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B&Q has announced it is “abandoning” Black Friday in favour of providing its customers with “year-round” low prices across the store.
The DIY retailer is sticking with its everyday low prices model, which went store-wide with a £100m investment from July this year and has been in place on kitchens since 2014 after it research found half of shoppers are to ignore Black Friday.
B&Q said the research shows shoppers “trust retailers” offering year round low prices “far more” than those that run frequent sales and occasional offers.
It said almost half of respondents (46%) admit they aren’t planning to shop in this year’s Black Friday sales and nearly half (43%) said they often or always returned items after regretting purchases made in short term, dramatic sales.
Almost a third of people (29%) also confessed to feeling like they “must make a quick decision to take advantage of fleeting price drops”, and (16%) felt they were lured into “impulse buying”, ultimately leading to “shopper’s regret”.
B&Q also said it found the atmosphere created by limited time offers leaves a quarter (23%) of shoppers feeling stressed and anxious, with one in five (21%) feeling extra pressure to purchase something.
Paul White, commercial director, B&Q, said: “Shoppers have told us they trust stable low prices far more than ‘here today, gone tomorrow’ deals, which is why we have invested £100m in our year round low prices across the store.
“Our pricing is all part of B&Q’s strategy to help make home improvement more affordable for all customers. This year, over 3,000 new low prices have been introduced for great quality products. Our everyday low prices mean shoppers don’t have to impulse buy to get the best deal. For us, it’s ‘Black Friday’ every day so you can get started and do it now.”
