In view of the current crisis situation, do German consumers feel like shopping during the so-called Cyber Week, which begins with Black Friday on November 25? Various current studies come to different conclusions.
Consumers want to shop less
The current report “Trend Check Handel”, which is regularly prepared by the ECC Cologne in cooperation with Salesforce and is representative of the population, takes a rather critical view of this. According to this, consumers are planning savings both on the dealer campaign days around Black Friday and Cyber Monday, as well as in the Christmas business, according to the conclusion of the study. In addition, purchases during Cyber Week would be prepared more and offers more compared. “Bargain hunting will take place in 2022 in the face of inflation and price increases with a stronger price focus,” the authors say.
Three quarters of the 500 consumers surveyed who want to use the campaign days at the end of November stated that they would pay even more attention to prices this year and only specifically buy products that were planned to be purchased anyway. Overall, more would be planned: at 43 percent, almost half of Cyber Week users want to find out in advance, which is 13 percent more than in the previous year. Consumers also seem to be becoming more skeptical: 55 percent fear that many offers are not real bargains.
Bargains are more in demand than ever
The German Retail Association (HDE) sees things differently. His forecast: This year, sales of 5.7 billion euros can be expected on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This corresponds to an increase of 22 percent compared to the previous year. Overall, the statement is based on a survey of more than 1,000 online shoppers.
“The growth story of Black Friday and Cyber Monday is continuing, even under the currently difficult general conditions and despite the poor consumer mood. Many customers are now all the more on the hunt for bargains and want to take advantage of the offers over the two days,” says Stephan Tromp, Deputy Managing Director of HDE.
Many consumers want to be on the lookout for Christmas presents. In total, gifts worth 1.7 billion euros could be bought on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. 55 percent of those surveyed also want to use Black Friday for Christmas shopping, and this figure is 43 percent on Cyber Monday. Basically, 48 percent want to shop specifically on Black Friday, 34 percent on Cyber Monday, according to the study.
Interest in Cyber Week as great as usual
Another consulting institute has dealt with the current buying mood at the start of Cyber Week: the auditing and consulting company PwC Germany. After evaluating more than 2,000 respondents aged 18 and over, PwC came to the conclusion: “German consumers are definitely in a shopping mood.” As in the previous year, 69 percent of Germans plan to go on the weekend after the American Thanksgiving festival to go bargain hunting – even though or precisely because they are feeling the effects of the current price increases. At an average of 289 euros, the level of expenditure is also roughly the same as in the previous year.
According to PwC, two tendencies can be identified, according to Dr. Christian Wulff, Head of Retail and Consumer Goods at PwC Germany and EMEA: “On the one hand, many people are currently rather cautious with their spending because they have less money at their disposal and the outlook for the future is characterized by great uncertainty. On the other hand, they want to make conscious use of the special offers around Black Friday 2022 because they assume that the price spiral will continue.”
But PwC has also noticed that people’s distrust of discounts is growing. With high inflation and a weakening economy, around 40 percent of those surveyed fear that retailers will provide fewer or worse deals this year. Just as many anticipate that certain products will be unavailable due to supply issues. Just under a third expect fewer retailers and brands to attend Black Friday as they also struggle with rising costs.
However, Christian Wulff contradicts this and sees good bargain opportunities for consumers, especially in the fashion segment: “We assume that there will be many special offers and high discounts this year, especially in fashion. The retail sector has stocked up in anticipation of a recovery in consumption after Corona, and the autumn has been mild so far – the warehouses are full accordingly.”