Although Black Friday themed sales and promotions have been running for weeks now, today marks the main event for shoppers who are looking for a bargain.
Becom has estimated that last year Belgian shoppers spent a total of €62 million shopping online, racking up 475 transactions per minute.
As some 63% of Belgians are expecting to make a purchase this Black Friday, and are ready to drop an average of €329, authorities and consumer protections are cautioning shoppers about deals that might be too good to be true.
Too good to be true?
Consumer rights organisation Test Achats has stressed that not all offers this Black Friday season are worth it, and some may be downright fake.
Of 20,000 Black Friday offers detected by Test Achats, only about 5,500 are really good value. According to the organisation, in most cases there are better deals to be found, or you can find bigger discounts at other times of the year.
Test Achats has highlighted its online 'Rate My Deal' tool, where shoppers can check if a Black Friday deal is really what it seems.
Since May 2022, Belgium has had stricter rules in place around sales, including the fact that discounts have to be calculated based on a reference price which reflects the lowest price in the last 30 days.
However, according to Belgium's Economic Inspection authority, some 1,360 misleading promotions have been reported since 2022. Investigations have identified 811 infractions, resulting in 398 warnings and 346 formal reports.
"If an offer seems too good to be true, it often is," stressed the Ministry of Economy earlier this week.
In a joint statement, the Ministry of Economy and Test Achats said consumers should be particularly cautious of inflated prices, ambiguous conditions like "up to 50% off", products always on promotion, and pressure tactics such as "sold out = sold out", "limited stock", or "last chance".
Suspicious deals can be reported online at consumerconnect.be.
Fraudsters out in force
Apart from sellers themselves trying to mislead consumers, banking federation Febelfin has also warned shoppers to look out for fraudsters this Black Friday.
Cases of fraud involving fake bank employees have spiked in recent months, and there has also been a rise in fraudulent payments.
Banks are urging people to never carry out certain instructions. Fraudsters have been posing as bank employees claiming to help protect customers against fraud, and asking them to share a computer screen and provide personal codes.
"A bank will never ask you to share your personal codes and bank card, to transfer money to an account that is not yours to supposedly secure your money or to install software to remotely take over your screen," Febelfin said.
In terms of payment fraud, recent studies by public and private bodies show that cybercriminals are increasingly using AI-based techniques, which allow them to operate on a larger scale and in a more sophisticated way.
The European Central Bank (ECB) and the European Banking Authority (EBA) jointly reported in August 2024 that the total value of fraudulent activity in the European Economic Area (EEA) rose to €4.3 billion in 2022 and €2 billion in the first half of 2023, with card payments accounting for the largest share of fraud.
Anyone who has fallen victim to fraud is advised to immediately contact their bank and block their bank cards, which can be done through the Card Stop website (cardstop.be). Victims should also file a complaint with the police.
Counterfeit parcels
A spike in online shopping around Black Friday also means a large influx in parcels arriving to Belgium in the coming days and weeks. Benelux postal operator PostNL has already flagged that Monday was its busiest day ever for parcel processing.
A record 2.8 million parcels were processed on Monday, as Arvin Willemse, General Manager of PostNL Belgium, said that all employees and web shops are working hard to "keep the pressure under control".
On Thursday, Belgium's General Administration of Customs and Exercise warned about the risks of Black Friday parcels arriving from abroad.
The authority said that it recorded more than 15,000 counterfeit goods violations at Liege Airport in the first nine months of the year, with most counterfeit goods originating from China.
Counterfeit goods making their way to Belgium may not meet European health and safety standards, as Belgian retailers have recently warned.
Liege Airport, Belgium's main e-commerce entry point, saw 30 million online purchase declarations per month from January to October 2023, with this number rising to 55 million in November and December.
By September 2024, the monthly average of declarations surged to 82 million. During this holiday shopping season, over one billion declarations are anticipated for November and December.
