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Nearly half of the shoppers, approximately 47%, reported feeling pressured by Black Friday advertising to make purchases, while 52% admitted to spending more money than they had planned. Additionally, 28% found the quality of items they purchased fell short of their expectations.
Experts warn that cybercriminals are crafting websites and emails that closely mimic legitimate businesses, making it difficult for consumers to discern the difference.
In fact, 28% of those surveyed mentioned receiving items during Black Friday sales that did not meet their quality expectations, underlining the need for caution. Source: SBS News
As Black Friday approaches, it’s important to understand what ghost stores are and learn strategies to avoid them during the shopping frenzy.
Professor Gary Mortimer, retail marketing researcher at the Queensland University of Technology, told SBS News: “You tend to find that what you’re buying either never turns up at your door or what turns up is basically a poor quality product, despite these ghost stores online looking like top-tier local brands.”
Telltale signs of a ghost store
“They craft a story where they’re this long-running business selling good quality products at a small scale, but they’ve had to close down … there’s usually a sob story involved,” Kennedy said.
“If there’s no physical address on its website, that’s also a big red flag.”
Rise of ghost stores
But the conduct “appears to be widespread” with many more likely in operation.
Kennedy said complaints about ghost stores have increased over the past year, though he notes impersonation scams — where scammers copy big brands — are still more likely to flood the market this Black Friday.
What to do if you’ve been caught by a ghost store?
“You end up losing more money on postage — the return addresses that ghost stores provide are often unreliable or fake,” he said.
