One-fifth of Irish people think retailers hike up prices before Black Friday to make discounts appear better than they really are.
Ahead of the shopping madness next Friday, November 29, 20% of us remain sceptical about the sales while one in ten say the products they’re looking for are not discounted.
And middle-aged respondents aged 55-64 are the most sceptical – over a quarter (26%) of people in this age bracket said they think retailers inflate prices before slashing them for the shopping bonanza.
Research from Finder.com revealed that one in three of us, the equivalent of 1.3 million people, hope to bag a bargain next Friday, with a savvy 39% of these aiming to beat the queues by shopping only online.
When it comes to queuing for the goods they want, a hardy 14% of people said they’d queue overnight but just 5% said they’d be willing to queue all day long and only 7% would queue for three hours.
A patient 13% said they’d be willing to stand in line for an hour to snap up a bargain and just over one-fifth (21%) said they’d only queue for 15 minutes.
The data was collected in two Google surveys from 1, 200 Irish adults aged 18 to 65+ in October 2019.
While 52% think Black Friday is good value, almost half of these respondents (24%) won’t be hitting the shops as they think it’s too much hassle.
Toys and electrical goods are on many Irish consumers’ wishlists ahead of Christmas, with Google search data analysed by Finder.com showing we are most likely to look for Black Friday discounts from retailers Argos, Harvey Norman, Currys PC World, Amazon and Smyths.
We're also keen to nab tech bargains on Black Friday, with a high volume of searches relating to tech products and brands such as the Nintendo Switch and PS4.
Finder spokesperson Susannah Binstead has provided the following tips to Black Friday shoppers:
“Score early deals: Black Friday discounts begin before the day. If you shop early you can get the first pick of stock without the hassle of fighting the crowds.
“Compare your options: If you’re looking for a specific product, compare the retail prices and discount amounts at multiple retailers. Just because one retailer is offering a bigger percentage discount it doesn’t mean it’s necessarily the cheapest option.
“Be prepared to walk away empty-handed: Don’t feel pressured to buy just because you’ve spent time shopping. Not everything will be a bargain and the items you want might sell out.
“Know the return policy: It’s easy to get caught up trying to secure a bargain and you may end up buying something that’s not quite right or that you didn’t even need in the first place.
“Use the right credit card: You may as well earn credit card rewards points or cash back if you can.”
