Sales fever vs consumers – who wins?

A new Kaspersky survey reveals that 90 percent of purchases occur spontaneously during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It also discovered that social media makes an unexpectedly big contribution to sales results, as more than a half (58%) of followers attempt to get whichever special deals their favorite influencers and online bloggers recommend. The survey also found women (22%) are the more dedicated super-sales shoppers than men (17%), and most respondents (69%) are ready to wait for big events to get the best deals.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are extremely popular global sales events. They usually involve millions of people around the world. In particular, Black Friday online sales grew 3.5 percent to $65.3 billion globally in 2022. Besides, according to the Salesforce survey on sales recap, consumers spent $1.14 trillion online globally across the Holiday Season. Considering this, Kaspersky explored users’ behavior and habits related to big sales events such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Survey results show that most consumers cannot resist the flood of special offers during Black Friday or Cyber Monday, and the majority buy anything despite any previous plans. 90% of respondents buy things spontaneously during such sales, and as many as 57% do so most or even all of the time. In addition, bloggers, friends and relatives also have a great influence on spontaneous purchases. For example, 58% of respondents are willing to buy a product if they saw it in recommendations from bloggers they follow. At the same time, 40% of users are ready to buy something unplanned if they receive a recommendation from friends or family members.

Women are the more dedicated super-sales shoppers, with 22 percent saying they will always make spontaneous purchases during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, compared to only 17 percent of men. Those aged 25 to 34 years also stand out: 23 percent say that they will always buy something spontaneously during these events, significantly more than in any other age group.

As for the importance of big sales events for respondents, 71 percent are ready to wait until big events like Black Friday or Cyber Monday to get the best deals. While 75 percent of consumers say that they make use of the run-up to these events to plan their bigger purchases in advance, hoping to make the most of price cuts and special deals.

‘For many, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are a great way to save serious money on a variety of purchases, so each year, these days are marked by unprecedented excitement and interest in online and offline shopping. As our research shows, 90 percent of users buy things spontaneously during big sales events and may not pay much attention to safety, trying to snatch the best offer. Our solutions for safe online shopping – like Kaspersky Premium – can be a reliable assistant in online payments security, which will protect not only your personal data, but also financial information, and will also warn you so you don’t end up on a phishing site.’ Comments Marina Titova, Vice-President, Consumer Product Marketing at Kaspersky.

Full report ‘The Super Sale Game: who’s the winner? A study on how we shop and pay’ is available via the link

In order to enhance your security during online shopping and ensure safe and positive digital experience, Kaspersky share some simple security tips:

1.     Set up strong passwords

Old but gold rule says, the longer your combination is, the less likely cybercriminals will grab it. You can devise your own password creation system, or use a password generator to come up with strong random combinations. And so as not to forget them, you can store your credentials in a password manager, which also includes a password generator as a rule.

2.     VPN is a great helper if you use connect to public networks

A reliable VPN solution encrypts all traffic and therefore prevents attackers from intercepting your login credentials and payment details with no any delays in traffic performance.  

3.     Don’t link bank cards to online shopping accounts

Attackers pretty often steal accounts that are rarely used — this way their actions go unnoticed for longer. Therefore, it’s worth linking a bank card only to online stores that you regularly visit, and make sure that your account is not hijacked and that no suspicious transactions appear in your purchase history.

4.     Get a separate card for online shopping

It’s a common safe practice to get a separate card for online purchases, and keep minimal funds on it. Even if attackers find out the details of this card, they still won’t get their hands on your main money source. It’s best to top up the card immediately before making a purchase and only by the amount you intend to spend.

5.     Use reliable protection

These simple rules to protect your data and money will make your online shopping experience safe and secure. To avoid cybercriminal tricks, read our post on how to spot scammers online. And use a reliable security solution that automatically detects and blocks phishing sites.

About Kaspersky

Kaspersky is a global cybersecurity and digital privacy company founded in 1997. Kaspersky's deep threat intelligence and security expertise is constantly transforming into innovative security solutions and services to protect businesses, critical infrastructure, governments and consumers around the globe. The company's comprehensive security portfolio includes leading endpoint protection and a number of specialized security solutions and services to fight sophisticated and evolving digital threats. Over 400 million users are protected by Kaspersky technologies and we help 240,000 corporate clients protect what matters most to them. Learn more at www.kaspersky.com.