Despite the new, more restrictive European regulations on promotions, Black Friday was again this year the meeting place for abuse and false discounts.
This time, it was the CLCV consumer association that investigated these promotional days by analyzing the offers offered by 12 French e-commerce sites. “If consumers seem more protected, false promotions still persist”, can be read in their study.
The main problem observed remains the same: true-false promotions.
Specifically, the association compared the prices of 13 products (phone, Bluetooth speaker, tablet, vacuum cleaner, microwave, oven, etc.) from 12 of the largest e-commerce sites in France.
Play with the prices
“We tracked price changes for 232 products in the month leading up to Black Friday. We spiked prices 4 times in that month and on D-Day.”
Result: “In most of the products studied, we found that distributors comply with the new legislation in force.”
However, “even if it is not prohibited, we have found that more than 85 articles studied have seen their prices increase in the 30 days before Black Friday. By playing with prices, manufacturers try to attract consumers by proposing a reduction that seems to be significant ” We can read.
Example with an Apple iPad model in Auchan. “We see a price increase in the month before Black Friday of 12%, 389 euros at the end of October compared to 399 euros on Black Friday. This increase shows that promotion is, in fact, non-existent. The 40% price cut is likely to mislead consumers.”
The same goes for the washing machine sold by Rue du commerce that was displayed at 491 euros at the end of October, before reaching 531 euros on November 18. On Black Friday, the site offered the product at 524 euros, “misleading a 3% promotion. In reality, this washing machine has seen an increase of 7% in less than a month”…
Products sold more expensive than before Black Friday
Worse yet, “some products were even more expensive on Black Friday than the previous month. About 35% of products were priced higher on Black Friday than the previous month. In this sample, Black Friday prices were, in On average 10% higher than end-October 2022 prices, this increase is sometimes as high as 50%!More generally, we found that in nearly 50% of cases, the Black Friday price was higher higher than the previous month, denounces the association.
“An increase compared to the last month allows e-merchants to show bigger and therefore more attractive promotions at the same time that allows them to increase their margins. Therefore, it is essential to study prices carefully before Black Friday so as not to give in to impulsiveness if you want to make good deals,” advises CLCV.
Another recurring problem is artificially inflating the base (or reference) price of a product to make it look like a major promotion.
“Grand Hoax”
However, from the end of May, the price of the product before the application of the reduction must correspond to the lowest price charged by the seller during the last 30 days prior to the application of the reduction. Which is not always true in practice.
Example with E. Leclerc who shows a crossed out price of 1625.93 euros for an iPhone, “but according to our price statements it has never exceeded a price of 1083.95 euros. On this promotion day that is Black Friday, the smartphone It has seen its price increase by more than 20% compared to the end of October 1083.95 euros is the price charged by the brand since November 17, 2022! We can read “We have seen similar cases in about fifteen other products”.
CLCV is not the first consumer defense association to clarify business practices during Black Friday. Exactly one year ago, the UFC Que Choisir? warned against “the many scams and fake Black Friday promotions”, denouncing a “big hoax” and “false promotions”.
Source: BFM TV
