Five Tips for Black Friday Shopping At The Beach

Planning ahead is essential if you prefer to avoid the usual Black Friday crowds and stress. Preparation is critical to mitigating stress on the year’s busiest shopping day. Below are five shopping tips to help get you prepared:

1. Shopping Lists Are Your Best Friend
   Planning also entails making lists of things you plan to purchase and where you are buying them. This will help you stay organized, get what you need, and avoid getting swept away in the shopping frenzy.

   If you’re holiday shopping for close friends and family, ask them to send you gift ideas before Thanksgiving so you can include them on your lists. If you’re still looking for the perfect gift or need more time to get all the gifts you need, look to social media creators.

   Platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Pinterest will help inspire you. There are plenty of lists of popular trending items, as well as demonstrations of how to use products. This is especially helpful for those younger folks in your life who you don’t know what to get. Still need to figure out what to buy? The Ferry Gift Shop is open online 24 hours a day, or grab your friends and family Ferry Travel Gift certificates. 

2. Set a Budget and Stick To It
   Avoid impulse spending! Set a budget or allocate money for each store to help keep your bank account balanced. Then only buy what’s on your list! It’s easy to lose sight of spending with all those tempting sales and offers on Black Friday. 

3. Pacing Matters… Schedule Your Day
   Since the pandemic, some Tanger Outlet stores make shoppers line up and wait outside so they don’t reach maximum capacity. This also keeps aisles and checkout lines less congested. Nike, for example, can have up to an hour wait just to enter the store! Be aware that this may affect your shopping plans.

   Consider shopping later in the day, as foot traffic tends to dwindle down. Remember to carve out time for breaks and bites to eat; shopping truly can be exhausting! Grain On The Rocks is conveniently located right in the Lewes Terminal, and Stowaways is in the Ferry Terminal on the Cape May side. Grab lunch or dinner here!

4. Organize and Keep Receipts
   When shopping for yourself and especially others, it’s crucial to include gift receipts inside the wrapped gift. Make sure to request these upon checkout.A small envelope or coupon organizer will help you keep track of all your receipts and expenses.

   You will also feel a nice sense of satisfaction when you review your receipts and see how much you saved in shopping those sales. Take note of receipts that include promotional codes for future purchases. There is free money in those receipts, a satisfying treasure hunt for a snow day.

5. Check Return Policies
   Be sure to take note of each store’s return policy. Some stores may change their return and exchange policies for holiday shopping periods. You want to know ahead of time if you’re buying for someone else and planning on gifting it to them at a later date. Often, sale items may not be eligible for return, so you don’t want to make a purchase you’re unsure about.