Black Friday: Only 20% of Greeks will buy on Black Friday – What they’ll spend

Just 1 in 5 consumers will go shopping during the so-called “Black Friday” sales, spending an average of 146 euros with a significant share of these purchases being for Christmas shopping.

These are, among other things, the findings of a survey recently completed by the Business and Retail Association of Greece (SELPE), where interesting conclusions and trends are recorded regarding the purchasing habits of the public on Black Friday.

“Black Friday” sales attract young people

In particular, 20% of the consumer public declares that they are going to buy products during the Black Friday sales period.

This percentage is higher in the 18-44 age group and especially in the 25-35 age group where it reaches 32%, i.e. 1 in 3 buyers aged 25-35 will buy this discount period.

On the contrary, the percentages for those over 45 are below 18%.

Online shoppers also hunting “black bargains”

Also, a consumer who systematically makes online purchases is 2 times more likely to buy a product during the Black Friday period compared to the rest of the buyers who choose the network of physical stores, which shows that online shoppers are much more active during this period with percentages around 28% for those who are online shoppers and 14% for those who are not.

This percentage is higher in the 18-44 age group and especially in the 25-35 age group where it reaches 32%, i.e. 1 in 3 buyers aged 25-35 will buy this discount period.

On the contrary, the percentages for those over 45 are below 18%.

Total spending at 120 million euros

As for the amount of the estimated expenditure for purchases during the Black Friday period for those who choose to buy, this is estimated at 146 euros per capita on average.

This is a cost estimate of more than 120 million euros. 80% estimate that they will spend nothing, 8% up to 50 euros, 6% up to 100 euros, 4% from 101 to 200 euros, 2% from 200 to 500 euros and 1% over 500 euros.

Black Friday Christmas Shopping

A significant share of these purchases, as recorded, are Christmas shopping.

Specifically, of the 20% who will make purchases during the Black Friday period, 7%, i.e. approximately 1 in 3, will do most of their Christmas shopping during the Black Friday period.

A sales season like any other

In relation to consumers’ views on the Black Friday period, 53% consider the Black Friday period to be just a sales period like any other, with 22% disagreeing. 13% consider it necessary to have this discount period, while 44% disagree and do not consider it necessary.

The reason seems to be that consumers do not see any significant differences between this particular sales period compared to the other sales periods of the year.

6% say that the Black Friday period has better discounts compared to other discount periods, while 61% disagree and consider that there are no practical differences.

Nevertheless, the majority of consumers at a rate of 65% (2 out of 3) would like the discount duration to be longer and only 10% are satisfied with the current duration. Of course, this desire contradicts the nature of the specific discount period, which aims to provide products at preferential prices for a short period of time before the end of the year.

The data shows that despite the problems due to inflationary pressures, a significant part of the population will make their purchases during this period which is also a result of the need to save money.

Identity of the study

It should be noted that this is the 7th study to record consumer trends in retail trade through a six-month survey of retail consumer climate carried out by SELPE since October 2019.

The research was implemented with the scientific support of the ELTRUN laboratory of the Athens University of Economics and took place in the period 14-16 November 2022 through a Panhellenic Survey on a sample of 1,157 consumers.