Her Campus Logo Her Campus Logo
Life

Black Friday: Tips from a Retail Employee

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Tampa chapter.

The holidays are fast approaching, and every shopper’s favorite holiday is closer than it seems. Black Friday has always been and will always be known as the most chaotic day for shopping, but it is also the number one day to get a good deal on anything you’ve been eyeing. So, as a retail employee, I’m going to give the best tips to get the most out of the day and hopefully make it easier.

  1. Get there early!

The later in the day, the more chaotic it will be inside those stores. Even though no one wants to get up early, you can get ahead of everyone and get what you want easily without much hassle. Besides getting your items easily, finding parking at a mall during Black Friday is the most frustrating task. So get there early to beat the crowds for the stores and parking spots.

  1. Deals aren’t only on Black Friday

It’s become more common for companies to actually start their Black Friday deals earlier than the actual day. At least from my experience, the “deal” each store has can start about 2-3 days before the holiday. So, if you can’t get to the stores on the day or just want to avoid the chaos, check out stores a couple of days before to see if they have their deals earlier. That way, you can get what you want with good deals.

  1. Be kind to the employees

Black Friday is just as chaotic for the shopper as it is for the employees. So be kind! More often than not, kindness goes a long way, so some employees will make more effort to find items for you if you’re nice enough. Plus, sometimes they’ll put things on hold for you, so you don’t have to worry about getting your items snagged up by someone else.

Until the day comes, best of luck on the #1 holiday for shopping!

Kaila DeJesus is a writer for Her Campus at the University of Tampa Chapter. Covering mainly entertainment in her articles, Kaila writes on an array of topics from film and television recommendations to internet culture. Her writing centers around multiple forms of media, the modern lives of college students, and pop culture. Beyond being a writer for Her Campus, Kaila is also a junior at the University of Tampa. Currently majoring in Film and Media Arts, she hopes to pursue a career in film journalism. She hopes to become a journalistic film critic post-graduation. While enrolled full-time at the university, Kaila is also a part-time sales associate for Vans under the parent VF Corporation. In her free time, Kaila enjoys watching movies, keeping up with pop culture, and vinyl record shopping. Enjoying the "older" hobbies such as record collecting, Kaila loves going to her local movie theater to watch a movie over streaming. She spends most of her free time hanging out with her friends, writing reviews for films on Letterboxd, and rewatching her favorite sitcoms multiple times. Kaila also enjoys attending the concerts of some of her favorite artists such as Taylor Swift, Phoebe Bridgers, and SZA.