Black Friday or Fake Friday?For 62% consumers, prices increase before offers

For Black Friday 2024, Brazilian consumers took a more critical and cautious stance on promotions. A survey by Hibou, a company specializing in monitoring and consumer insights, with 1,200 respondents across Brazil, indicates that 62% of participants see Black Friday as a “Black Fraud”, suspecting that prices are manipulated by artificial increases before the event.

More strategy, less momentum

For Brazilians, Black Friday requires more than one click on the last friday of November. 51% of Brazilians note the prices previously to compare on the day of the retail event. In addition, 55% of people search content previously on sites with price comparisons. Already 23% of consumers prepare previously lists of products and 13% use price alerts to check discounts. 

Distrust is on the rise

For 62% of people, retail deceives the consumer by raising the prices of products before the date.In addition, 4 out of 10 people claim that everything is too expensive and believe that during Black Friday will be no different.

“O consumer is more demanding and informed. Black Friday has become a date of great expectations, but the Brazilian is more selective and prioritizes reliable brands,” says Ligia Mello, CSO of Hibou and coordinator of the research. “The emphasis this year is on conscious consumption and fair prices.”

Only if you have the advantage

For 61% consumers, the best benefits of Black Friday are the big discounts. 4 out of 10 Brazilians believe it is the chance to compare products, and 30% consider free shipping one of the main attractions of the date.

Environmental responsibility

Consumers are not only attentive to prices, but also with the care of brands with the environment. (63%) of the population says that brands that have social and environmental initiatives will have purchase preference

Spending, but spending little

Despite the appeal of the date, consumers intend to keep spending under control: 26% plan to disburse between R$500 and R$1.000. Already 23% intend to spend between R$1.000 and R$3.000. For 22%, the limit is between R$250 and R$500, while only 7% intend to spend more than R$3.000. 

Even with a greater control of spending by consumers, of dates for national retail, Black Friday is the one with the highest average ticket between 500 and a thousand reais, so far in 2024” explains Ligia Mello.

Time to pamper yourself

Purchases are personal focus: of the 44% that intend to buy during Black Friday and the 38% that have not yet decided, 92% will invest in products for themselves. The biggest motivations for the date are to take advantage of good opportunities (51%) and acquire products that do not yet have (30%), followed by the chance to replace old items (17%) and advance Christmas gifts (13%).

What will not be missing from the shopping list

40% of respondents plan to buy household appliances, 36% clothing and 30% electronics. Perfumes and cosmetics (26%) and food (25%) are also on the wish list. When asked spontaneously, among the most desired products are mobile phones lead with 20%, followed by Smart TVs (18%) and refrigerators (10%). In addition, this year, items such as sneakers and washing machines have grown more than 5 percentage points compared to 2023.

Familiar gossip of offerings 

The exchange of information is also part of the preparation: 60% of Brazilians share or receive offers from friends and family, reinforcing the search for promotions from nearby sources with the ultimate purpose of good shopping opportunities.

Buy by a click or a step?

Following the online behavior already inserted in the shopping routine of Brazilians, the most mentioned retail channels for this year were Amazon with 49% of purchase intentions and Mercado Livre with 60%. Other 42% prefer platforms such as Shopee and Shein. 

Those who prefer to check the offers in person, 49% prefer street stores already known, while 38% opt for stores that frequent in shopping center. For other 29%, the mall tour can become a shopping opportunity. And 26% begin their digital journey looking at promotions and so decides where to go buy.

“This year we also noticed a greater concern of the consumer to prioritize small businesses, being the decision of 41% of Brazilians.” says Ligia Mello.