Discount Madness on Black Friday: Experts Warn

For retailers, the so-called Black Friday and Cyber Monday mark the unofficial start of the Christmas shopping season. These promotional days, originating from the USA, fall this year on November 28th and December 1st and are becoming increasingly popular in this country. In light of the discount battle, debt advisors and consumer advocates warn against apparent bargains, overdrawn accounts, and impulse purchases.

Amazon as the big winner on Black Friday

The domestic trade association expects Austrian consumers to spend around 460 million euros during the upcoming Black Week, including Cyber Monday and Black Friday. "Unfortunately, a growing portion of this flows abroad," says trade association managing director Rainer Will. Last year, domestic consumers spent an estimated 400 million euros during Black Week. The record was set in 2022 with 450 million euros. A large portion of the spending will again fall on the online retailer Amazon this year. The US company attracts with discount offers during an extended Black Friday week from November 20th to December 1st.

Challenges for Austrian retailers

Particularly for small brick-and-mortar retailers in Austria, the promotional days are a challenging environment according to trade researchers. "The discount battle has long become a show of the big online platforms - a selling into a market otherwise characterized by purchase restraint," says Ernst Gittenberger from the Institute for Trade at the University of Linz. Those benefiting the most are Amazon and the Chinese discount platforms Temu and Shein.

Electronics on average the most discounted

The price comparison platform geizhals.at took a closer look at the promotional days from the previous year. Geizhals compared the prices of the 10,000 most popular products on its platform during the Black Week at the end of November 2024 with the end of October 2024. According to the platform, the strongest average price reductions were found in notebooks (-12.5 percent), televisions (-12.2 percent), and monitors (-10.5 percent). There were also price reductions for smartphones (-8.2 percent) and smartwatches (-9.0 percent).

Young People in Particular Tend to Make Impulse Purchases

According to a Black Friday survey by the price comparison platform idealo.at, men plan to spend twice as much as women. The strongest purchase intention is among 25-34-year-olds.

Some view the promotional days critically: Global 2000, Caritas Vienna, and Volkshilfe Vienna want to promote the benefits of secondhand at a press conference next week. Cheap disposable fashion, including from the Chinese online platforms Shein and Temu, is said to cause tons of waste daily, which ends up in landfills or is incinerated. Around Black Friday, there are "countless bait offers" that particularly entice young people "to spontaneous impulse purchases," criticize the environmental and social organizations.

Increased Phishing Risk and Fraudulent Shops

"Given the multitude of dubious or even criminal online shops that are now rampant, one should always ensure before purchasing that they are buying from a trustworthy and preferably local retailer," recommends Will, the managing director of the trade association. Consumers often receive many unwanted emails around Black Week. According to estimates by cybersecurity providers, about half of Black Friday spams are malicious, containing phishing attempts or malware.

(APA/Red)

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