Black Friday has lost its luster; At least for some shoppers who have found some deals, they’re not enough.
This week, a TikTok video surfaced showing off that Fortune 500 home improvement store Home Depot He allegedly hid the original prices on items with a “Black Friday deal” of the same price. The video went viral with over half a million views. It shows a customer peeling off the “holiday sale” price sticker on a high-pressure inflator listed for $24.97, revealing the same original price underneath.
Home Depot did not respond lucka request for comment on allegations or the company falsely advertising Black Friday sales. If true, however, retail experts say this could potentially be considered false advertising, and would be a bad choice for retailers, especially now. contraction and other pricing tactics have sown mistrust among customers.
“Top marketers invest heavily in their customer relationships and trust is a key component of that,” said Matt Voda, CEO of the marketing software company. OptiMinehe said luck. “Trust is difficult and slow to build, but very easily and quickly lost with such practices.”
This isn’t the first case that has prompted consumers to question the veracity of Black Friday deals.
“Even before inflation I’ve been to some Black Friday shopping (events) and the first thing I noticed is that nothing is on sale, the prices seem the same,” one viewer commented on another viral TikTok video showing similar pricing practices. the goal It was also called in 2023 a video allegedly revealed a TV listed with a retail price of $649.99, while a tag underneath displayed the same price.
“All kinds of price swings have been going on for decades,” Luke Kacherskyassociate professor of marketing Fordham Gabelli School of Businesshe said luck. “For example, merchants that display things like “usually $Xnow $Y,’ though it’s hard to imagine retailers actually offering the product—or anyone ever buying it—at a ‘regular’ price.”
A Target spokeswoman said New York Post at the time, however, the TVs were “on sale before Black Friday as part of our early Black Friday sales.”
Sure, said Kachersky it is very difficult to prove false advertising.
“Sure the price is the same, but the retailer could argue that they re-labeled (or) re-branded the existing prices for the season,” Kachersky said. “But while that kind of argument might work for a retailer in a legal sense, common sense fails. Consumers will certainly feel lied to.’
Black Friday isn’t what it used to be
Whether or not you’re accused of fake price cuts isn’t just in your head: Retail experts say many retailers aren’t offering as good a deal as they used to.
“In most cases, the old ‘door to door’ deals no longer exist and price discounts have become smaller and smarter,” said Voda. That’s why advanced analytics allow retailers to see the “sweet spot” between generating demand and guaranteeing profits, he said, and alert them to key moments to lower prices throughout the year.
Budgeting and personal finance expert Andrea Woroch also told luck The difference between today’s Black Friday deals and Black Fridays a decade ago is that consumers don’t see a huge selection of discounts. While he said he saw some “good discounts” on select items, including 52% off a Nespresso maker at Bloomingdales and 50% off Beats wireless headphones at Target, not everything advertised as Black Friday sales is actually a good deal.
“You have to be aware that not everything is a good deal and don’t get caught up in the buying frenzy that these shopping events create,” Woroch said. “Make your list, do your research, compare prices, find extra savings by stacking coupon codes and track price drops.”
