Black Friday has come to Africa. It’s a U.S. tradition where retailers discount their prices the Friday after Thanksgiving and shoppers shop madly

The U.S. Thanksgiving holiday falls on the last Thursday in November. In South Africa, many traditional retailers and online stores are jumping on the opportunity to drive shoppers to their stores…some, literally.

Checkers Supermarket has joined forces with taxi-hailing company Uber for Black Friday, TimesLive reports.

The first 1000 new users to sign up with Uber and use a special promotional code will get a free return trip to a Checkers store.

“Last year we served more than a million customers on Black Friday,” said Shoprite Checkers marketing director Neil Schreuder. “This year we have even more deals.”

Uber Africa spokeswonman Samantha Allenberg said the response had been “really incredible.”

At Pick n Pay, prices on some groceries and non-food items will be discounted by nearly 60percent, said Dave Ramsden, advertising general manager.

In 2014, U.S. shoppers spent $50.9-billion on Black Friday, TimesLive reports.

Black Friday had become the biggest shopping day of the year in the U.K., according to The Daily Telegraph.

The Black Friday name is often explained as the day when many U.S. retailers begin turning a profit after being in the red.

Black Friday in the U.S. is considered the official start of the Christmas shopping season. As an advertising and marketing tool, it’s almost brand new in Africa.

Checkers was the first retailer to bring the U.S. sales day to South Africa in 2014, News24Wire reported. Shoprite marketing director Schreuder described the response as “mayhem.” But it was exciting for retailers and exceeded expectations, he said.

This year, Black Friday is gaining recognition locally, with many companies including Zando, Game and DisChem discounting goods.

Retail sales in South Africa grew slower than expected in September at 2.7 percent year-on-year. Black Friday comes as a boost to stores that participate.

In Nigeria, Jumia online store is expecting sales to go off the charts, and hopes to exceed Alibaba’s “Singles Day” sales record set in China earlier in November, News24Wire reports.

Fatoumata Ba, managing director for Jumia Nigeria said, “Our projections for this Black Friday 2015 are surpassing anything we could have hoped for only a year ago.

“The traction we are observing on Jumia for Black Friday is unprecedented, with 100 times more traffic on the website than a year ago at the same time,” he said.

MyBroadband listed 23 sellers of electronic gadgets and tech products that are offering big discounts on Friday in South Africa.

Many South African retailers — both online and brick-and-mortar — have joined their American counterparts in offering big savings on technology and gadgets on Black Friday, the report said.

These include Rebel Tech, CNA and Wootware.

Black Friday is an advantage for consumers, but the big winners are the retailers, said Economist Mike Schussler, TimesLive reports.