What to Expect: ‘Black Friday’ Ahead

The newspaper 'Zhoghovurd' reports that not only stores but also consumers in Armenia are holding their breath in anticipation of ‘Black Friday’, which will be celebrated this year on November 26. It should be noted that ‘Black Friday’ is a day of massive discounts celebrated with great fanfare in the United States, marking the beginning of the traditional Christmas discount season in stores.

In recent years, celebrating ‘Black Friday’ has also become fashionable in Armenia; however, the Armenian version of ‘Black Friday’ differs significantly from its American counterpart. For instance, the majority of businesses in our country provide incomplete, misleading, or misleading information regarding the discounts on products, often confusing consumers. There are even instances where businesses claim discounted prices while the discounts are either not applied or are limited to a very small number of products or certain categories only.

The ‘Zhoghovurd’ newspaper learned that clothing, footwear, and cosmetics stores, as well as gyms, have already begun informing consumers about the expected discounts. Furthermore, we also became aware that yesterday the Competition Protection Commission received a complaint from a citizen regarding misleading practices by a gym. The CPC informed 'Zhoghovurd' that they have already warned retail outlets to refrain from attempts to mislead consumers. Whether this warning will be sufficient or whether stores will heed the CPC’s call remains to be seen.

In the meantime, it should be noted that we are actively advertising discounts of 70-80 percent, but the reality is different: prices are artificially raised and then decreased by a negligible amount. Moreover, if one is a bit attentive, it will be possible to see a product whose price was more affordable just a week ago than during the ‘Black Friday’ period.