Black Friday and Christmas fuel high discount expectations

The planned spending for Black Friday is large, ranging from 200 to 299 francs - but so are the demands for discounts: more than a third expect price reductions of at least 50 percent.

Discounts are also playing an increasingly important role at Christmas: 69 percent look out for special offers when buying presents or are even inspired by them. For retailers, this means making attractive Christmas offers, because the majority have already started buying gifts.

Black Friday: The vast majority goes bargain hunting

Black Friday has firmly established itself in the shopping calendar and enjoys almost the same high level of awareness as Christmas: 94 percent are familiar with Black Friday, which will take place this year on November 26. This is the result of a nationwide survey of 6881 users. Four out of five respondents plan to take advantage of the special offers themselves. The younger the respondents, the greater their interest - among 18 to 24 year-olds, the figure is as high as 90% percent. The focus is on clothing, shoes and accessories (72%), electrical appliances (60%) and furniture and furnishings (40%).

Swiss retail trade can expect high sales

The high propensity to buy is likely to boost sales considerably. The median Black Friday budget is 200-299 francs, with 19 percent planning to spend over 500 francs. Men's wallets are a little looser than women's: 47 percent plan to spend over 300 francs, compared to 31 percent of women. "Black Friday will thus turn out to be significantly stronger in terms of sales than Singles Day, which is still somewhat less well-known in Switzerland and on which the median spend is 100-199 francs," says Profital CEO Raphael Thommen.

The importance that shoppers attach to Black Friday is also interesting: For 46 percent, it remains as important as ever, but 41 percent say that the shopping day has become more important. However, this is also accompanied by high expectations: for more than a third (38%), discounts of at least 50 percent are attractive, while a fifth even expect price reductions of at least 70 percent. "As awareness of Black Friday grows, so do consumers' expectations of the offers," says Thommen. "A counter-trend to the shopping day can also be observed: certain companies explicitly no longer participate in Black Friday or even organize a Green Friday in favor of sustainability."

The budget for Christmas gifts remains unchanged compared to the previous year

The retail trade is warning of possible supply bottlenecks in this year's Christmas business. Fortunately, gifts are bought early in Switzerland anyway: Just under a quarter have already started shopping for Christmas gifts. 27 percent still start in November, 29 percent at the beginning of December - and only 9 percent wait until shortly before Christmas. No gifts at all make 13 per cent. Despite the sometimes tense economic situation, the Christmas budget has hardly changed: On average, six gifts are bought, as in the previous year. 58 percent spend more than 50 francs per gift, with 29 percent spending over 100 francs. In total, therefore, between 300 and 600 francs.

What the study also shows: Promotions are also becoming increasingly important at Christmas. When buying gifts, 69 percent look for discounts or like to be inspired by special offers. "The joy of shoppers is twice as great when they find a suitable gift that also offers its own reward in the form of a discount," says retail marketing expert Raphael Thommen.

The study surveyed 6881 users of the Profital app throughout Switzerland. The online survey took place between November 4 and 8, 2021.