Waiting for a Black Friday bargain? Don't fall for that one
Friday, 10 May 2019
If you're in the market for a new purchase, there's probably not a lot of point holding off for the big sales.
Comparison site PriceSpy ran the numbers on products listed on its site last year.
It found while New Zealanders were keen to shop when big sales were advertised, it was not always when the biggest discounts were found.
'New Zealanders certainly appear to shop most when retailers run a sale that entices consumers in by offering significant savings and price drops,' said Liisa Matinvesi-Bassett, New Zealand country manager for PriceSpy.
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'Further research reveals the price listed for many goods on the most popular sales days of the year aren't necessarily the cheapest, which raises the question, when is a sale really a sale?'
She said the most popular sale day of last year was Boxing Day, followed by Black Friday, Christmas Day, and the days either side of Black Friday.
But of the top 20 most popular products on PriceSpy, 45 per cent could be purchased more cheaply outside those days.
The remaining products were found at their 'sale' price on other days of the year, too.
PriceSpy's data showed Boxing Day had the biggest overall discount. If someone bought all the 20 products on Boxing Day last year, they would have paid $587.99.
But waiting until this year would have saved even more - if those same products had been bought in late April, the price would have been $586.80.
Twenty per cent of mobile phones were cheaper outside sales days, as were 40 per cent of laptops and 50 per cent of game consoles.
'Whilst there are definitely significant savings to be made on any big sale day, we couldn't recommend more strongly the need for consumers to do their homework first as our findings clearly show, pricing can vary massively,' Matinvesi-Bassett said.
University of Auckland marketing lecturer Mike Lee said sales were a convenient rule of thumb for consumers to help them make a purchase decision.
'They assume if something is 'on sale' it should be cheaper. And while there are domestic regulations on when a retailer can label something on sale or not, perhaps such regulations are not as enforceable in a globalised online environment.'
Head of department Bodo Lang said it was risky for retailers because, if people became aware that good prices were equally available at other times, they risked a backlash on social media.
'Consumers are easily influenced within a retail environment,' he said.
'Even subtle cues, such as having a yellow or red border around a price sign, without any mention of a sale or a special price, have been shown to lead to increased product sales.
'It is no surprise then, that announcing a sale generally results in a large surge in sales. So on the surface this is great for both retailers and for consumers. But one of the dangers of having sales is that they simply condition consumers to only buy when products are on sale.'
He said that could end up driving the wrong outcomes for retailers.
'Such behaviour can be widespread and all it does is lower companies' profitability because consumers delay purchases until the product is on sale at one of the retailers within the category. This is a particular threat with discretionary purchases that consumers can delay easily, for example, clothing, furniture, or technology purchases.'
Consumer NZ head of research Jessica WIlson said there were major issues with retailers' promotion of special offers.
'These offers make it look like you're getting a discount but the savings aren't always genuine. Products can be on special so often the special price is really the usual selling price.
'We've also found instances where the claimed usual price increases before the product goes on sale, inflating the savings available.'
She said retailers who misled consumers about the price of goods risked breaching the Fair Trading Act and being fined up to $600,000.
'Given the prevalence of 'specials', there's a strong case for regular price monitoring to ensure consumers aren't being misled by these offers.'
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