Over the next seven days Amazon will heavily discount thousands of products, including TVs and laptops, to bring shoppers millions of pounds worth of savings ahead of Christmas.
Starting from today, Amazon will discount thousands of products via a series of extra special Lightning Deals for a week-long spell known as Black Friday Deals Week.
From now until Friday 23rd November shoppers can expect to receive an average 40% saving off the current Amazon price on more than 1,000 products- over twice as many as last year.
And for the first time Black Friday Deals Week will extend over the weekend up to Sunday 25th of November for Black Friday Reloaded - to give those that missed an offer during the week a second chance to get it.
What is Black Friday?
Black Friday is an American tradition that Amazon introduced to the UK in 2010.
Every year, on the other side of the Atlantic, retailers put on big discounts to coincide with the Thanksgiving holidays.
Last year Americans spent a record $52 billion over the Black Friday weekend and according to the National Retail Federation 226 million shoppers visited stores and websites in this time.
The name of the shopping frenzy is believed to represent retailers moving into the black after nine months in the red.
Since 2010, Amazon has followed this tradition by applying the concept to its Lightning Deals and so far has made each year bigger and better than the last.
How it works
The Lightning Deals available throughout Black Friday will as usual be limited by quantity and time - so shoppers will need to be quick.
Should the product sell out or the time elapse you will have lost your chance to get the item at a discounted price unless the offer gets repeated over the Black Friday Reloaded weekend.
If you like the look of a deal you have to claim it before it sells out by adding it to your trolley but then only have a limited timeframe of 15 minutes to purchase it.
You can take advantage of multiple deals but can only place one order per Lightning Deal. Meaning you couldn’t buy loads of the same discounted bikes for example.
The Black Friday deals can be found by visiting the Today’s Deals page or subscribing to the deals newsletter. But you can also follow the action on Twitter or by visiting the Facebook page.
Amazon will also help shoppers navigate the deals by running a series of themed hours where shoppers can make savings on specific types of products in categories like Fashion & Beauty. Hopefully these will coincide with our lunch breaks!
Tasters
No one knows exactly what will be discounted or on which day. But Amazon has given a taster of what to expect in the list below:
- Harry Potter - The Complete Eight-Film Collection [Blu-ray]
- Le Creuset Cast Iron Cookware
- Windows 8 and Chromebook Laptops
- LG Cinema 3D 37 Inch LED TV
- Timex Ironman Men's Digital Watch
- Lipsy Dresses
- ghd Limited Edition Gold Series Hair Straightener Gift Set
- Sony Playstation 3 Console Bundle
- Jamie’s 15-Minute Meals Cookbook
- Barbie's California Dream House
Last year some products were discounted by as much as 80% so if you’re worried about coping with the cost of Christmas then it is definitely worth checking out if the Black Friday deals could help this year.
Let us know if you were able to make any big savings in the Comment boxes below.
More on shopping:
Best mince pies for Christmas 2012
Top credit cards for Christmas shopping
BeforeWeBuy, TopCashBack, Voucher Comparison: shopping tools put to the test
The best Christmas present cashback deals this week