Retailers embrace US Christmas shopping event
158 views · Published 26 November 2018 · 6:58 · Indexed 20 September 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · News & Politics
(21 Nov 2018) LEADIN: Tomorrow (Friday 23 November) marks Black Friday, the day when retailers in the US and other Western countries offer big discounts to kickstart Christmas shopping. And while Egypt is a Muslim majority country, the consumerist trend has caught on there too. STORYLINE: Drivers on Cairo's ring road can't miss it - a Black Friday sale at online retailer Jumia. The ads are up near exits for the capital's wealthy neighbourhoods. And at the company's call centre, workers are gearing up for a rush of orders when the sale opens. Jumia Egypt is a subsidiary of a larger African consortium. It claims to be the first business to have introduced this American seasonal promotion to Egypt four years ago. And it says more and more of its sellers are embracing Black Friday discounts. "In 2014, no more than 120 or 130 companies participated in our Black Friday deals and they constituted only one third of our sellers," says Hesham Safwat, Jumia Egypt CEO. "In 2018, all our 7,000 sellers want to be part of Black Friday deals." It's not just online where shoppers can pick up discounts. Inside one of Cairo's most popular shopping malls, lingerie and women's sleepwear shop A 2 Z is getting ready. It has been taking part in Black Friday for several years, typically offering discounts of 30 to 50 percent. It's a change from the past when shops would only hold sales twice a year, and only for products that were being discontinued. "When multinational brands entered the Egyptian market, they introduced promotional activities that run throughout the entire year and offer discounts not just on old stocks that are usually unneeded by the customers but on new collections as well. This is a very competitive practice," says Tarek Diab, A 2 Z retail manager. Some Egyptian retailers observe the occasion but refuse to call it "Black Friday" arguing it is offensive to the Muslim culture which holds Friday as a holy day. They call it "White Friday" or "Happy Friday" instead. "Some accused us of defaming religion and disrespecting the Egyptian religious culture," says Jumia's CEO. "Yet, as of today, all people like Black Friday, wait for the occasion and keep searching online to find out when exactly discounts will begin." This year, Jumia has more than 200,000 deals over the course of the month - and not just on the last Friday of November. So far, initial indicators show that turnover has risen by three fold compared to November 2017, Safwat claims. It's a sign that the event's popularity is spreading. And it's not the only Western holiday to be adopted by Egyptian retailers. Diab says shops now also offer discounts at Father's Day, Mother's Day, Valentine's Day and Christmas. "All these are social occasions but they have become crucial economic opportunities for retailers," he explains. Analysts say this change in Egyptian shopping culture can be traced to the economic and social changes that followed Egypt's transition to neo-liberal economy in the 1970s. "Such practices have become more visible in Egypt in recent years as many people had accumulated a lot of wealth with little effort, either by migrating to the Gulf, through land speculation or stock market investments," says Mostafa Kamel al-Sayyid, a political science professor with Cairo University. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/15170bf523bce629bc5e9fc2742dc06d
