How to Shop Black Friday with Intention
Ready or not, the Holiday season is nearly here and with it comes the poster-child for thoughtless consumerism: Black Friday. Which inexplicably starts at the latest the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. And extends through the entire weekend. Oh, and make sure to tack on Cyber Monday, or is it Cyber Week? I’m exhausted already.
This time can be an opportunity to snag some really nice deals on gifts for your loved ones or for yourself. But it can also be incredibly easy to lose track of yourself in the absolute bacchanal of aggressive discounts.
It’s certainly happened to me: I have spent the holiday itself and nearly the entire week following dual-screening my life, endlessly scrolling every single brand or retailer I’ve ever *thought* of purchasing from in search of the absolute tastiest deals. Would I have bought that chunky FairIsle sweater under any other circumstances? Probably not, but it was 50% off! It got worn once, and now haunts me as the Ghost of Christmas Past from the back of my closet. And even worse, because I spent all that precious time hunting deals, I missed out on the true joy of the season of making memories with friends & family.
So, how can you thoughtfully use Black Friday as an opportunity to build your intentional wardrobe at a nicer price rather than a soulless time-suck that results in mostly wardrobe regrets?
You Need A Targeted Approach
The only way to be thoughtful about what you buy during Black Friday is to give yourself time to think about what you truly want. Which means the time to start thinking is now.
Make a list, check it twice
Take the time in the next two weeks to pre-shop your favorite brands & retailers, and create a wishlist of items that catch your eye. Pinterest can be a good tool for this, but the Indyx app also has a wishlist feature which is great if you want to keep everything in one place.
Then, start to critically evaluate your wishlist. I like to ask myself questions like:
Is this item filling a ‘hole’ in my wardrobe? When I’m getting dressed, do I frequently wish I had something like this in my closet?
If not, then does it at least bring me a TON of joy? Would I be proud to own & wear it?
If I bought this, would I want to replace it if something better came along?
Would I happily buy this item for full price, or only on sale?
This helps me narrow down the list to just the items that I am really excited about without being filtered through the confusing lens of “sale!”. When shopping with intention, a discounted price should be a nice bonus rather than the reason that you’re buying - and this is really hard to parse when the sale is in full swing.
When Black Friday comes along, rather than being sucked back into aimless browsing you can simply check the links you’ve already collected for a discount - and pull the trigger with confidence that you’ve given yourself the best possible chance at avoiding those wardrobe regrets.
Pro tip: most brands release their full Holiday collections at the end of October or early November, so you really can start doing this planning about a month in advance. But, I do recommend and personally use a system like this all year round as a mechanism to temper impulse purchases - and get some great deals.
If all this pre-planning is just way too Virgo for your more Aries tendencies, I would at least recommend narrowing in ahead of time on the very short list of brands that you want shop for Black Friday - I’m talking like 3-5 brands - and limit yourself to browsing just those sites when the time comes.
The shopping-from-your-couch tax
In the age of the endless scroll I tend to get a weird feeling whenever I go to checkout online with just one thing in my cart. I think we have been trained by free shipping thresholds to build our cart, but even when there isn’t a threshold it somehow feels like a “waste” not to order more in one go. Anyone else, or is this just me?
Resist this impulse! It is okay - in fact, encouraged! - to checkout with just one item, *even* if that means you have to pay shipping. Think about it this way: our ancestors suffered through the Black Friday in-person mall shopping hellscape for us to be able to shop from the comfort of our couch. Paying for shipping is a small tax for the pleasure of doing just that.
Reclaim Control of Your Own Attention
Unfollow, unsubscribe, and unplug
It’s a great idea to simply limit marketers’ access to you during this heavily promotional period. So, now is a great time to edit the brands you’re following on Instagram, and click ‘unsubscribe’ on marketing emails cluttering your inbox from all but your most coveted brands. Evaluate which brands you would be truly thrilled to be notified of a sale from, versus which you are “meh” on and are just feeling FOMO about.
Remember: you can *always* resubscribe later - I’m sure they would be more than happy to have you back. Making a pretty harsh edit and then noticing for yourself which brands you’re missing in your feed or inbox is better than keeping them around ‘just because’. More often than not, you won’t notice anything different.
Plan other activities
Frankly, I end up online shopping so much less when I am busy in other areas of my life. It sounds a little silly, but having other activities with friends & family planned over this weekend can really help by simply distracting you.
Because this time of year in particular is so warm and nostalgic, there are so many good options for things to do! Replace the soul-sucking shopping frenzy with activities that bring you real joy for the season.Think: pulling out the Christmas decorations, baking cookies, volunteering at a local organization, orchestrating your Holiday card photo, etc. But really, anything that forces you to put the phone down.
These suggestions are written with Black Friday specifically in mind, but they are applicable at any time of year. The key to intentional consumerism is really about claiming control of your own attention and energy. It is easier than ever to be influenced into purchases by marketers and content creators - often without even being aware of it! But, to minimize those wardrobe regrets you must learn to tune IN to yourself and consciously tune OUT of the constant hum of other voices telling you what you *should* buy. It’s hard work, but well worth it.
Devon is a co-founder of Indyx and currently leads Growth for the company from San Francisco. She enjoys admiring other people’s gardens and sleeping in with her French Bulldog, Reggie.