ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Despite a bad banking system and shaky internet connections, consumers in the Kurdistan Region are not entirely cut off from Black Friday deals.
Black Friday always falls on the Friday after the US Thanksgiving holiday, and traditionally marks the start of the Christmas shopping season. Many major retailers run huge sales promotions on Black Friday, and with the ascendance of online shopping, some Kurdish shoppers can take advantage of the deals.
Boombineere is the largest online courier service in the Kurdistan Region. The company is registered in the US city of Nashville, which is home to the largest Kurdish community in the United States, and provides “shop and ship and direct shipping services to Kurdistan and cities across Iraq.”
Boombinere’s manager says Black Friday has led to a noticeable increase in customers.
“Orders, shipping have increased by 15% compared to the last year. In normal times, we get 250 orders per day for processing, to determine the price and everything. For November and December, that number increases to 450 to 500 orders daily,” Najim Khourshid Najim told Rudaw.
Erbil resident Dr. Mohammed Taha did his research before Black Friday, and had already picked out two medical blood testing devices to purchase and ship to Kurdistan when Rudaw spoke to him on Thursday.
“Black Friday is a very good, important opportunity to buy the things you want for a better price,” Taha told Rudaw, adding that he had “prepared” himself for Black Friday.
While some Kurds take advantage of Black Friday deals in the US by using Boombinere and other Kurdish courier services, many people can’t shop online because they don’t have credit cards, or they simply don’t have access to the internet.
“Unfortunately, in Kurdistan, due to the bad internet connection and the small number of users, which doesn’t exceed 30% in the best case scenario…and the bad banking system and not connecting our banks to the international banking systems have made it difficult for people to buy and sell things electronically,” Dr. Arshad Taha, President of Czech Academic City University in Erbil, told Rudaw.
In the face of these obstacles preventing Kurds from accessing Black Friday bargains abroad, one enterprising local shop decided to bring the deals to Erbil.
Barez, an electronics retailer in Erbil, started advertising its own Black Friday deals on November 27. The deals include gaming PCs, Apple IPads and other electronic devices.
“To be frank, we are trying to import every American experience and idea to Kurdistan. We even imported the idea of pre-order and auction before as well,” Abdulrahman Abdullah, the owner of Barez, told Rudaw.
Barez offered promotional prices on 150 products for Black Friday, with discounts ranging from 20% to 80% off, and claimed they took a loss on the day. However, their one day of losses may have gained them more business in the long run.
Rudaw went to the shop on Friday and found it packed with customers eagerly looking for their next computer or tablet.
“Due to our success in these successful American methods [of business], we decided to import this one as well. It is honestly our first try, but it has been very successful. We didn’t expect this huge success because the people welcomed all the discounts we had,” added Abdullah.
“This is my first time here, but I think their prices are good and their products are good too,” said a shopper.
“Barez was the first to introduce auctioning. Their prices are very good,” said another shopper. “This is the first time Black Friday has come to Kurdistan, especially in terms of electronic devices.”
Although Black Friday rose to prominence as a day to shop for gifts during the holiday season, for many people it is a yearly opportunity to make a strategic purchase and save money on high-end items like laptops, smartphones, and televisions.
Barez might be ahead of a trend that sees more Kurdistan Region retailers announcing Black Friday sales in years to come.
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