The annual Black Friday discount battle is also likely to attract many Austrians to retail and online stores this year. According to a survey by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), more than half of those surveyed (55 percent) want to go on a bargain hunt as part of the shopping event. At the same time, every third person wants to spend less money than in the previous year. An average of about 250 euros is estimated, which is 29 percent less than the international average.
In a survey, BCG questioned 9,000 consumers in nine countries, including more than 1,000 in Austria.
Inflation is depressing consumer confidence
The fact that there is less money to spend on Black Friday this year is mainly due to the high inflation. 37 percent cite the strong price rise as the reason, 35 percent the higher expenditure on essential goods (35 percent) and 30 percent the fall in income as a result of the crisis.
Accordingly, Christmas shopping is brought forward to the discount spectacle, with 90 percent of those surveyed wanting to use Black Friday or Black Week for Christmas shopping, according to BCG. Most want to buy adult clothing or consumer electronics, children’s clothing and toys.
More trips could also be booked, as Black Week wants to encourage early bookers. More than half of those surveyed (54 percent) plan to spend more on tourism offers compared to the previous year.
40 percent dissatisfied with purchases
However, satisfaction with shopping on Black Friday or Cyber Monday is very low in Austria compared to other countries. 40 percent of Austrians said they were dissatisfied with their purchases, compared to only 29 percent in Germany, 20 percent in Italy and 19 percent in Spain. Delivery bottlenecks or long delivery times usually cause resentment.
Of course, people shop not only in stationary stores, but also online. According to BCG, online marketplaces such as Amazon in particular are likely to benefit this year, while official brand websites are more likely to scale back their profits from the Corona period.
Black Friday comes from the US, it is the Friday after Thanksgiving, which always falls on the fourth Thursday in November. The weekend after Thanksgiving in the United States marks the start of the holiday shopping season. Online retail follows with Cyber Monday. The discount battle spread more and more to Europe. The event is now no longer strictly limited to one day, but has been expanded to include Black Week.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
