AGS Global research: Shopping carts are full of necessities

A month filled with discount campaigns like "Black Friday" and "Legendary November," held simultaneously with the rest of the world, has come to an end. These campaigns, which were previously limited to the last week of November, have now begun to spread across the entire month. Research company AGS Global conducted a study that sheds light on both society's approach to November discounts and category-based pricing.

According to the research conducted by AGS Global:

In the study, which involved 864 participants between December 1 and 3, 2023, two-thirds of the participants (65.7%) stated that they made purchases during the November discount period, while 34.3% stated that they did not take advantage of these November sales. On the other hand, more than half of those who shopped during the November sales (56.3%) indicated that they preferred online channels, while the rate of those who filled their carts through both online and physical channels was 40.8%.

9 out of 10 participants (91.6%) who took advantage of the November discounts said they only bought things they needed, and inflation seems to have left its mark on this year.  The rate of those who said, "I also bought things I didn't need," is 8.4%.

When participants were asked about the categories they shopped in most (with multiple answers allowed), "personal care" (67.6%) ranked first on the list of every 3 shoppers who took advantage of the November frenzy, followed by clothing, footwear, and accessories (62%) and consumer electronics (42.3%).  The rate of those who answered food in this category remained limited to 16.9%, while the rate of those who bought home care products was 14.1%. The category that benefited the least from November discounts was entertainment and culture (4.2%), which includes many products or services ranging from theater to books.

"WE DON'T BELIEVE IN THE DISCOUNTS"

While the primary reason for 6 out of every 10 people not showing interest in November campaigns was 'not believing in the discounts,' the rate of those who 'did not have any needs' was 35.1%. Those who did not find the prices reasonable (16.2%), those who could not afford them (10.8%), and those who could not find the product they were looking for accounted for 2.7%.

When all participants were asked about their general perception of November sales, 57.4% stated that the November campaigns did not reflect genuine discounts, while the rate of those who were undecided was 20.4%. Those who found the November campaigns credible were limited to 22.2%.

T-SHIRT PRICES DROPPED THE MOST

In a special study conducted in collaboration with the online data collection company SenkronData, tens of thousands of products were scanned from marketplaces and brand websites to examine price trends compared to the previous month, thereby analyzing whether the November sales reflected genuine discounts. Accordingly, the products with the highest price drops throughout November were clothing items such as t-shirts (29.1%) and sweatshirts (26.8%), followed by cosmetics (21.9%). When accessories (19.9%) and pants-shorts (16.4%) are added to this, fashion products were the items that saw the highest average price drops compared to October.

Within the same analysis, products whose prices remained stable compared to the previous month were, respectively, phones, major appliances and built-in products, smart home products, biscuits and chocolate, and sauces.

Evaluating the research results for the public, AGS Global Founder and CEO Ahmet Güler emphasized that they looked at both sides of the coin in the study.

Güler said, 'On one hand, we focused on how consumers approach November sales. On the other hand, together with our partner, we tracked which products were actually discounted using real-time price trend analysis. We observed that the skeptical perception regarding the authenticity of the discounts has strengthened this year, partly due to the impact of inflationary pressure,' and concluded his remarks as follows:

'On the other hand, as consumers, we did not believe in the discounts, but we did not refrain from shopping either. The research once again reminded brands of the importance of both being sincere with the consumer and implementing dynamic pricing in an inflationary environment.'

News Source: 12punto