Consumers are now expecting deep discounts of as much as 50% on a wide range of products on Black Friday, as retailers are preparing for a busy weekend, said Retail Ireland.
“Retailers are increasingly reluctant to engage in such deep discounting for fear that they are merely displaying sales that would otherwise happen later in the Christmas shopping period at more normal price levels,” said Thomas Burke , director, Retail Ireland.
“This was the case in 2017 when we saw retail sales fall by 2.6% in December when compared to the previous month, a sign that a significant portion of the traditional Christmas purchases were brought forward into November as consumers availed of deep discounts.”
Disposable Income Growth
Burke outlined that the current environment with the economy expected to grow by up to 9% this year and consumer disposable income growing by 4.4%, retailers are increasingly reluctant to give away margin.
“However, while some retailers now view the event with suspicion and an element of dread, others continue to embrace the promotional window with retail categories such as electronics and fashion now running week, and indeed fortnight, long promotions,” highlighted Burke.
Cyber Monday
Retailers are also preparing their online platforms and distribution networks for the second leg of this big shopping weekend, which comes in the form of Cyber Monday, falling this year on Monday, 26 November.
“Online is the fastest growing retail channel at present and while it still only accounts for a small portion of total retail sales, retailers are increasingly looking to it to drive growth in their businesses,” Burke added.
“Irish consumers spent €4.6 billion online in the last quarter, and full year online sales are likely to top the €15.8 billion spent in 2017.”
© 2018 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Donna Ahern. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
