your own sakes.
[QUOTE=Antlerp;49197838]You were there in that store just an hour ago and have already arrived back in the states? U wot m8[/QUOTE] Uhh, not sure why it has US as the loc
[QUOTE=Genericenemy;49197864]I wonder how many retailers must be bricking it already? I don't want to be overly negative but I can see a few retailers going broke in January if things go on as it is.[/QUOTE] I wonder this too but hopefully they can convert the closed shops into accommodation one day. It's much easier to just buy something online with free next day delivery instead of driving to the shop, dealing with parking issues and walking around a shop trying to find stuff while have upsells shoved down your throat (although I've noticed Amazon doing this wherever they can)
[QUOTE=Complifusedv2;49197671]I'm happy leaving all that stupid fighting for discounts things to Americans[/QUOTE] I don't know how it is in the rest of the world but yes, here in the US the population has been trained well. You'd be surprised at the amount of people who think a sale means they have to buy. I tell people "So what if that item is 70% off, you don't need it and won't use it" and they say "But it's 70% off!" as if that is all the reason you need to buy it.
[QUOTE=cecilbdemodded;49198344]I don't know how it is in the rest of the world but yes, here in the US the population has been trained well. You'd be surprised at the amount of people who think a sale means they have to buy. I tell people "So what if that item is 70% off, you don't need it and won't use it" and they say "But it's 70% off!" as if that is all the reason you need to buy it.[/QUOTE] Look at the Steam sales, I've bought countless games I've never played
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