You might think that you're getting a good deal on that 50% sale, but there's a good chance that "sale" price could be the original price that the company was selling the product for (or higher!). In fact, right before Black Friday, retailers raised their prices by 23% for toys and tools. Many of these deals are worse than the ones offered at different times in the year.Why do companies do this obviously deceptive marketing? Because it works. When former JC Penny CEO Ron Johnson decided that was going to change JC Penny's buisness model from one based around "everyday low prices" to one with literal "everyday low prices" (no sales), sales plunged 4.3 Billion Dollars, or 25% from the previous year. Customers like to feel like they are getting a good deal, especially at the big box store like JC Penny. After only 17 Months, JC Penny forced Johnson out, going back to their original strategy of sales and markups.
It's interesting to see how consumers fall for these marketing strategies. While some may question why Kohl's always seem to have a sale, the majority see that there is a sale and want to capitalize on it.
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/11/how-retailers-trick-you-their-amazing-black-friday-discounts/355525/
https://www.businessinsider.com/black-friday-insider-secrets-2017-11#theyll-even-sometimes-increase-the-normal-price-of-an-item-before-the-holidays-to-make-the-discount-seem-deeper-7
https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/27/business/jcpenney-history/index.html
This article was insightful. I definitely am more motivated to shop at stores when there are a lot of "sales" or "deals," so it kind of shocked me that prices actually increase when sales are implemented during times such as black friday. Additionally, I know that a lot of stores have certain conditions such as buying specific items in place to qualify for a discount or sale–which makes people spend a lot more money. It was also interesting to learn that the store that actually had lower prices and no sales had to be discontinued while most stores have higher prices and sales.
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