PRESS RELEASE

PUBLIC ‘DON’T BUY IT’: ONLY ONE IN SIX BELIEVE YOU GET THE BEST DEALS ON BLACK FRIDAY

Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) warns that retailers are putting consumer trust at risk

Only 16% of the UK public believe that deals available during Black Friday and Cyber Monday are genuinely some of the best prices they’ll see all year.

Research by the Chartered Institute of Marketing reveals that Black Friday, which is a key calendar date for retailers, is showing signs of scepticism among shoppers, with a third (33%) of people believing the deals are misleading.

Despite this, Black Friday and Cyber Monday remain important retail dates for shoppers, CIM’s survey of 2,000 people found that: 

• Of the people who made Black Friday purchases last year, 86% are planning to spend the same or more during this year’s sales. Only 14% will spend less.
• 50% of those surveyed are planning to purchase Christmas gifts over the Black Friday weekend.
• 12% of the UK public will finish their Christmas Shopping during the sales.

This follows research from consumer group Which? that reported only one in 20 Black Friday deals were genuine.

Chris Daly, CEO at the Chartered Institute of Marketing said: 

“Clearly, authenticity about the deals on offer is impacting consumer confidence, and this is not good news for brands interested in winning the long-term loyalty of their customers.

“Consumers are relying on discounts during Black Friday and Cyber Monday to shop more smartly in the run up to Christmas, but they will not be taken advantage of.

”Done well, Black Friday offers marketers an opportunity to reward customers, and ought to be part of a business’ wider marketing campaign. If marketers abandon best practice in favour of inauthentic deals, they risk losing customer trust irrevocably.”

The research also found that a third (33%) of those surveyed think that the quality of the deals available during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales have declined in the last five years.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

For further information please contact the Chartered Institute of Marketing press office at Good Relations on CIMTeam@goodrelations.co.uk

About the survey

Onepoll carried out the nationally representative survey of 2,000 adults during 21 November and 26 November 2019.

About CIM

The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) is the world’s leading marketing body, with over 30,000 members worldwide, of which there are over 3,000 Chartered Marketers. CIM’s mission is create marketing advantage for the benefit of professionals, business and society with a focus on export, data and skills. It believes marketing is the critical factor in driving long term organisational performance.

CIM provides members and organisations with five key benefits: 

• Partnership – CIM is a professional and organisational partner to support performance and career development
• Education – CIM allows individuals and businesses to continuously upskill
• Information – CIM keeps members up to date with the latest marketing thinking, and keeps organisations at the forefront of practices
• Connection – CIM provides access to services, expertise and peers
• Recognition – CIM is the global benchmark of professional competence

For more than 100 years, CIM has supported, represented and developed marketers, teams, leaders and the profession as a whole. CIM has 130 study centres in 36 countries and there are 132 countries with exam centres. In the last year, over 7,500 people registered at over 230 UK CIM events. Find out more about CIM by visiting www.cim.co.uk