Black Friday Fatigue: Are Consumers Switching Off?

Remember when Black Friday meant queuing outside shops in the early hours, hoping to get your hands on a bargain before everything sold out? Fast forward to today and things look a little different. The queues have largely moved online, promotional emails seem to arrive weeks in advance, and almost every retailer is competing for our attention with another discount.

Black Friday has become a huge part of the retail calendar, but with so many brands taking part, are consumers starting to lose interest? More importantly, are the discounts actually as good as they appear?

‍Are the deals really worth getting excited about?

One of the biggest challenges facing Black Friday is consumer trust. Shoppers are becoming more conscious of pricing, and many are questioning whether those eye-catching discounts represent genuine savings.

Research from Which? found that 83% of the products it tracked were available at the same price or cheaper at another point outside the Black Friday sales period. Its investigation covered 175 products across major UK retailers, highlighting just how easily a supposedly exclusive deal can lose its appeal.

It's no surprise that shoppers are becoming more cautious. When customers can compare prices in seconds, a crossed-out price tag and a big percentage discount aren't necessarily enough to convince them.

According to YouGov's 2026 Black Friday research, 47% of likely Black Friday and Cyber Monday shoppers find it difficult to know whether discounts are genuine. That's a challenge retailers can't afford to ignore.

From high street queues to online shopping carts

Black Friday has also changed the way we shop. What was once associated with packed shopping centres and early morning queues has increasingly become an online shopping event.

PwC estimated that four out of every five pounds spent during Black Friday 2025 would be spent online, through home delivery or click and collect.

Online shopping gives consumers something the traditional high street experience can't always match: convenience and the ability to compare retailers without leaving the sofa. But that doesn't mean physical stores have lost their place. Instead, retailers need to give customers a reason to visit, whether that's exclusive in-store offers, better customer experiences or products they can see and try before buying.

When every brand is offering a deal, how do you standout?

There's another problem: promotional overload.

As soon as November arrives, consumers are bombarded with early access offers, countdowns, discount codes and last-chance reminders. When every brand is shouting about its biggest sale of the year, it's easy for marketing messages to blend into one another.

The challenge isn't necessarily getting a discount in frontof consumers. It's giving them a reason to care.

This is where digital marketing needs to do more than simply advertise a reduced price. Creative campaigns, engaging content and relevant messaging can make a brand stand out in an increasingly crowded market.

What should businesses be doing differently?

Black Friday isn't going away, but businesses may need to rethink how they approach it. Here are five things worth considering:

1. Don't rely on discounts alone. Show customers why a product is worth buying. Highlight its benefits, quality and what makes it different from competitors.

2. Get creative with your campaigns. Repeating the same sale graphics and discount messaging as every other retailer isn't going to help you stand out. Experiment with short-form video, product demonstrations and customer-generated content.

3. Make email marketing more personal. Rather than sending the same promotional email to your entire database, use segmentation to deliver offers and recommendations that are relevant to different audiences.

4. Make the buying experience as good as the offer. A great advert might get someone onto your website, but a complicated checkout, unexpected delivery costs or unclear returns policy could easily send them elsewhere. DHL's 2026 research found that one in three Black Friday shoppers are most likely to abandon a purchase when choosing delivery options.

5. Think beyond Black Friday itself. Not everycustomer is ready to buy during one promotional weekend. Use retargeting,follow-up emails and ongoing content to stay relevant beyond the initial sale.

Is Black Friday losing its spark?

Perhaps the biggest lesson for businesses is that consumers haven't necessarily stopped looking for bargains. They're simply becoming more selective about where they spend their money.

Black Friday still presents a huge opportunity for retailers, but offering the biggest discount isn't always going to win the customer. Trust, convenience, creativity and a genuinely worthwhile offer all play a part.

The question businesses should be asking isn't just how much they can take off their prices this November. It's what will make customers choose them in the first place.