Kielda.
I'm Chelsea Daniels and this is the Front Page, a daily podcast presented by The New Zealand Herald. It's Black Friday and many Kiwi shoppers have already begun the hunt for some great deals. While some retailers promise big discounts, sometimes all is not what it seems. Claims of retailer's hiking prices before discounting them to make them look like a better deal are becoming more common, making us wonder
are the specials really that special? So during a time when Kiwis are counting their pennies, how can we make sure we're getting the most bang for our buck?
Today?
On the front Page, Price Comparison platform Price me CEO Gavin Mail joins us to give us some tips and insight into these massive sales events. First off, Gavin, what even is Black Friday? Why do we even celebrate it?
Yeah? So it was actually originally a US sort of tradition taking place after Thanksgiving, which is on the last Thursday in November, and then the Friday basically public holiday everyone in a good mood, get them to all spend
their money in stores. So really that was its origins, and then that also expanded out into the Cyber Monday, which was then the online version of Black Friday the Monday after, and then it's all just amalgamated into one big thing, as there's not really much different between those bricks and mortar stores and online anymore.
And I mean, it seems to me correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that Black Friday's been already going on all week. Have you noticed that as well?
I think it's even been longer than that, Chelsea. I mean, we sort of kicked off in November with a Singles Day, the sort of Chinese Black Friday, and we've just sort of carried on with discounts since then. It's almost like it's a black month. It's just, yeah, it's relentless.
So price Me commissioned a survey of Kiwi shoppers recently. Hey, what were some of the results that stuck out to you?
Yeah, So one of the biggest things that stood out was actually just the amount of people that said they would be shopping a marked increase, with more than fifty percent saying they're planning to shop this Black Friday period versus only thirty five percent who did shop last year. And then one of the other bits that jumped out is just the amount of money, where the average spend is going to be around six hundred dollars, with the guys actually spending more than the girls. They're spending up
to seven hundred and seventy dollars. So it seems like there's a lot of sort of pent up demand for people who have been waiting for these sales periods and almost getting ready to spend it up when they come along.
It's generally the way, Hey, if you're going to make a big purchase, you do wait for one of these big sales days. What are some of the big purchases that people are kind of hanging out for.
Yeah, it's the big sort of sections tech and electronics, household appliances, and then fashion and clothing. So it's really almost that I don't know, if you're if you've been surviving with a leaky washing machine for a bit, it's been stick the tea tails underneath it until this sort of period comes along and then make that purchase.
Thin We looked at more than two hundred deals on popular products advertised by some of the biggest retailers during twenty twenty three's Black Friday and check their pricing history six months before and six months after the big day itself. We've been running this test annually for several years now, and for the first time ever this time, every single one of them was available for the same price at
other times of the air. Not only that, but many of the products were actually cheaper at other times of the year around four and ten deals.
There's some growing skepticism about how good the deals actually are on Black Friday. Should shoppers be on high alert and not assume that every special is special?
Yeah, I think that that's definitely something to bear in mind. I mean, there are definitely some fantastic deals at Black Friday. There really are some big discounts out there. One of the other bits of our research we looked at the top one hundred products across the whole of price me from twenty twenty three, and we actually found that seventy six percent of those were available at a cheaper price
than on Black Friday. So that might have been one of those other big sales days, be that a Boxing Day or Labor Day or just in those January sales. So definitely check the prices, make sure that you can sort of see the price tracking and things like that on price me where you can see things like yo yo pricing where prices go up and down between sort of segments, and so they're regularly on discounts and make sure that that Black Friday deal is down low and it is at the best price you can get.
What are some of the tactics that retailers have been caught out doing during these kind of sales periods.
Yeah, so one of the common sort of pricing practices, I mean, it's a thing we call roller coaster pricing, like at the start of a roller coaster, when you go slowly up towards that big sale period and prices do sneak up in some places, and then they will have a sudden drop so they can show and highlight
those as a massive discount versus a previous price. So again, just sort of check the price trend, make sure that you're not paying what you think is a big discount when actually at boxing day historically it's been lower and cheaper.
And OECD survey published in October found nine out of ten consumers had been affected by something called dark commercial patterns like manipulative tactics influencing consumer behavior, and that led to consumers to make choices that they wouldn't normally make and didn't suit their best interests. What are some other ways where we can make sure that we're not caught out by this?
I think it's things like, don't believe some of those things that you may see, in particular online, when it's like, oh, there's only two remaining and only one remaining, and this is in your basket and the price is going to go up in thirty seconds. Like the whole thing that these retailers are trying to do, especially online, is minimize that decision making period. Historically, when you went out shopping,
you had to think what you needed to buy. You had to jump in your car or get on the bus, you go to the mall, walk around, pick it up, look at it. Now you can literally click and buy in one click. Just think about it, Just take a moment. If you put it in your shopping cart, and then come back to it later and then if you still want it, then buy it. If it's sold out, well okay, but that's that's not that that common.
To be fair.
Yeah, I was going to say, is there ever only one left?
Yes? I think there probably is sometimes, Chelsea, But I don't think it's as often as you think. So maybe there's one left in that one store, but they can certainly get one in from a different store or from the warehouse, or order one in for you. Like it's it's they still want to make a sale, so they'll they'll make it easy to find another one. I'm sure.
In terms of like roller coaster pricing, for example, why isn't something like that illegal?
