Third of Dutch residents are postponing purchases in hopes of Black Friday deals
About a third of Netherlands residents delay purchases in order to get a better deal on Black Friday. This is especially true for young people, and especially for electronics and fashion, according to research by the comparison site Overstappen.nl.
No less than 58 percent of 18 to 34-year-olds postpone purchases for Black Friday, the researchers found. In contrast, only 12 percent of people over 55 wait for Black Friday to make purchases. The researchers did not ask why, but people in higher age groups also tend to have higher incomes.
“Electronics and fashion dominate Black Friday purchases and together account for almost half of all spending,” the researchers said. Household appliances account for 20 percent of Black Friday purchases. Furniture is the least popular category on Black Friday representing 5 percent of purchases.
Last year, roughly 7.1 million debit card transactions were completed on Black Friday using payment processor iDeal. That was a sharp increase from 6.1 million the previous year. The organization claims to handle 78 percent of all transactions in the Netherlands. The Dutch Payments Association also noted that Black Friday transaction figures were 20 percent higher in terms of gross revenue, when compared to a normal Friday early in November.
At the same time, sales events like Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the upcoming holiday season also bring about claims of good deals which actually turn out to be fake discounts. The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets issued a blanket warning to entrepreneurs last month to remind them of guidelines when claiming big discounts between a current sale price and a previous higher price. The regulator noted that such "was-now" offers must reflect pricing within the last 30 days.
Black Friday is increasingly also becoming the time to switch internet and streaming services. “Every year you see more and more providers offer specials and longer discount periods during Black Friday. Where this used to be mainly visible around the annual price increase, a popular moment to switch, this is now shifting to black Friday,” said Jean-Paul Wursten, a telecom expert at Overstappen.nl.
