Eight out of ten Romanians have money prepared for Black Friday, study finds
Eight out of ten Romanians have money prepared for Black Friday purchases, according to a study by digital bank app Revolut. However, promotional periods also make bargain hunters vulnerable to frauds.
At least 53% of Romanians state that they have a Black Friday shopping strategy, and most of them, 23%, have set aside between RON 1,000 and 2,500 (EUR 200-500) for their purchases on this occasion, according to a study by Revolut and Dynata conducted in September 2023.
Eight out of ten Romanians intend to take advantage of Black Friday promotions, just like last year. Only 9% of respondents are firmly against making purchases on this occasion.
Half of Romanians plan to make Black Friday purchases and have a shopping strategy, reducing the risk of returning purchased items. Nearly two-thirds of them (69%) say they exclusively buy practical items. 11% state that they take advantage of Black Friday campaigns for small indulgences, while 7% prepare their Christmas gifts, hoping to save some money that way.
While one in 10 Romanians says they don't shop at all on Black Friday, 4 out of 10 (39%) are willing to wake up early just to catch the deals they've been eyeing for a while. 43% sacrifice their personal time and stay glued to their laptops only for offers with significant discounts, while 5% are interested in Black Friday promotions to make a good deal by reselling heavily discounted products.
Women are less interested in Black Friday than men (10% vs. 5% of respondents who say they won't buy anything on this occasion). The same goes for seniors over 65 years old (11%) and residents of the central part of the country (11%).
Men set aside between RON 1,000 and 2,500 for Black Friday shopping, while women allocate between RON 250 and 500 (EUR 50-100). The age groups of 18-24 years (26%) and 44-54 years set aside between RON 250-500, respondents between 25-44 years (26%) and those over 55 years (23%) tend to allocate RON 1,000-2,500.
Bucharest residents prepare the most generous budgets, over RON 2,500 (19%), while Romanians from the western part of the country are the most restrained in spending on Black Friday (13% less than RON 250).
Last year, on Black Friday, customers in Romania made purchases of nearly EUR 44 million with Revolut (November 11-13, 2022), and the average amount spent by a Romanian user was approximately EUR 84. The age group with the highest Black Friday purchase value was 25-34 years, with over EUR 16.7 million. The highest average purchase value per user was recorded in the 35-44 age group (EUR 103 per customer).
The top 5 merchants, based on payment volumes with Revolut, included Emag, Altex, Carrefour, Tazz, and Dedeman.
Commercial events like Black Friday, which focus on e-commerce, also come with challenges related to preventing irresponsible behavior and fraud. Revolut studies the phenomenon of fraud and scams and has noted a year-over-year increase. For example, in the post-pandemic period, there has been a rise in scams involving fake offers for music festivals or concert tickets. From May to September 2023, the number of concert ticket scams increased by 220% compared to the same period the previous year.
Overall, Revolut has seen a significant reduction in customer fraud thanks to optimized fraud detection. The digital bank conducts consumer education campaigns on fraud awareness and provides tools such as disposable virtual cards and the Revolut Shopper Chrome extension for safe online shopping.
(Photo source: Vasilis Ververidis | Dreamstime.com)
