‘White Friday’ discounts draw mixed reactions

AMMAN — Clothes, furniture and home appliance discounts from the “White Friday” sales were not as expected, according to some shoppers.

“Many products promoted as being ‘on sale’ were actually cheaper before the ‘White Friday’ discounts,” according to a consumer group on Facebook. 

The Jordan Times tracked some of the group’s posts; one of which discussed how retailers inflated the “was” price to make promotions look more appetising to consumers.

“Discounts advertised on ‘White Friday’ were available for the same price or cheaper last month,” a shopper, who preferred to remain anonymous, told The Jordan Times at one of Amman’s busiest shopping malls.

The shopper noted that although there was a lot of foot traffic at the mall in question, people weren’t carrying shopping bags, meaning the discounts were potentially “not as expected”.

“The marketplace was monitored by the Textile, Clothes and Footwear Syndicate, where we tracked promotional campaigns to ensure that discounts were real, as opposed to what people claimed,” Sultan Allan, from the syndicate, told The Jordan Times.

Allan stated that discounts had a significant effect on the increase of sales, noting that sales surged by 30-50 per cent for most retailers compared to the average daily sales.

However, the Jordanian marketplace recorded higher sales during the “White Friday” sales of 2019 and 2020, according to Allan. 

Allan noted that although discounts were optional, most retailers choose to put their stock at a “White Friday” discount as they consider it a good opportunity to boost sales.

As for furniture, Shatha Mustafa, an interior designer, told The Jordan Times that she found the ‘’White Friday’’ discounts worthwhile. She noted that she found good discounts in some furniture outlets that reached up to 50 per cent. 

The Furniture and Home Appliances Representative at the Jordan Chamber of Commerce (JCC) was not available for comment. 

Arab countries prefer to describe the last Friday in November as “White Friday”, as opposed to “Black Friday”.