When is Black Friday?
According to American tradition, Black Friday It is celebrated on the Friday following Thanksgiving and this year it falls on November 29. On this occasion, stores in Poland are also preparing offers for customers and multi-day promotions.
“This phenomenon appeared in our country later and never reached the level it has in the United States. In Polish conditions, discounts of 10-15 percent. can be considered significant, but reductions of more than 30 percent may arouse our distrust” – said the director of the Institute of Management and Quality Sciences of the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Dr. Radosław Mącik.
“Inflation is slowing down a bit, so it is becoming more and more difficult for sellers to convince consumers to pay higher prices,” he justified, referring to information provided by Eurostat data, according to which inflation (calculated according to HICP) in Poland in October 2024 on an annual basis amounted to 4.2%, the same as in September. Monthly prices increased by 0.3%.
Most Poles want to take advantage
The UCE Research report published on Tuesday shows that 64.2 percent Poles intend to take advantage of Black Friday shopping opportunities. 18.9 percent do not intend to use this opportunity, and 16.9 percent he doesn’t know what he will do yet. According to another study, PMR Market Experts, Poles tend to plan on Black Friday online shopping – 48% intend to shop exclusively online. consumers, and 37 percent plans to combine online and stationary shopping.
“Most consumers expect that in Black Friday there will be bargains in stores. We are preparing for this and postponing some purchases for this period, hoping that we will buy something cheaper,” said the economist.
Impulse shopping or compulsive shopping?
In his opinion, impulse shopping they don’t have to be a bad thing. “Most consumers are not monks, they do not have to deny themselves everything. Black Friday promotions can be an opportunity to make purchases that we have been planning for a long time, and the shopping itself can be a kind of reward and a positive stimulus,” he said.
– he said – they are something else compulsive shoppingwhich are a type of impulse control disorder and in extreme cases can lead to financial problems for the entire family. “Contrary to appearances, they do not happen often, because for most of us it is refreshing to have an empty account,” he admitted.
Changing shopping habits
The expert drew attention to the changing shopping habits of Poles. “Until the pandemic, we were a somewhat +resistant+ society to online trade. Over time lockdown it turned out that many stores could not function in a traditional way, which forced a change in habits,” he said, adding that an additional impetus for changes in shopping habits is the fact that the assortment of traditional stores is currently being increasingly optimized. “Fewer and fewer goods are available on place, only the fastest-moving goods remain, which do not lie on the shelves and do not generate warehouse costs,” he said.
According to the expert, stationary stores are increasingly turning into… showroomsi.e. showrooms. “We are facing a process of +showroomization+. Today’s stores will become places where we will see items that we will then order or buy online,” he noted.
At the same time, he encouraged us to pay attention to the environmental consequences of our purchasing decisions. He gave the example of textiles, which we throw away along with rapidly changing fashion, which contributes to environmental pollution and increases the consumption of its resources. “Let’s not buy just because there is a promotion. Such a purchase may not only be a burden on the environment, but also a source of frustration,” he warned.
Price information
Radosław Mącik also reminded about the applicable law European Union the so-called Omnibus Directiveaccording to which consumers should be informed about the lowest price of the product in the 30 days preceding the discount.
“From the point of view of consumer protection, this is the right solution, but if someone wants to manipulate the price, they will find a way,” he admitted. As an example, he gave certain models of electronic equipment that have variants that are cheaper than the basic version, but often with a limited number of functions. However, it occurs in the food industry downsizing phenomenon, i.e. replacing packaging with smaller and similar equivalents. “Therefore, before purchasing, it is worth checking the price per liter or kilogram, and not only for the packaging itself,” he added. (PAP)
author: Piotr Nowak
