While more than 30 per cent of Irish consumers will look to take advantage of Black Friday discounts this weekend, some shoppers, retailers and lobby groups are turning away from the sales window over concerns about its impact on their margins and the planet.
According to recent research for the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC), interest in Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales shopping has dropped significantly when compared with last year, with only 36 per cent of those surveyed expecting to shop in the sales compared to 45 per cent last year.
Despite the fall-off in interest among some shoppers, those who do go out in search of bargains are likely to spend more than ever, with the average expected spend up to €431 compared to €343 in 2023.
People won’t be spending any of their Black Friday money in Fresh Cuts, a small independent clothes retailer in Dublin city centre, however.
The shop is owned by Steven Murphy and he has refused to embrace the sales period which was imported from the United States less than 10 years ago.
“We’ve never bought into it, and instead of having a Black Friday sale we have a Give Back Friday,” he said.
That will see Fresh Cuts work with a charity, with “every order we get from Friday to Cyber Monday equalling a care package for a child in hospital”, he said.
Murphy said there were multiple reasons why his shop would not be taking part. “Giving discounts just before Christmas does put pressure on shops,” he said. “There is a huge amount of pressure on us and we have been getting emails and DMs [direct messages] on Instagram for the last week-and-a-half from people asking what our Black Friday Deals are. When we explain what we’re doing, people understand and buy into that.”
That is not the only way Black Friday impacts on his business, however, and he has noticed a fall-off in sales in the run-up to the date as shoppers hold off on spending “because they think that there’s going to be these big deals”.
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He is sceptical about many deals offered by other retailers. “We don’t have huge amount of stock as we’re a small brand, but a lot or retailers are just clearing old stock,” he said.
He said that many “big brands hold on to dead stock and then launch Black Friday 70 per cent off sales, but they are selling stock that might have been sitting in their warehouses for two years and they weren’t able to sell anyway”.
Apart from the economics of it, he said there were concerns from a sustainability perspective. “There is the whole extravagance behind it, with people buying stuff they don’t need.”
His concerns were echoed by the chief executive of the Guaranteed Irish label, Brid O’Connell, who questioned the sustainability of many Black Friday sales.
“When Black Friday started here it seemed like a great idea, but I think it has got jaded and people have got tired of it,” she said.
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“There are retailers who see it as an opportunity to shift old stock, but consumers see through that.”
She said Guaranteed Irish did not encourage members to get involved in the sale, but “if they want to do it well and good, that’s their business but it’s not something we make a play on because there’s literally no sustainability behind it”.
Whatever about the sale period, she said in the run-up to Christmas it was “vital to celebrate and support the incredible work of Irish businesses. Every euro spent locally strengthens our economy, sustains jobs, and supports vibrant communities,” she said.
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