Younger consumers more likely to trust Black Friday deals
November 15, 2023
CCPC research uncovers consumer plans for Black Friday 2023
Research published today by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has revealed that while overall interest in Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales shopping is up, anticipated expenditure is down.
- Almost half (45%) of those surveyed say they are likely to buy during the Black Friday sales
- More people said they planned on shopping in the 2023 Black Friday sales than in 2022 (45% vs 37%)
- However, the predicted average spend is down from €398 in 2022 to €343 in 2023
Men plan to spend more on average in the sales than women, with 29% of men and just 18% of women expecting to spend at least €500. Of those likely to shop in the sales, 48% are planning on buying electronics, with laptops, tablets, phones and TVs featuring heavily.
Young people are particularly likely to shop in the Black Friday sales, and may be more vulnerable to fake discounts:
- 65% of those aged 15-24 plan on shopping in the sales
- 53% of this cohort trust that advertised discounts are accurate, compared to 36% of all ages
Grainne Griffin, Director of Communications at the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, said:
“Young people are more likely to shop in the sales, more likely to trust advertised discounts, and less likely to do research about prices. While we encourage all consumers to shop around, retailers must be aware that it is illegal to mislead consumers.
Three out of five sales shoppers say they’re motivated by discounts – this is why it’s so important that retailers are 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. The CCPC is actively monitoring online and instore discounts to ensure that consumers are not being misled.”
For more information read the Black Friday/Cyber Monday research.
NOTES
CCPC Black Friday/Cyber Monday survey methodology
1,026 interviews were conducted with a representative sample of the Irish population. The survey was conducted through computer-assisted telephone (CATI) interviews in October 2023. The data was then weighted in line with the most up-to-date population estimates for gender, age, social class and region.
The survey was designed by Ipsos in consultation with the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, and repeated many of the questions asked in similar CCPC surveys in 2021 and 2022.
New laws on discounts
New regulations on sale pricing were introduced in Ireland in November 2022. Aiming 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. More information is available at ccpc.ie/reductions
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