The American Black Friday tradition made its way to Europe several years ago and is only gaining in popularity: figures from consumer protection organisation Test Achats show that 63% of Belgians plan to use the period to buy something.
In 2023, just over half (52%) of Belgians bought a Black Friday offer. This year, 63% plan to do so. Clothing and shoes are especially high on the wish list, followed by hi-tech such as smartphones and computers. On average, Belgians plan to spend €329 this Black Friday period.
However, Test Achats stressed that not all offers are worth it, and some are even downright fake. "Black Friday is a good period to buy electronics at low prices, and via our 'Rate My Deal' tool we can keep an eye on which promotions are really good," said spokesperson Laura Clays.
Bad and fake deals
There are a lot of deals to be found: Test Achats now detects almost 20,000. However, only about 5,500 of those are really worth it, she stressed. "That is only 27%. For the other 73%, there are better deals to be found, or you can find bigger discounts at other times of the year."
Despite their intention to use the period to find a good deal, Belgians are also aware of possible deception by companies capitalising on this popularity: 63% believe that some stores increase prices in the weeks before Black Friday to give bigger discounts, and 41% think that the prices will ultimately be the same or even higher than at other times. That often turns out to be true.
Test Achats also continues to find examples of companies that calculate discounts incorrectly. The legal rules have been in force for more than two years, but some stores still do not calculate the discount on the correct reference price (which must be the lowest price that they displayed in the 30 days before the discount).
Test Achats' Rate My Deal tool is open to all consumers, to help them find the cheapest among all the promotions. The website has existed for some time, and now also exists as an app – making it even easier for consumers to see if that one product is cheaper somewhere else.
