Consumers expect significant discount percentages from Black Friday, taking as examples reports from foreign countries. However, price reductions of 70% or even 80% seem unrealistic for Greek market conditions. In Greece, the biggest offers reach 40%, but the one-day sale transforms into a week of offers, giving consumers greater flexibility.
Read: Real or fake Black Friday discounts? – What consumers say in parapolitika.gr poll
This phenomenon was explained by the president of the Piraeus Commercial Association, Theodoros Kapralos, speaking to Mega News: “Many products have already been reduced during the year. When Black Friday comes, the new discount is calculated on the already reduced price and not on the original one. Thus, the final percentage appears smaller, even if the price actually drops.”
Useful tips for Black Friday
The guidelines from the GSEE Consumer Workers’ Union are specific:
- Consumers should conduct market research and check not only the price (original and new), but also the quality of products.
- They should plan their purchases with a list.
- They should be informed about the details and terms of their transaction when buying products in installments.
- They should take into account that in every price reduction announcement, the previous price applied by the supplier during the 30-day period before implementing the price reduction is indicated.
Stagnation
At the same time, the Institute of Trade and Services of ESEE finds 0.2% stagnation in commerce, analyzing turnover fluctuations in the last quarter of 2025. As reported, turnover in retail trade, excluding food, vehicles and fuel, increased only to 7.2 billion euros from 7 billion in the same period last year. The 9-month turnover increase is the lowest from 2020 to date. The turnover strengthening rate during the third quarter of 2025 reached 2.8% compared to the same quarter of 2024, almost equal to the inflation rate for the corresponding period. This means, according to the analysis author, that the increase in real sales volume was negligible.
Specifically, when the upward effects of inflation are removed, turnover remained stagnant (0.2%) during the third quarter of 2025. Notable changes in turnover by categories included: “Sports equipment” (+8.5%), “Toys” (also +8.5%), “Computers and peripherals” (+7.2%), “Cosmetics and beauty products” (also +7.2%) among others. Categories with the biggest turnover drops included: “Telecommunications equipment” (-12.2%), “Newspapers and stationery” (-5.4%), “Carpets, rugs and floor coverings” (-4.7%), “Footwear and leather goods” (-4.4%) among others. “At least 750 million euros of turnover is missing from the market, meaning sales need to be boosted by at least 10% in the last quarter of 2025 to ‘balance out’ pressures from excessive rents, energy and wage costs.
No business size shows positive performance capable of overcoming the negative impact of high operating costs,” emphasized ESEE president Stavros Kafounis in his statement.
Published in Apogeumatini
