Black Friday is coming up, and will fall on November 25 this year. It is the time for bargain hunters to get the chance to do some shopping and spend their hard earned cash in the run-up to Christmas!

    Black Friday, the day following Thanksgiving Day, is a celebration of discount shopping, and marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. It was originally an American tradition. In 2010, the idea of Black Friday was first introduced to Britain by Amazon in an effort to boost sales. Since then, more and more U.K.-based retailers have taken part in and adopted the Black Friday marketing scheme.

    Before 2010, people in Britain were forced to wait until the aftermath of Christmas, namely Boxing Day, before they could find any real discounts. Boxing Day is a holiday following Christmas Day. Now Black Friday has become the busiest shopping day of the year in Britain. Many retailers see the biggest profits of the year on Black Friday and detail their gains in black ink (and losses in red ink), hence the name.

    During last year’s Black Friday, I also went shopping on Oxford Street with my flat mates and arrived around 7 a.m at Oxford Circus Station. Although I was told by my British friends that they would normally go shopping after eating turkey with their parents, I was still shocked to see a crowd of shoppers waiting outside.

    As opening time approached, the crowd grew anxious and when the doors were opened, the crowd pushed forward, breaking down the door. Police were called to some shopping malls by 8 a.m. because of overcrowding and disorder. Twitter users reported and posted scenes of “fights” and “pandemonium” as shoppers scrambled for discounts.

    Most people love a bargain and most retailers know pretty well that we love bargains. Many department stores had started to promote and advertise their Black Friday bargains two weeks before the date, such as John Lewis’ commitment to being “Never Knowingly Undersold.” Indeed, to be frank, I felt happier when I bought a stylish polka-dot vintage teapot at £20 with a “was” price of £40 at John Lewis than when I got an A for my essay.

    However, it may be far quieter on the high streets this year, but that’s because most shoppers are staying on their sofas and looking for deals online, which will be a more relaxing experience. According to The Guardian, this Black Friday is estimated to become the biggest online shopping day in U.K. history.

    Although I missed the Taobao Double 11 in China a few days ago, I am ready for Western Black Friday. Yesterday, My flat mates and I decided to go to Oxford Street after lectures in the afternoon and looked for what we were going to buy online. With those sparkly, glowing snowball-like lights switched on, Oxford Street becomes the brightest and best place to get into the festive spirit in London. We enjoyed going window shopping from Selfridge to Primark and found our ideal Christmas presents for our family, friends and ourselves.

    Thus, what I am going to do on this Friday morning is to charge my laptop, pop on my favorite pair of shoes and wait for the deals to arrive in my shopping list. Oh, I just received a group message from my friend Eva, and she says, “Good luck, girls! Try not to throw things at any computers or push any people down in the process of getting your bargains. Happy Black Friday!”