The ‘original’ Black Friday is just 10 days away, drawing the attention of Korean ‘direct overseas shoppers’ as well as local consumers. (Image : Yonhap)
SEOUL, Nov.19 (Korea Bizwire) – The ‘original’ Black Friday is just 10 days away, drawing the attention of Korean ‘direct overseas shoppers’ as well as local consumers.
After Black Friday, which falls on November 27, and Cyber Monday on November 30, huge sales will continue until the end of the year. During this period, consumers have a good chance of snagging great deals on home electronics, as these products are expected to see the most significant discounts.
Black Friday flyers from Walmart, the huge American retailer, show that a 55-inch Samsung Smart HDTV will sell for $498.
Best Buy, the largest electronics distributor in North America, is selling a 60-inch Samsung 4K HDTV for $799.99.
Not to be outdone by their brick-and-mortar rivals, Ebay is selling a 65-inch Samsung 4K Smart TV that had an original price of $3,999 for only $1,199.
The sale prices are almost half of what products with similar features are sold for in the Korean market. Most of the products are doorbusters, which are small quantities of products sold at ridiculously low prices. However, significant discounts will also be available on other products.
Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are manufacturing products targeting Black Friday, such as TVs, washing machines and refrigerators. The companies are also actively promoting them through their distributors.
The American Headquarters of Samsung Electronics is going through a special ‘Black Friday Deal’, providing electric appliances at almost half their original prices on their homepage.
LG Electronics, which concentrated on promoting Full HD TVs last year, is planning a strategy based on UHD TVs this year. The company is also targeting consumers that were mulling over purchasing premium products by offering discounted prices for refrigerators.
Industry watchers expect that sales of TVs will jump due to the discounts and sales during the latter half of the year, as sales in the first half were poor.
Usually, most of the sales of electronics in the U.S. are concentrated in the shopping season at the end of the year.
The average consumption per person from Black Friday to the end of the year is expected to increase compared to sales during the same period last year, stirring anticipation in the industry.
However, Korean consumers who are looking forward to purchasing products at lower prices directly overseas should be cautious, as products can be damaged during shipping, and electronics sold in other markets might have different features than those sold locally.
By Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
