NCFU experts have offered certain tips about how to prepare for autumn’s major sale – Black Friday – a day that millions of people all over the globe are looking forward to seeking to buy something at a great discount.

Olga Godina (Associate Professor, Head of Marketing & Brand Management Program) notes that despite the day being so popular, only one third of Russian believe it, with many viewing it as nothing but a con. This is because the prices in shops get lower not much than before the long-awaited Friday, even though discounts may be up to 70%, which is witnessed by consumers themselves, who seethe same items a week before the sale.

– By matching the prices regularly, we can see that numerous items reveal minimal discounts, which means they were at first offered at a high margin, after which a 30-70% discount was offered. This helps retailers suffer lower profit loss yet attract many people, – Olga Godina was quoted as saying.

Now, in response to this, the NCFU marketing experts have developed a list of ideas to help everyone buy things with minimal risks:

·         Spend some time in advance making up a list of what you want to buy;

·         Stick to the planned budget;

·         Check if the discounts offered are honest – just have a glance at the same goods a week and even a month before (e.g., by visiting the archived pages). Check what other retailers charge for the same or similar stuff. If buying offline, have a closer look at the tag itself – the Friday deal tag is often stuck right over the previous one;

·         If shopping online, make sure you are aware of whom you are paying. Check the payment system address in the browser. It is to start with https, which will guarantee data transfer via a protected protocol. Remember that frauds will often act claiming to represent some famous brands;

·         Keep in mind that the return & refund period is 14 days (provided the item does belong on the list of non-refundable goods and all the respective tags are intact).

And another: all the annual sales are nothing but playing with the customers’ feelings and yet another way to boost profits – while buying something at a 30% discount you will still have to spend the remaining 70%.