Ease off the price drops

Fewer discounts are acceptable for problem-solving products

In 2020 product shortages became commonplace. In previous peak weeks, retailers competed for shoppers’ share of wallet, and price promotion was intense.

Not so last year, when demand was so significantly increased for IT/office, home appliances and consumer electronics, and supply was so limited, that we saw far fewer price drops.In Europe especially, consumers appreciated the value that tech products provided for their professional and private lives. Consequently, shoppers often traded-up when cheaper alternatives were not available.This has been particularly true for categories like notebooks and dishwashers.

As a result, only 33% of products were sold at a discount of 15% or more during Black Friday of 2020 versus 41% in 2019.

It’s key to understand these changing shopping trends when planning your pricing and promotional product portfolio.

Norbert Herzog expects this trend to continue in 2021:

Black Friday this year will once again see high demand and lower supply in the consumer technology and durables categories. This means there will be less pressure on retailers to discount, so they’ll be free to innovate in other ways to attract shoppers.