Are you actually getting a real deal in Black Friday sales? Maybe not, as a Consumer NZ study reveals many products were at the same or lower prices at some point in the last 3 months.
Gemma Rasmussen, head of research and advocacy at Consumer NZ is disappointed, but not surprised, by the dud ‘deals’ her team tracked as part of its Black Friday price tracking.
Consumer NZ tracked the prices of 10 products at four major retailers over the past 14 weeks. Rasmussen says that for half of the products, shoppers could have found the same or lower prices at some point in the last 3 months than they can today.
“Retailers know how to tap into the excitement of Black Friday sales and are masters of marketing. Based on our findings at these four stores, Black Friday feels a bit underwhelming.”
Citing Black Friday sales at Briscoes, Rasmussen says four of the products tracked were cheaper at some stage during the last 14 weeks than they are today.
For instance, “the Kenwood Chef mixer is priced at $490.00 today, but it was cheaper on 20 November, at $449.99. A Breville four-slice toaster is priced at $125.99 today, yet shoppers could have bought it for $105.00 in September.
“A Breville coffee machine is available today for $349.00 is only 97 cents cheaper than it was in mid-September.”
At Noel Leeming, four products offered a genuine Black Friday deal, and three products were more expensive than they had been previously.
The ‘now $50’ promotional label on a Russell Hobbs kettle was only $19 in September.
Price tracking shows the Breville Toastset Toaster was $109 in September and $158 in October, and in the current sale it’s $209.99 (not on special).
Only three of the products Consumer tracked at Farmers were priced more competitively during the Black Friday sale than at any point in the past 14 weeks.
“Four products we tracked at Farmers are more expensive in the Black Friday sales,”says Rasmussen.
However, a Dyson stick vacuum offered an excellent opportunity for saving, being priced at $1,199 over the past 3 months, is $599 today.
Some of the products Consumer NZ tracked at Harvey Norman offered significant savings over the past 2 weeks. However, while some products were just a dollar or two cheaper than they had been, the Russell Hobbs Satisfry was $51 more expensive than it had been in September.
Recently, Consumer NZ called out to Harvey Norman for its constant promotional pricing labels and the retailer has a “tendency to label products with sales language that creates the impression it’s offering a special or good deal when that’s not necessarily always true.”
“Harvey Norman does have one phenomenal saving – the Dyson Cyclone stick vacuum that has been $1,199 for the majority of the time we’ve been price tracking. Yesterday, it was $699; today, it’s $599.”
Consumer NZ advice is there are deals to be had, but as always, do your research.
Consumer NZ advice is “Don’t be swayed by phrases like ‘hot deal’, ‘massive stock sell-out’ and ‘great price’. The proof is in the pricing,so do your research.”
Related story: https://www.newsviews.co.nz/friday-sales-are-you-getting-the-real-deal/
