How Kiwi shoppers can score Black Friday and Cyber Monday bargains

Thursday, 23 November 2017

Auckland mall-goers tell Stuff they aren't there because of the Black Friday sales.

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 Day in the United States – 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.

For more expensive products, Black Friday is a great time to find good deals - but some shops actually put up their prices.

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.

Here's some advice to help you make the most of the newest sale trend.

* Smaller stores holding their own in Black Friday crush, Palmerston North retailers say**

He said New Zealanders were discount-oriented shoppers, anyway, and retailers were able to piggy-back on the US event.

Black Friday is no longer just about electronics.

It was becoming more popular, 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.'

Online Black Friday specials will last through Saturday from international retailers.

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.'

PriceSpy recommends shoppers prepare for sales by working out what they want to buy and what it would normally cost.

Many retailers were expecting double-digit percentage growth in sales, year-on-year, for those days, he said.

Consumer confidence had lifted, he said, 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 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 from electronics and gadgets, with retailers offering discounts of between 15 to 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 people 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.'

Tips to make the most of sales:

Check out the competition

Check if an offer really is as good as it sounds is to suss out the competition. Is the same TV set available at an even better price elsewhere?

Don't fall for 'normal price' bluff

Shops have another trick to get discounts to look bigger than they are. A known approach is to raise the price shortly before the sale and then compare the sale price to this elevated standard price. The shop has a good chance of success if: you do not compare the sale price to a competitor's price and you do not compare with what the product actually cost in the past.

Compare the features

If you don't know exactly what you want, it's common to just buy up the biggest bargains during a sale. However, you may not be getting the best deal. A mobile phone for $200 may seem like a bargain, but if it has significantly poorer performance than a mobile phone for $400, you may be fooled.

Prepare

The best chances of finding good a bargain comes from preparation. If you know in advance what you are interested in and have a rough idea of the price, you're less likely to get carried away and buy the wrong thing during the sales event.

Source: PriceSpy