Black Friday sales more likely to attract young people, CCPC says

Interest in Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales is increasing among Irish shoppers, but spending is expected to be down this year, according to research from Ireland’s consumer watchdog.

The survey of more than 1,000 shoppers suggests that 45 per cent of people are likely to buy during the sales period, up from 37 per cent last year, but the predicted spend has fallen from an average of €398 to €343 this year. Black Friday takes place on November 24th.

Men plan to spend more money on average over the period than women, with 29 per cent of men and 18 per cent of women expecting to spend at least €500. Of those likely to shop in the sales, 48 per cent are planning to buy electronics, with laptops, tablets, phones and TVs sought by many.

The report from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) shows young people in particular are likely to shop in the Black Friday sales and may be more vulnerable to fake discounts.

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The research suggests that 65 per cent of those aged 15-24 plan on shopping in the sales, with 53 per cent of this cohort trusting that advertised discounts are accurate. This falls to 36 per cent when spread across all age groups.

“Young people are more likely to shop in the sales, more likely to trust advertised discounts and less likely to do research about prices,” said the CCPC’s director of communications Gráinne Griffin. “While we encourage all consumers to shop around, retailers must be aware that it is illegal to mislead consumers.”

Ms Griffin pointed out that almost two-thirds of sales shoppers are motivated by discounts and stressed the importance of retailers being honest and transparent about reductions.

“You can’t discount a product from a price it was never on sale for, or hike the price up for a couple of days so you can advertise a discount based on that artificially high price,” she said. “The CCPC is actively monitoring online and instore discounts to ensure that consumers are not being misled.”

New regulations on sale pricing were introduced in Ireland last November, in an attempt to increase transparency and ensure that discounts are genuine. The regulations require retailers to set discounts based on the lowest price a product was on sale for in the previous 30 days. Businesses that do not comply are subject to enforcement action by the CCPC.