#BlackFriday Madness

• Bargain Hunters of Britain Rejoicing..
• Police called to branches of Tesco (and other major High Street stores)..
• Arrests made..
• Major Websites brought to their knees and (in some cases) crashing..

Yes, it can only be the madness that is “Black Friday” (and in a mere days, more of the same with the upcoming “Cyber Monday”. Be warned..

Having secured some decidedly good deals from you-know-who late last night (a good friend of mine by the name of Jeff  – you know, Jeff Bezos, aka Amazon), I decided to pass on ALL of the countless “#BlackFriday” deals, offers and extravaganzas that my Gmail Inbox offered me today (i.e. Black Friday itself).

However, based on numerous articles I have seen & read today, it would appear that I was firmly in the minority – with hundreds of people descending on branches of Tesco, Asda – and other major UK retailers from shortly before midnight last night…

Chaos did, of course ensue – with unbelievable scenes later broadcast of grown men (and women) gripping onto 47″ TV and Xbox One cardboard boxes – as if their very lives depended on it. Demand clearly outstripped supply – leading to tempers flaring up, the air turning blue – and in some extreme cases fists were flying too!

Meanwhile, in the typically civilised world of eCommerce, Web Servers were reaching melting point – with the likes of Game (game.co.uk) and even John Lewis reported to be experiencing unprecedented levels of traffic – and some unavoidable downtime too as a result.. crazy times.

In the case of eCommerce, the major online retailers will no doubt have more “MEGA DEALS!!!” lined up for #CyberMonday … which is a mere 3 days away (at the time of typing this). Will the Internet once again be brought to its knees?

Most likely yes, I fear – but let’s “batten down the hatches” and see what happens..