Black Friday 2024: One in two consumers will take advantage of discounts

One in the two Greeks plans to make purchases by taking advantage of the upcoming discounts of Cyber Monday, according to the findings of the major research of EE, Future Consumer Index Greece 2024. Specifically, 50% of the research participants are to make purchases during the discount period of Black Friday (29.11.2024) and Cyber Monday (2.12.2024) that follows, manifesting the mixed feelings of consumers. The survey, which has been carried out annually in Greece since 2021 in cooperation with MRB, in the context of the corresponding global series of research by the EU, monitors trends, preferences and consumer concerns in the fluid environment of high inflation and economic uncertainty in recent years. As expected, the supply for purchases is linked to income criteria and the price of products, as among the five consumer computers monitored by the investigation, 62% of those who attach primary importance to the price and accessibility of products (Affordability First) state that they do not intend to buy anything. Young people between the ages of 18 and 29 (65%) – especially students (69%) – and secondly the age group 40 – 49 (54%). The presence of children in the family appears to be defining, with the percentages of those who intend to make purchases being higher among those with minor children (60%). Despite the reluctance of consumers to move to markets, they clearly attach importance to the offers made during this period. Thus, from those who said they intend to make purchases, nearly four out of five participants in the investigation (79%) reported that they postpone some of them to Black Friday and Cyber Monday. These findings come to confirm the fact that the uncertainty that economic slowdown and inflation have caused consumers also makes them particularly careful in their markets, while many of them are limited to the absolute essential. However, they may also reflect the cautiousness of some consumers who consider that major deductive events do not always meet their expectations of great discount opportunities. Commenting on consumers’ intentions regarding markets during the days of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Mr. Thanos Mavros, Partner of EY Greece and Head of the EU Retail Sector in Southeast Europe, he stated: “Although the consumer public in Greece has now become familiar with the big discount events, such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday, economic uncertainty and high prices make consumers cautious, as in the rest of the world. Retail and consumer business should adapt their strategic movements to the new data. There are many world best practices from where companies in Greece could gain experience – among other things, the exploitation of consumer data in live time with the help of artificial intelligence to predict demand (demand sensing) and form personalised bids based on preferences, as well as the use of dynamic pricing algorithms to supervise the course of competition prices and their readjustment to live time.”