Black Friday becomes fixture
US tradition grows in popularity as international chains reach New Zealand. Susan Edmunds reports.
United States shopping phenomenon Black Friday is catching on in New Zealand – which could be good news for Christmas shoppers.
Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving – November 24 this year. That is followed by Cyber Monday, another big discount day.
Usually, local retailers start their Black Friday sales at the beginning of the day on Friday but international sales come online through Friday and Saturday, depending on where in the world the businesses are based. Many retailers extend their offers over the weekend.
Jonathan Elms, the Sir Stephen Tindall chair in retail management at Massey University, said it was becoming more of an event for New Zealand shoppers.
He said New Zealanders were discount-oriented shoppers anyway, and retailers could piggyback on the US event.
The tradition was growing in popularity, particularly as international retailers established a physical presence in this country and increasing numbers of international operators had an online and delivery presence here, too.
What worked for them overseas would be deployed in New Zealand, he said. ‘‘It’s adding fuel to the fire.’’
Elms said electrical goods looked to be a prime category for discounting this year – Harvey Norman, The Warehouse and Dell had flagged sales.
‘‘But I was having a look last night and there are even psychics offering Black Friday discounts. It seems to be on absolutely everything. Two or three years ago it was only electrical and homewares but now everybody seems to be piggy-backing on it. It’s a good time of year to get those pre-Christmas sales.’’
Many retailers were expecting double-digit percentage growth in sales, year-on-year, for those days, he said.
Consumer confidence had lifted with a new Government and the recent round of property valuations in many parts of the country.
‘‘People are feeling a bit more wealth at this point in time than they did last year. That adds to the mix.’’
Travel Deal Tuesday was also emerging as a discount date, he said. In the US, it was used by travel agents who wanted to offer
‘‘I was having a look last night and there are even psychics offering Black Friday discounts.’’
Jonathan Elms of Massey University
discounts and deals to expats travelling home for Christmas.
Price comparison website PriceSpy reported a 160 per cent increase in traffic on Black Friday last year compared to the year before. Country manager Liisa Matinvesi-Bassett said she expected it to be busier again this year.
Kiwi consumers could expect an average saving of about 20 per cent per item and for 17 per cent of all products to be discounted.
She said the biggest savings were likely to come on electronics and gadgets, with retailers offering discounts of between 15 and 52 per cent off the recommended retail prices of items including drones, camera lenses, PS4, activity trackers, headphones and portable speakers. ‘‘For more expensive products it’s a great time to find good deals.’’
But she said about 10 per cent of products increased in price on Black Friday. ‘‘It’s important that consumers are aware not all products have been discounted. It’s important that they can see this is a good deal. It’s important to compare prices.’’
The site’s data showed that the Samsung Galaxy S8 was expected to be the most popular product on Friday, followed by the iPhone 7.
Elms agreed consumers should be cautious. Local retailers were generally transparent about their pricing, he said, but there could be concerns with online providers inflating prices before the sale date so that they could offer a steeper discount.
Retail NZ spokesman Greg Harford said Black Friday still tended to be something used by the bigger retailers.
‘‘The Warehouse has even sought to rebrand Black Friday as Red Friday,’’ he said.
‘‘Black Friday sales are making great deals available to consumers across a range of retail categories. The focus has tended to be in electronics categories, but has expanded over time as department stores have come on board. Retail NZ is expecting Black Friday to become more important over time, as a fixture in the New Zealand retail calendar.’’