Ready to shop: Big Friday bigger than ever
Boxing Day has been eclipsed by US import Black Friday as New Zealand retailers make the most of the pre-Christmas spending rush.
New Zealanders’ interest began to grow in the traditional United States shopping day from 2015, going by Google searches, but Boxing Day has had the edge in discounting – even if it was far from the crazy bargains offered in other countries.
‘‘You go to a Boxing Day sale in Canada and it’s 85 per cent off. You go to a Boxing Day sale in New Zealand and it’s 15 per cent on only end-of-line products,’’ Downlights managing director Jennifer Del Bel said.
There was an overall price drop of 5.4 per cent on Boxing Day last year, according to PriceSpy’s price index, compared with a 5.1 per cent price drop on Black Friday.
About 20 per cent of products in the most popular categories actually cost more on Black Friday in New Zealand, compared with 13 per cent on Boxing Day.
Rob Aitken, who heads the marketing department at the University of Otago, says Black Friday sales could be hard to pass up for people with an eye on Christmas.
He said the two sales days bookend what used to be the traditional Christmas shopping period.
‘‘It’s really hard for consumers, because how could you go past something that’s cheaper now than it would be in a couple of days’ time? And how horrible is it to have spent a lot of money on something and then only go to a Boxing Day sale where it’s half price?
‘‘It feels like you’ve been tricked, and I think consumers often feel really bad about that.’’
Retailers should be doing more to help consumers, he said.
Paymark figures showed consumer spending came to $253 million on Black Friday last year, beating Boxing Day’s $150m.
Business adviser Toss Grumley, of Wolf & Fox, said his clients were definitely more interested in Black Friday than Boxing Day.
The already e-commerce-focused sale day will be even bigger, with Covid-19 pushing more shoppers online. More promotions would last through to Cyber Monday this year, he said. ‘‘So I think this year it’s going to turn into this giant fourday event that really announces and blasts into the start of Christmas spending.’’
Boxing Day wouldn’t shrink but it would become less of an event, with people keen to head away to the beach as soon as possible.
‘‘I think Boxing Day doesn’t work to an extent because everyone’s done all their spending by then, whereas Black Friday is jumping in just before Christmas spending. You do a big blast [and] chuck in a few things for yourself,’’ Grumley said.
‘‘I know the day after Christmas we’re not thinking about retail therapy – we’ve just had a month of that. That’s us as a family, and I think lots of people feel the same.’’
There was less of a buzz from his clients about Boxing Day sales, which were more in the big-box-retailer repertoire, he said.
‘‘Everybody’s getting in on Black Friday and feeling like they have to do something, from small to large.
‘‘Little New Zealand fashion brands don’t do a Boxing Day sale – they’re all doing Black Friday.’’