Romanians Splash Their Cash on Black Friday

Romanians went on a mammoth shopping spree on Friday, as the country's biggest retailers started the 2018 Black Friday sales marathon.

The country's biggest retailer, eMag, reported sales of 63 million euros by noon, over 20 million more than it announced at 9am. Romanians spent 735,000 euros in the commpany in five hours, including 111 cars and 3 kilograms of gold, the retailer said in a press release.

In 2017, eMag reported 77.5 million euros in sales and said it was expecting that figure to rise to 85 million euros in 2018.

Scores of retailers have advertised products on sale, including tickets to a Metallica concert next year in Bucharest, passes for music festivals such as Electric Castle, but also tickets for Formula 1 races, the Champions League final and tourist packages and cruises.

Websites majored on motorcycles and cars, luxury jewelry and even gold coins and ingots. Several clinics advertised medical service packages, for birth or dental care.

Black Friday takes place in Romania a week before US Thanksgiving. The concept was imported to Romania by top retailer eMAG, as well as by electronics and home appliance retailer Flanco in 2011.

Hundreds of retailers, including online bookshops, have joined the campaign in recent years, advertising mega discounts of up to 90 per cent.

A market study by Kantar Milward Brown Romania, a brad strategy consultancy, said that over half of the Romanians aged between 18 and 65 planned to buy at least one item on Black Friday. The study said shoppers were interested most in appliances like refrigerators, television sets, mobile phones and laptops.

As most transactions on Black Friday in Romania are done online, the Association for Consumer Protection published a list of...