Following today’s news (Tuesday 26th November) that a Which? report has discussed whether Black Friday is just hype with few real offers available;

Zoe Mills, Retail Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers her view:

“Consumers are increasingly savvy to the deals offered by retailers, and are more accustomed to shopping around for the best deal. Guidance from Which? has highlighted that shoppers should enter the discounting period with a plan on what they want to buy and an idea on how much they are willing to spend. While certain deals may be the same, if not better at other points in the year, consumers are still able to use this promotional event to get the best deal at the right time for them. Yes, many of the items sold will be on promotion at other times of the year, but Black Friday still offers consumers the chance to save money on present buying in the Christmas run-up, which will be very important to some shoppers.

“There is no doubt that some retailers do use the occasion to hype promotions that are not quite what they seem, but this is not particular to Black Friday, and while Which? correctly highlights that Black Friday discounts do not always stand out when taking a longer term view of prices, this is due to the fact that retailers are having to offer discounts much more frequently in order to drive sales in the current difficult retail climate. Retailer margins are at historically low levels, and most can ill afford to drop prices any lower.

“Black Friday promotional sales continue to grow but at a significantly slower rate, with spend on promotional sales rising 2.2% to £4.3bn. This will ensure that more shoppers than ever are set to squeeze more of their Christmas spend into the Black Friday period.”