Black Friday, a phenomenon that in the US is characterised by a single day of intensely emotional impulse shopping, has extended into a whole month in Poland. This leads to a devaluation of the event, with promotions lasting so long that it's difficult to speak of exclusivity or a sense of bargain. Customers lose the pressure of time and may postpone purchasing decisions, which ultimately can weaken sales. It's safe to say that Black Friday in Poland has become a victim of its own success.
Despite this, the continued popularity of Black Friday promotions is largely due to the increasing trend of pre-holiday shopping planning – primarily gift-hunting from the turn of October and November. As a result, difficult grocery shopping tasks are left for December. In many cases, this approach doesn't overly burden budgets during the festive season. This approach benefits both retailers and customers. The former have the holiday season essentially in full swing from the beginning of November, while the latter can afford larger purchases. Currently, this approach to shopping may also be due to less than optimistic consumer sentiment due to general economic uncertainty, including inflation and fears of further price increases, leading to concerns about whether household budgets will be able to support the planned holiday shopping.
We should note that Black Friday 2025 is the third year in which the regulations stemming from the Omnibus Directive apply. It has contributed to significantly greater price transparency. The Omnibus Directive has curbed the ambitions of previously unethical retailers, primarily those who artificially inflated prices before Black Friday, only to artificially lower them later, giving customers the false sense of savings. This hasn't eliminated dishonest retailers seeking to circumvent the regulations, but their number is certainly limited. The Omnibus Directive has contributed to creating the image of retailers offering genuine, significant promotions, thus enabling consumers to find attractive offers without fake sales. Despite the Omnibus Directive, numerous studies show that a large proportion of Polish consumers still believe that stores artificially raise prices before sales. This demonstrates that consumers are becoming increasingly distrustful. The perception of "false promotions" is one of the biggest challenges for retailers. In the era of easy price comparisons and access to tools monitoring price history, this is a very risky strategy that can cause a lot of image damage in the long run.
The most common mistakes retailers make in their promotional activities during Black Friday include:
- a blurred communication over an excessively long promotion period (e.g., "Black Friday all month long," "Black November," etc.), which causes message fatigue and reduces campaign effectiveness. The lack of a clear campaign culmination weakens conversions;
- an inconsistent promotional promise, such as "70% off sale" with a small suffix "up to -70%," when the actual average discount is only a few percent, frustrates customers and reduces brand credibility;
- a lack of precise segmentation and personalisation, which causes excessively broad commercial messaging (unsuitable for customer purchase history, preferences or behaviour) to become noise rather than an impulse purchase;
- a sole focus on price, omitting added value, such as extended warranties, additional services, etc. Such elements can strongly influence retailer choice;
- a lack of a post-Black Friday strategy. Promotions appearing during this period generate traffic, but are often not used to build long-term relationships, e.g. retargeting, loyalty programmes or further communication.
So, could Black Friday disappoint retailers this year? Such a risk cannot be ruled out, primarily due to consumers' increased caution and more careful spending. After a period of inflation and economic uncertainty, promotional impulses may have less impact than they did just a few years ago. Furthermore, trust in real discounts is declining, resulting in lower conversion rates. Furthermore, communication overload is turning Black Friday from a "shopping holiday" into just another predictable promotional campaign.
In view of the above, sellers can be helped by increased price transparency (clearly showing real discounts), precise segmentation and personalisation, and additional benefits, not just price reductions, as well as a return to the roots – a limited duration of the promotion to regain the "FOMO" effect (Fear of Missing Out, i.e. the fear of missing out on something – a promotion, a shopping opportunity).
What to do to save money – a buyer's guide:
- Shopping planning – preparing a shopping list, keeping in mind that the best offer isn't the one with the biggest discount, but rather the one that truly meets the consumer's needs.
- Budget planning – setting a maximum amount you can spend and avoiding debt for “special deals.”
- Comparing prices – checking prices at several retailers – both online and in-store – and monitoring product prices over time to see if the discount is real. Using price tracking tools allows you to verify that the discount isn't being "artificially" created.
- Paying attention to the details of the promotion – which products are covered by slogans like "up to 70% off," whether the promotion requires additional conditions (e.g., purchasing multiple items, signing up for a newsletter, or providing additional marketing consents), and whether the final price includes shipping costs or other additional fees.
- Checking return options and warranty policies.
- Verifying the credibility of the store/seller – especially for lesser-known businesses, it's worth reading reviews from other buyers and following buying groups. Pay particular attention to sellers offering “overly good deals.”
- Cyber Monday – you should remember that the Monday following Black Friday usually sees a second wave of promotions, which, contrary to initial assumptions, aren't limited to e-commerce.
- Keeping track of promotions offered by banks – many offer additional discounts for their customers who pay with a card or bank app, accessing the store via a link from the bank's website/app.
Black Friday can result in real savings for customers if they approach their purchases with the utmost level of calculation, based on the principle that the best deal is the one they can actually afford. You should always ask yourself: "Do I really need it, or do I just want it?"
Author: Dr Mariusz Woźniakowski
Edit: Faculty of Management, University of Lodz