It's definitely frowned upon, and if it is sort of glaringly an issue that you are are confident has actually happened, then I think that is one to raise and complain about because it would go against sort of things like the Fair Trading Act and so on. I mean, retailers are free to set their own prices for products, So it's just a case of make sure that you're an informed consumer and you know that this sort of behavior has happened. Retailers are there to try and obviously make
money and generate sales. It's not a nice practice, and it won't be a retailer who sticks around for a long time if people are doing it. Just yeah, keep your wits about you and make sure that you compare the prices, compare the histories and ensure that a good deal is actually a good deal.
How do you think the rise of buy now, pay later services have changed the way we shop?
Yeah, I think they've made it again easier to shop. It's that thing where you can have it that the sort of now now now mindset without really the thoughts for how that's going to impact you later on. So, I mean, our survey came back with I think around twenty five percent were saying they were going to take advantage of buy now, pay later services And as long as you are prepared to do the pay later bit, then that could be a good deal for you. But
again it's just think about it. Do you actually really need another hoodie or another pair of trainers? It's like, just just buy the essentials, and if you're using buy now, pay later, think about that pay later bit because you will pay.
At the moment I'm grappling with whether to buy a robot cleaner or not, is that Does that fall into that category?
Do you think how long have you been grappling with it? Chelsea?
Are the past week when I saw it on sale?
Okay? And will your life be significantly better with that robot vacuum? Cleaner or can you just use your stick vacuum you've got it at home and do your hoovering.
As you do.
I could probably do with just my stick vacuum cleaner.
And in my experience, I won't lie, I'm not Yeah, I'm not always that great and I've been sucking into a robot vacuum in the past.
Are there any products that are actually worth waiting to purchase during these kinds of sales events?
Yeah, definitely are there's the products that you actually want to need. Like I mean, it's a bit late to say it now, but like if at the start of the month you almost wrote a list of like these are the things I'd like, or Christmas presents for children and toys and things like that. Something like say Lego really goes on discount, So if you have a Lego Mad Kid, then you'll be able to pick up that
Lego on this weekend at a sheep a price. So if you're going to be buying it anyway, then buy it this weekend and get yourself a deal.
I can feel a little bit like we're telling people to stuck eggs, you know, to take a breath and pause and get really clear and your wants and needs, because we know that people are saving up for Black Friday because nowhere across the.
Woman christis and while it's a squeeze, we just want to make sure that the bargains that people do snag on Black Friday are genuine bargain or products that we do really want or need. I think there's a voice in the back of a lot of our minds these days that's like, Okay, I'm a conscious consumer, I want to buy lest I want to buy better, And sometimes, like Friday and the heights surrounding net flies in the face of set.
But we can't really be sure that the deals on Friday and Cyber Monday and as such are actually going to be better than ones in future though, Right Is it actually better to wait until, say the new year to buy some things when perhaps companies are accounting stock and realizing that they've got a lot left before they buy the next batch for next year.
Yeah, it certainly can be. And that's that's one of those sort of old adage is that the best day to go Christmas shopping is the day after Christmas. If you can beat that planned, then fabulous. There's there's always going to be another sale. There's always going to be another deal, and I think that one of the things that the kiwis again getting better at again that was shown in our survey was actually a bit of haggling and a bit of price matching. So I've done it myself.
I've been in one of the big main electronic retailers and I've literally just asked the question at the checkout, can you do anything on the price? And I've been able to literally just get fifty bucks off then and there without any uncomfortableness, just cut straight off the price and paid less.
I guess gone are the days where you have to mentally prepare yourself to go out to Boxing Day sales or Black Friday sales and be like elbows out, I'm going to grab stuff. Remember those images from stores in the US of people stampeding into stores and carrying TVs on their heads and such.
Do you reckon?
Those days are gone.
I think They'll probably still be a certain demographic or a certain audience that likes to do it that way. But for the rest of us, like sitting just getting ready on the laptop or on your phone.
Buy and Zed is urging New Zealand consumers to pause and consider the environmental and social impacts of Black Friday. They say the focus on large chain retailers can negatively impact local businesses and the overall economic health of communities. Would you agree with.
That, Yeah, I would agree with that. I think that some of that sort of fast fashion and electronics and the disposable nature of so many products that we have now, it's just it's so easy to buy to upgrade that phone because the new ones come out, and so much focus is given to launch events that make these new phones, this new technology seem like it's the greatest thing on earth, when what we're currently using and currently have is more
than adequate, and it's just creating almost this inflated demand that does it encourages churn because again, the companies, they're working for their shareholders, they're working to drive their profits, and they need us to get rid of our old iPhone and get the new iPhone, even though the old ones.
Find And do you think that there's been a shift in recent times away from just owning so much stuff? Is everybody mariecondoing their houses? Do you reckon?
Not?
If you see things like the sort of the rise of timur and so on, because I think it's again easy to buy stuff, like it's not just a case of getting now something that is built to last. It's so easy to I don't know, trade in that dinner set that you're using, because there's all that one looks nice and I can have a specific Christmas dinner set, or I can have a specific Easter dinner set. And it's also affordable in financial terms, but it definitely will be impacting socially and environmentally.
Thanks for joining us, Gavin, my pleasure, Chelsea, great to chat. That's it for this episode of the Front Page. You can read more about today's stories and extensive news coverage at enzhrald dot co dot enz. The Front Page is produced by Ethan Sills and Richard Martin, who is also a sound engineer. I'm Chelsea Daniels. Subscribe to the Front Page on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts, and tune in on Monday for another look behind the headlines.