Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2022: Everything you need to know

In case you hadn't heard, Black Friday is coming in hot this year. The sale day – followed closely by Cyber Monday – is set to be the ultimate must-shop event of 2022, with huge savings across hundreds of retailers.

Kimberly Bertram, who runs the popular Markdown Addicts Australia website and social media pages, says Aussies are already scoring big deals and are set to see one of the biggest sale years yet.

"Black Friday and Cyber Monday are definitely getting bigger and bigger each year," Kimberly told Yahoo Lifestyle. "With online shopping booming and international shipping affordable, Australian retailers are seeing the popularity of these sales events and are jumping on board to claim their stake."

Here's how to navigate your way through the top deals, early access and shopping safely online.

When is Black Friday 2022?

The big date is Friday 25 November, followed by Cyber Monday on 28 November. However some retailers are already celebrating, and most of the big merchants kick off their sales on Monday 21 November.

In the US, Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving and marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. The event has gone global and is now a prominent shopping day in Australia, with more than 4.67 million households shopping online during Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales last year.

Bigger than Boxing Day

Forget Boxing Day, Kimberly says Black Friday is the day to score the top deals, plus it's on the right side of Christmas.

"In my opinion, Black Friday/Cyber Monday has fast overtaken the Boxing Day sales events we all grew up believing to be the biggest sale of the year," she says.

"Customers are wanting their items to gift before Christmas, and Black Friday offers Boxing Day prices on the right side of the gift-giving season. No longer do we have to line up after a jolly-filled Christmas day/night and fight against hundreds of people in store when we can do it in our PJs from the comfort of our own home."

Online sales

When it comes to shopping from the comfort of your couch, Amazon is a great start. The sale lasts for six to seven days around Black Friday and Cyber Monday, with Aussies get access to US deals and free international shipping on most items. It pays to be an Amazon Prime Member too, with deals such as free shipping, and "Subscribe and Save" offers.

"I have boxes and boxes showing up for the entire week after these major sales events," Kimberly says. "Amazon is such a giant retailer with so many competitive deals across its platform. Offering lightning deals which are limited stocked items at massively reduced prices, it pays to be quick to snap these up as once they're gone, they're more than likely never to be repeated."

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Kimberly spends hours each day scouring the internet for deals of 70% off or more for her audience of over 280,000 shoppers. And at this time of year, there are lots of sales to share.

While Black Friday has always been big with major retailers, she says small businesses are jumping on board now too. "Black Friday is usually the only time of year that small Aussie businesses offer their products at their highest discounted rate, and it is a great time to support small," she told Yahoo Lifestyle.

How to secure all the best deals

When practically every retailer is putting on some kind of sale, it can get a little overwhelming to keep up. So how do you score multiple good deals? It's all about planning.

Kimberly suggests following all the right social media pages - Markdown Addicts Australia included - and signing up to newsletters of your fave brands now to get an idea of what Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals will be happening.

Retailers such as Big W, Kmart, The Good Guys, JB Hi-Fi and Myer are already enticing shoppers with big discounts, encouraging them to sign up for early access to their upcoming deals.

Kimberly says the most sought-after items on sale for her followers include LEGO, robot vacuum cleaners, flights, baby supplies, furniture and the latest Apple products.

Buy those big-ticket items

If you've been eyeing a pricey item for a while or you're looking to update your TV, fridge, dryer or washing machine, this is the time to do it.

Big-ticket items like electrical and white goods almost never go on sale or get discounted this heavily, so know what you're looking for ahead of time to secure the deal on the day.

Kimberly says Black Friday deals run across a huge range of items, including holidays.

"Travel can be overlooked, and Black Friday is often the best time to book a holiday or experience. Jetstar offer ridiculously cheap domestic and international flights around this time and multiple cruise lines offer package deals such as 'kids travel free' or 'percentage off' too," Kimberly says.

"This is also when you will find the best drinks and photography packages for a cruise you may have already booked, so it's worth checking out what is offered for your holiday during this time."

Don't get scammed

With such a huge percentage of the population shopping online, the deals are coming through thick and fast, but so are the scams.

Jacqueline Jayne, Security Awareness Advocate for APAC at KnowBe4, says shoppers should be on the lookout for unusual text messages, voice messages and emails.

She says there are a few scams doing the rounds at the moment including delivery scams, which usually say, "We were unable to deliver your parcel. Click here to confirm delivery detail," or fake order confirmations, which also prompt link clicks.

During the peak shopping season, fake charity donation requests and gift card scams are also doing the rounds.

When it comes to avoiding scams, Jacqueline says it pays to research what you buy.

"Only buy on official websites from authorised sellers or reputable sources, especially for high-value items. Ignore anything that comes to you via email, SMS or a pop-up ad," she advises.

"At this time there will be an increase of emails, notifications and pop-up ads with amazing deals all asking you to CLICK on something or OPEN something to access the deal. Unfortunately, many of these will be fake so pay close attention and don't click."

When it comes to paying and tracking deliveries, there are some simple but essential steps to follow too.

"Use a third-party payment service such as PayPal, Apple Pay or Google Pay, which gives you an extra layer of protection. Alternatively, you can also get yourself a gift credit card or a separate credit card that is only used for online transactions," she said. "And be aware of parcel delivery scams, especially via email and SMS. Always go to the official website to track parcels."

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