Black Friday is one of the busiest shopping seasons all year. Although there are many great deals to be made on the day, a survey shows that 37 percent of Brits don’t actually trust the deals they find from retailers.
Every Black Friday there are both genuine and fake deals during the sales, according to price comparison service PriceRunner. Consumers are starting to catch on to this fact, according to a survey carried out in October by YouGov of more than 2,100 people in the UK.
The least trusting of Black Friday deals were those aged between 45-54, where 44 percent never trust Black Friday deals. The most trusting were individuals aged between 18-24, where only 15 percent never trust the available deals on the day.
A fake deal according to PriceRunner is when retailers increase the price of a product ahead of a sales season by 10 percent or more, to then lower them by 5 percent or more, creating a fake or inflated impression of a sale.
To find out the possible number of fake deals this year, PriceRunner has been keeping track of prices on more than 20,000 products since August. Prices have already started to increase ahead of Black Friday, as 12.5 percent of all tracked products have increased in price by on average 20 percent (as of 19th October). This indicates the possibility of a large number of fake deals during Black Friday this year as well.
“I am really disappointed to see so many retailers still resorting to this horrible sales tactic. Retailers are already increasing their prices ahead of Black Friday and I expect them to keep doing so for a few more weeks. I want consumers to be aware that there will likely be a large number of fake deals this year as well”, said Christine Gouldthorp, Consumer Expert at PriceRunner.
Where could be the best Black Friday deals be this year?
If 2021 looks anything similar to last year, the largest price reductions could this year be found in categories within consumer tech, gadgets for the home and toys.
Out of the more than 12,000 products PriceRunner analysed on sale on Black Friday last year, the top 10 product categories with the biggest average discounts were:
Looking at individual products, last year shoppers could save up to almost 60 percent on single items, with some of the best products found in categories such as clothes and consumer tech.
PriceRunner revealed the 10 best discounts on Black Friday last year from their price analysis:
Best tips for shopping the Black Friday sales
Giving her advice on how to get the most out of the sale, Christine Gouldthorp, Consumer Expert at PriceRunner, shared her five top tips on how to bag a bargain during the Black Friday sale:
- Use a comparison site to get the best price today on the product you want to buy, don’t just check a couple of your favourite websites as there is a high likelihood of a better deal somewhere else
- When you’ve found the product you want, remember to check its price history to make sure the price hasn’t been increased before the sale
- Keep track of the products you want by setting a price alert for them, getting an email or app notification when they drop in price, let someone else do the work for you!
- Make a list of what you actually need during Black Friday to avoid getting carried away by deals and buying things you don’t need.
- The best deals are usually found on Black Friday, although some retailers have extended their sales period to the full week. However, there are often even greater price reductions on Cyber Monday on the products that are left, just don’t wait too long as stock will likely run out quickly this year.
