Although UK-based shoppers are catching up to their American counterparts in holiday shopping, spending as much as £1.96 billion on Black Friday, according to VoucherCodes.co.uk and the Centre for Retail Research, one retailer refused to take part in the deep discounting practices the day is now known for.
A Hume, a Scottish apparel, footwear and accessories retailer, retained its standard full pricing model throughout Black Friday. The brand brought the issue of deceptive pricing tactics to light as a reason for keeping its own prices static.
In the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving weekend, retailers may raise prices so that on Black Friday, they appear to be discounts. The positive news is that this practice doesn’t appear to be the norm.
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Of merchandise sold between Oct. 19 and Nov. 17, according to WalletHub:
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78% of items had a significant Black Friday discount;
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4.7% of items had Black Friday prices similar to what they sold for in that time period; and
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17.3% of items would be more expensive than Black Friday prices shown on Amazon.com.
On the company’s blog, A Hume’s owner, Archie Hume, noted that the retailer’s value proposition is built on “uncompromising standards” that are marked by high product quality and personalized service.
“We won’t give in to the pressure to adopt a discount pricing model,” Hume wrote. “We see it as a bit of a grey squirrel, something that’s endangering our homegrown retail model. Within this imported pricing culture, it’s impossible for the customer to figure out what the real price of a product is – let alone the real value.”
Hume noted that his company has not ended discounting completely: the retailer hosts semiannual sales after the holiday season at and the end of summer.
While there are retailers within the apparel and luxury industries that don’t reduce prices for Black Friday, few have been as outspoken about it as a way to spread brand awareness. In the U.S., REI has been the most notable brand to divert from normal Black Friday tradition thus far, closing its stores and encouraging its consumers and employees to spend the day outdoors as part of the #OptOutside social media campaign.
