In the current context of runaway inflation, more than two-thirds of Brits are waiting for Black Friday to make certain purchases, according to a LoyaltyLion study cited by Charged Retail. And it’s the same story in France, where no less than 69% of consumers say they are waiting for the sales or Black Friday to buy fashion purchases they deem necessary*.

And yet, many retailers will likely forsake Black Friday this year. In any case, that’s what Tony Preedy, Managing Director of the marketplace Fruggo, believes: “While it’s understandable that consumers might want to delay their shopping until Black Friday weekend, most retailers will need to opt out this year”, explains the MD. “Recent years have seen a stand-off develop between consumers delaying their shopping until the end November, holding out for deals, and retailers that need to avoid concentrating all their trading into a very short time window. For most retailers, all of their annual profit could be made – or lost – in the six weeks running up to Christmas. While consumers may be motivated to hold off shopping, hoping they will be able to get a discount, retailers need consumers to shop early.”

For the Managing Director of Fruugo, although inflation is strongly impacting consumers’ purchasing power, causing them to – rightly – look for the lowest prices, “retailers are not in a sufficiently strong financial position to give them”.

Given this context, how can the latter ensure greater profitability in the run up to the end-of-year holidays? 

Tony Preedy has the answer: “reduce the number and size of discounts they offer”, which in some cases means “boycotting Black Friday completely and communicating this in advance to customers, so they don’t hold out for discounts that aren’t going to happen. Retailers are likely to have to warn shoppers that, due to stock shortages, they will need to buy early this year to be sure of getting their hands on scarce products.”

Moreover, according to Preedy, it’s in retailers’ interests to increase their potential audience by turning to international marketplaces, like Fruugo, to clear their inventory.

A simple publicity stunt or a shrewd analysis? We’ll find out in November…

*Study conducted by OpinionWay for Marques Avenue and notably cited by Midi Libre.