In a bustling mall, a woman is strolling, “browsing prices that have increasingly drifted beyond our reach”.

It is White Friday — as Black Friday is better known in the Arab world — but this woman is not hunting for clothes on sale. “I am searching for diapers on discount for my baby.”

Soaring prices have made diapers a financial burden, she said, adding that “I am disappointed. I bought them for LE500 at a discount of only 20 per cent,” double the price she would have bought them two years ago. In the past two years inflation has soared. And though it has fallen from 38 per cent in September 2023, it remains at a high 26.5 per cent, recorded in October 2024.

Meanwhile, Medhat purchased a new jacket for LE2,300, down from LE5,000. Despite the reduced cost, the price remained steep, he said, prompting him to consider buying the jacket on installments. Many major stores are offering one-year installment plans during White Friday, without interest or down payments.

In many Egyptian shopping outlets, White Friday is an event that can last up to a whole month.

Late November’s Black Friday falls after Thanksgiving, opening the Christmas shopping season.

According to Mahmoud Al-Daour, former head of the Ready-Made Garments Division at the Federation of Chambers of Commerce, retailers have decided to offer discounts during White Friday to invigorate the market. “The offers will resonate with consumers, particularly as they coincide with the beginning of the winter season, a time traditionally marked by rising prices,” he said.

On the increasing cost of winter clothing, particularly jackets, Al-Daour attributed the price hikes to factors including supply and demand, product quality, and the reputation of the manufacturing brands.

He added that the scale of reductions is determined individually by shop owners. However, he pointed out that the market does not primarily target the working class but rather the higher-income strata, noting the importance of perceived value. “If a famous brand offered a jacket for LE100, no one would buy it. Ultimately, it’s a matter of supply and demand.”

Soon-to-be-wed Maha and Ahmed visited a major appliance factory outlet during White Friday, drawn by a promised 35 per cent discount on its products. Maha had been meticulously surveying prices before and after the promotions were announced. “The discounts were exaggerated, often not exceeding 10 per cent,” she said, explaining that “for instance, an appliance priced at LE8,500 before the sales was labelled at LE11,000 prior to the discount and subsequently ‘reduced’ to LE7,000.”

Maha, who has agreed with her fiancé to share equally in the cost of the appliances, observed that such practices, coupled with the recent rapid fluctuations in prices, often mislead consumers.

The couple will have to make concessions to be able to afford the list of appliances they need for their home. “We will aim for a four-burner stove instead of a five-burner model, and a 20-cubic-foot refrigerator instead of 22,” she noted. For Maha, electrical appliances are indispensable items. Regardless of the discount rate, they remain, for Maha, a priority purchase. Together with Ahmed, Maha joined a cooperative, an Egyptian form of crowdsourcing, to secure the price of the needed appliances.

Hassan Mabrouk, chairman of the Home Appliances Division at the Federation of Egyptian Industries, said the slowdown in the electrical appliances market drove merchants to offer discounts and interest-free installment plans in an attempt to align with consumers’ financial capabilities during this economically challenging time. “Discounts can stimulate the market, albeit modestly,” Mabrouk noted. “Electrical appliances are durable goods. Consumers purchase them out of necessity, not as luxuries.”

However, he expresses scepticism regarding the discounts advertised, which sometimes claim reductions of up to 35 per cent. According to Mabrouk, such price cuts are unlikely to be entirely genuine because the profit margins in this sector are relatively narrow. “It’s improbable that a product’s retail price could be reduced by half, so these offers may not reflect real discounts,” he added.

White Friday sales have also seen hypermarkets promoting discounts across a wide range of goods while facilitating installment payments through various credit card programmes. “We buy what we need but the quantities we purchase have changed,” a mother, with her children in tow, told Al-Ahram Weekly.

“While the hypermarket claimed price reductions on essential food items like milk, a carton that now costs LE45 was only LE40 last week. Prices for milk, cheese, and oils seem to have generally increased lately.”

Stressing the necessity of her purchases, she said: “I have young children, and I must ensure they have milk, no matter the price.”

* A version of this article appears in print in the 21 November, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly uder the title: Disappointing Friday