Rain did not deter shoppers who made a beeline for Black Friday discounts on Orchard Road

SINGAPORE — When it comes to shopping, not even traffic jams and the rain will stop those determined to get a good deal.

Enticed by the Black Friday sale, which kicked off at several retail stores on Friday (Nov 29), shoppers headed down to the Orchard Road shopping belt to load up on buys, never mind that cars and buses were moving at snail’s pace along the stretch.

In Robinsons department store at The Heeren, shoppers told TODAY that they had to queue for around 45 minutes to an hour to make payment at cashiers. 

There were snaking queues throughout the five-storey store when TODAY was there, especially at the home furnishing department, with about 40 people waiting to pay at one point.

For Ms Astrid Broderick, a 35-year-old Indonesian in Singapore for work and travel, she spent about S$2,000 on bedsheets and pillows at Robinsons.

She had to queue for an hour to pay for her items and another hour to sign up for the free delivery service offered to Robinsons shoppers who spend more than S$1,000.

And this is even though she reached the store at 10am.

The store extended its hours to open from 7am on Friday to 1am the next day.

She was still in the queue when TODAY spoke to her at close to 3pm. 

“It’s worth it to queue to get that savings,” she told TODAY. She calculated that she saved S$3,000 with the discounts.

Other shoppers said that they took leave from work on Friday to be at Robinsons’ Black Friday sales. 

Ms Wu Liting, 35, already prepared her list for the shopping bonanza two weeks earlier. 

The shipping executive was pleased that she finally got her hands on a pair of Bang and Olufsen earphones that she had been eyeing for more than a year. 

She paid S$209 for it, a 40 per cent discount off its original price of S$349. 

She got a bigger 75 per cent discount on bedsheets from an Italian brand that normally cost more than S$1,000 for one set, but was selling at S$250. 

“If not for the sale, I would not buy these bedsheets,” she admitted.

Ms Wu and her friend had spent a total of about S$4,000 since they began shopping at 7am and they were planning to go for a second round after lunch. 

Over at Takashimaya and Tangs, the crowds were more muted when TODAY visited these department stores. 

Unlike Robinsons which was having discounts of up to 90 per cent, Takashimaya offered discounts of up to 30 per cent while Tangs members on its loyalty programme get a 12 per cent rebate. 

Ms Chris Tju, 47, spent at least S$500 at Takashimaya with her mother. 

“We had no plan to shop today. My plan was just to collect the popcorn that I ordered,” the civil servant said.

However, they could not resist taking a look after seeing the discount posters and ended up buying luggage and other household items.