As retailers continue to grapple with the pressures of the cost of living crisis, new research reveals that a third of shoppers now wait until a sale or discount period to make a purchase (31%).
Data from trusted discount site, VoucherCodes.co.uk finds that this figure rises to 41% when it comes to shoppers buying tech, 37% for clothes, and 34% when buying a holiday. In a bid to save money, 39% of consumers are even willing to go as far as quitting shopping for six months until the Black Friday sales in November, in order to secure goods at discounted rates.
However, as temperatures gradually begin to rise in the UK, the research points to a growing consumer desire to shop for summer products, with half of British consumers wishing to buy new summer clothes in the next three months (49%), and 42% expressing interest in purchasing summer home & garden products including fire pits, BBQs, inflatable hot tubs, and garden furniture. A further quarter would like to book a summer holiday if they could afford to (27%).
The data comes as VoucherCodes launches it’s first ever ‘Black FriMAY’ savings event, aimed at helping retailers target value-conscious shoppers who are considering summer purchases. For seven days from 22nd – 28th May, VoucherCodes will host exclusive Black Friday quality offers from a broad selection of leading brands including TUI, John Lewis & Partners, Samsung and LOOKFANTASTIC.
The discount site is also running a Win your summer wishlist competition, aimed at driving further customer excitement around the campaign. One lucky winner will win their summer wishlist, up to the value of £2,000, with an additional 1,000 entrants winning an iced coffee voucher in an early draw on 24th May.
Maureen McDonagh, SVP International & Managing Director at VoucherCodes.co.uk comments: “We’re incredibly excited to launch our first ever Black FriMAY event.
“From our long history of working closely with our retail partners, we understand how vital savings events like Black Friday are when it comes to driving a boost in revenue in the second half of the year.
We’ve created Black FriMAY to offer our partners a similar opportunity to boost customer engagement and sales in the first half of the year. Whilst traditionally, May has been a quiet month in the British retail calendar, our research has identified that today’s shoppers are looking to shop for summer earlier, as they look to spread the cost of the season.
“With Black FriMAY, our aim is to kick-start the summer shopping season, enabling our brand partners to drive mid-season sales and capitalise on a growing demand for early summer savings ahead of the peak summer months.”
