Black Friday Hits the Middle East with Souq.com

Ready, get set, SHOP! Always a better final word than go, which implies you need to run. We don’t like running. Shopping on the other hand… Anyway, you may be familiar with Black Friday, that fateful day that falls on the Friday following Thanksgiving, where mankind comes together to facilitate everyone’s retail therapy addictions; retailers drastically drop their prices and kindly bring in epic sales. It’s a shopping phenomenon; essentially The Hunger Games but with fewer deaths and more shoes.  Now sadly, we here in the Middle East have not born witness to this shopping extravaganza because the Friday after Thanksgiving for us is celebrated with more partying, after a quick family lunch.

This year, however, that’s all about to change thanks to Souq.com. The e-commerce powerhouse has announced that the Middle East is getting its own Black Friday this 27^th of November! Over 20 major brands, including Apple, Xbox, and Lenovo, will be joining in, with over 1000 exclusive offers. Needless to say, this is going to rock your shopaholic world. However, because we are a region of good pious Muslims, and Friday is our day of prayer and gatherings and all such good stuff, Souq.com is coining their particular version White Friday. However, just like the US, the crazy sale time will not be a single day, as its moniker might imply; sales will be on the 27^th and 28^th of November. And that’s not all. Souq.com will be offering a special sneak peek preview AND access to all the goodies and best deals on their mobile app on the 26^th of November. So yeah, download the app and you get first dibs on all the good stuff. What are you waiting for? It’s downloading on our phones as we speak. Type. Whatever.

Also, in a region that seems to have a serious issue with catching up with the rest of the world when it comes to credit cards (about seven places in Cairo have credit cards machines; 6 of them consistently don’t work), Souq is offering up a special deal for those who whip out their plastic to pay with. They’ve teamed up with MasterCard to offer consumers who use their MasterCard to make a purchase, a FURTHER 15% reduction off all deals. Yes, you heard correctly, that’s on TOP of the initial sale. Cash on delivery is still available of course, but using your pretty plastic card will lower the price of your purchases even more.

In conclusion, shopping madness is about to ensue. Get ready.