November discounts fuel impulse buys that often disappoint

November’s Singles Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions can prompt purchases that shoppers later regret, SRF reports. Swiss customers bought an average of three items for a total of 200 francs on Black Friday 2025, receiving a 30 percent discount, according to an analysis by the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute. The day’s sales in Switzerland were estimated at 703 million francs.

Scarcity and urgency drive purchases

Discount campaigns often present offers as limited, short-lived or especially popular, creating pressure from both time limits and other shoppers. This can trigger FOMO, or the fear of missing out, and lead people to rely on quick, emotional thinking rather than reason, business psychologist Christian Fichter says.

Discounts often apply to products people already own or do not need. The most sought-after and valuable goods are rarely heavily reduced, Fichter says. In the GDI survey, 32 percent of respondents found Black Friday offers disappointing, while 10 percent considered them attractive. Overall, 90 percent said the shopping event was at least somewhat overrated.

How to avoid impulse purchases

Fichter advises shoppers to recognise the sales tactics behind the promotions and avoid them where possible, such as by staying out of stores or deleting promotional newsletters without reading them. Keeping a year-round list of genuine needs and buying only items on it during November sales can also help.

Before buying, shoppers can consider what a partner or friend might say about the purchase. Remembering past impulse buys that proved unnecessary and comparing them with the current offer may also help curb spending.

Regret can offer a lesson

After a purchase, the impulse to hunt for bargains fades and reason returns, Fichter says. Regret over an unnecessary purchase can help people learn for next time, he adds.

Black Friday promotions have also spread from a single day to much of November. That distribution can reduce pressure to buy spontaneously, Fichter says, and many consumers have become used to the discounts. The GDI analysis found that most products bought during the period were already on shoppers’ lists.

Retailers continue to take part partly because they fear losing customers to competitors if they do not match the offers. Although constant discount campaigns are increasingly unpopular and stressful for many consumers, discounts still have a strong effect on buying behaviour, Fichter says.