Black Friday 2022 is on November 25th. Around the holiday of all bargain hunters, retailers traditionally advertise particularly gaudy with discount campaigns. But this time, amid high inflation rates, are there any really good deals to be had? And do the citizens even feel like going on a big shopping spree – or do they prefer to keep the money for the heating bill?
The consumer mood doesn’t seem to be all that bad. According to a representative survey by the consulting firm PWC, 69 percent of Germans want to go shopping around Black Friday. The respondents want to spend 289 euros on average, which is even slightly more than last year. Some have decided to buy Christmas presents early, precisely because of the uncertainty surrounding prices. On the one hand, many people are currently cautious when spending money, says PWC trading expert Christian Wulff. “On the other hand, they want to make conscious use of the special offers around Black Friday 2022 because they assume that the price spiral will continue.”
The German Retail Association (HDE) is also optimistic: The retailer lobby expects sales of 5.7 billion euros for special offers around Black Friday and Cyber Monday – one billion more than last year. The HDE also assumes that early Christmas shopping will play a major role.
But will the retailers offer discounts on a large scale? This year, it is “more difficult than ever for retailers to find the right balance between promotion and sustainable pricing,” says Alexander Dehmel from the market research institute GfK. The expert for technical consumer goods expects high discounts, especially in product groups that have seen little demand in recent months. This includes in particular devices in the entry-level and mid-price range.
Other experts doubt that there will be many good deals in technology this year. The cashback portal Shoop, which works with 2300 online retailers, assumes that there will only be small discounts here. “There are still delivery bottlenecks for many electronic products,” says Shoop managing director Veit Mürz to the star. The dealers would therefore have little incentive to throw their already scarce goods on the market at discounted prices, says Mürz.
He also gives little hope for bargains when booking travel. The demand for travel has recently been strong and customers are willing to pay high. Therefore, it is unlikely that the providers would give larger discounts.
Mürz expects the biggest discounts on clothing. “After consulting the affiliated retailers and the public data of listed fashion retailers, Shoop expects significant discounts of 30-50 percent around Black Friday.” Other experts also see the opportunity for discounts, especially in fashion. “Retailers have stocked up in the expectation of a recovery in consumption after Corona, and the autumn has been mild so far – the warehouses are full,” says PWC expert Wulff.
The price comparison portal idealo.de also reports: “Despite inflation, good bargains are possible.” This applies above all when buyers are flexible, for example when it comes to the color of a product. At the same time, the portal dampens exaggerated expectations. Because past experience has shown that although there are many offers, they are often only slightly lower in price. An idealo evaluation of Black Friday from the previous year showed that although thousands of products were reduced, they were only reduced by 5 percent on average.
As every year, the same applies to Black Friday 2022: not every supposed super offer is actually one. Instead of blindly buying a product at a supposed special price, you should compare the prices. The North Rhine-Westphalia consumer advice center recommends not letting ticking countdowns in online shops put you under pressure and even using two price search engines when comparing. She also advises being particularly careful with supposed super bargains and not paying in advance. Because fake shops and fraudsters also try to use discount days like Black Friday for themselves.
