Big brands against small distributors: merchants compete online all over Europe on the occasion of Black Friday

Paris, November 20, 2018: Small distributors are attacking the big brands on this Black Friday, according to the Ingenico group. The world leader in integrated payment solutions has teamed up with YouGov to study European consumer behaviour and identify the opportunities that Black Friday represents for small retailers this year.

Black Friday: an opportunity for small retailers too

The pan-European study conducted in France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium and Germany revealed the enormous potential of European retailers to use Black Friday as a tactical lever to promote their brand in various markets.

While Amazon is expected to dominate the Black Friday landscape, the global retail giant will not win all the votes. However, small retailers will not be left out with nearly one in four people (23% in Belgium and 21% in France), who have ever shopped online for Black Friday Sales, prefer to make their purchases for Black Friday from small retailers or specialised distributors.

This may be a sign that the tide is turning in favour of the smaller players who are able to make their voices heard during this period of massive promotions with targeted products, services and payment options that allow them to reach an increasing international target.

Payment security to conquer a European target

Indeed, 63% of Spaniards and 40% of French consumers are eager to buy online from foreign distributors. In contrast, British consumers far prefer to shop with recognised national brands during Black Friday - only 3% prefer international sites.

However, Ingenico emphasizes that security is essential to win international customers. In France, payment security has proven to be the main concern for cross-border purchases (24%), ahead of product return (21%), quality (17%) and delivery reliability (12%). Spanish and Dutch buyers consider safety to be the most important factor after the price of the items.
50% of the French will intend to make purchases during Black Friday
According to Ingenico transaction data, Black Friday represented a peak in online transactions in 2017 of 72% in Europe compared to an ordinary Friday and +95% in France.

This year, 1 in 2 French people plan to make purchases during Black Friday, 26% of whom already made purchases last year and 24% who have never used Black Friday in previous years. Of French people who have ever shopped online during the Black Friday sales, a significant proportion of the purchases (64%) made are also dedicated to Christmas purchases, with 28% of French people declaring that they regularly use Black Friday promotions for their Christmas gifts and 36% occasionally do so.

Although 33% of French respondents believe that Black Friday promotions are not authentic, 53% of French respondents say they delay their purchases to take advantage of Black Friday promotions.

The weight of the mobile phones

The use of technology will also have an impact on the strategy, as 30% of those who have ever shopped during the Black Friday sales (and 41% of 25-34 year olds) would usually use the application of a distributor on their mobile to find the best offers and make their purchases this year.