Poll of the Week: Do you actually like Black Friday?

Black Friday is easily one of the most heavily marketed periods of the year. Stores fill their adverts with discounts in hopes of customers flooding in to empty their stocks. But, even if customers do end up flocking to browse or buy items, they are not particularly happy with the climate surrounding the day.

This was pretty much expected; As I stated in the original poll itself, I often found myself feeling uncomfortable from the practices that take place leading up to Black Friday. This is supported by our community, since across all domains sentiments were common. 

The results are clear. Consumers feel indifferent about Black Friday discounts, and would only consider buying something if it meets their discount expectations (something we will take a look at in a while). 

Indifference is at the top of all domains. In the international domain, 30% are indifferent about the day, which is a number unsurprisingly low in comparison to other domains. France has the lead at 50%, followed by Germany at 48% and Brazil at 43%. All of the domains were also having negative feelings about the day, with around a sum of 20% not willing to buy anything during the period.

Still, a lot of people are looking for good deals but their expectations are moderated, especially in Brazil with 37%. In other domains, things seem to be harder with France barely making it to the 20% mark with Germany and COM lagging behind at 13 and 15% respectively. 

The driving factor for this is the bad marketing practices that, as it seems, are a universal problem for consumers. But I believe it is more fitting to hear it from your perspective: 

"In the meantime, retailers are trying more and more to pull money out of their pockets. Since these attempts are constantly being made (e.g. offers for Halloween!), I ignore the emails and mostly delete them because there are no real offers. A reasonable price comparison is simply irreplaceable." [...] -Bergerbrecht, German domain. 

"But for myself and the type of thing I'm looking to buy, it's an illusion here in Brazil to expect good prices and real discounts." -Sotterio Salles, Brazilian domain. 

Indifference aside, our readers from across the pond in Brazil and COM seem to be also skeptical about the discount percentages themselves. Following a "moderation is key" mentality we see that they would prefer a modest discount over a "CRAZY DEAL!!!!" since the latter may be indicative of a trap. 48% of Brazil would be fine with a 40% discount while in COM 38% would prefer a generous 50% discount.

In DE and FR things are different. You guys really seem to like big discounts, with 34% in FR and 27% in DE looking for deals of over 60%, but this expectation comes with the fact that you expect prices to be inflated before the Black Friday period. This, I believe makes the most popular number in DE, that of 30% much closer to actual discount expectations; But now I'm just speculating. Let us look at what you had to say about it: 

[...]"At 60% I personally have rather skepticism and no "Woah, that's a great discount!" -Tim, German domain.

"For my part it is "I am indifferent but if I come across a good deal, I will consider buying" and I will pay attention to reductions of 50% and more, but I do not expect anything from this black friday."[...] -Jerome69Paris, French domain.

I think the above comments represent our average feelings about this year's Black Friday, low expectations coupled with increased caution about bad deals. It may not be something I do not feel myself, but it is nice to know that I'm not standing alone when I sigh at every "fake" discount I see.

Still, I believe there are a lot of interesting insights hidden in the data and I would love to converse with you about it in the comments. I hope I see you there!

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Original Text

Black Friday is only a week away, and I can't say I'm very happy about it. So, today's poll is about our feelings for Black Friday.

Yet, my disdain towards this buying period is not unwarranted. You see, back in my home country of Greece, Black Friday is a relatively new import, as is the case with many other countries. It has only been since 2015 that stores started trying out this kind of discounts, and consumers were alienated by the artificial price fluctuations before and after the event. 

Stores did not exactly know how to promote the idea, using the discounts mostly as bait to lure customers to their stores. But to put everything in perspective, I have a small personal story to share.

Black Friday: Great opportunities can lead to disappointment.

Back in 2018, in the middle of a budget-crippling DRAM chip shortage, I was in desperate need of a GPU. So, I patiently waited for Black Friday deals and set my sights on exactly what I wanted: A brand new AMD RX 570 for a modest $100 discount. As the day came closer, listings started disappearing from reservations with only a few, in-store pieces left. 

Anxiety skyrocketed. I rushed to the store only to be told that the online listing was wrong, and that there was no inventory left! I felt hot burning rage, boiling inside me as the clerk wittingly pushed me to buy a similar product for a smaller discount.

So I left the store feeling gutted. I had the fear that I would not be able to find this GPU for such a good price for the next months. Honestly, every experience with Black Friday since then has been similarly uncomfortable.

It was like the entire market was being rigged to force me to participate in the deals craze. This is something called Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) and my colleague Antoine Engels explains it excellently in his latest opinion piece.

You probably have similar experiences, and it really makes me wonder if people actually enjoy Black Friday?

Black Friday 2021: Will shortages spoil discounts?

The next thing that comes to mind has to do with expectations surrounding this year's discounts. Supply chains are strained world-wide and that has caused issues in many consumer products. Electronics are particularly affected, which makes us very skeptical towards the quality of this year's discounts.

The above fact has made me reconsider what I feel like is a good deal. In the past I would have ignored anything under a 30% discount, this year? Even 20% will make me rejoice with consumerism induced serotonin. 

Bonus question for the disheartened:

Predatory clerk practices, artificial shortages, real shortages and price mark-ups come hand in hand with Black Friday. Recalling my own personal experiences, I have collected quite a few retail horror stories that I share with others from time to time.

I understand though that this is only one side of the coin. So, I would love to hear your Black Friday stories, whether they are nerve-racking horrors or successful deal hunts! Next week I'm going to handpick the best ones from every domain and feature them with the results. The comment section is yours.

That is everything for this week, don't forget to check back in Monday for the results. Until then, happy deal hunting!