The retail calendar has become increasingly dominated by one major pattern: the pre-holiday avalanche of discounts. What started as a single day of deep markdowns (Black Friday) has morphed into “Black Week” or even “Black Month”. The problem? For both large and small brands — and especially in sectors like outdoor equipment and apparel — this shift has destabilised traditional business models, eroded brand value, distorted competition, and encouraged unsustainable consumption patterns.

Why small and mid-sized brands are losing

• Large brands and major retailers have economies of scale, high stock volumes, deep supply chains and built-in margin buffers that allow them to slash prices, absorb losses, or rely on other revenue streams. Smaller brands and local shops often do not. As one study pointed out: “In addition to promotion, small businesses typically lack the resources to match prices.”
  
• The constant expectation of discounts trains consumers to wait. A boutique or a specialist outdoor label invests in quality, niche materials, ethical sourcing — but when a huge chain offers 30-50 % off across the board, the smaller brand either joins (thus harming its margin) or sits out (and risks being ignored). As noted: “deep discounting could leave her business at a loss.”
  
• Discount-driven shoppers tend to be transactional rather than loyal. One analysis found that roughly 72 % of Black Friday shoppers prioritise discount over brand loyalty.
  
• The “race to the bottom” means that the unique value proposition of smaller brands — craftsmanship, speciality, community, local presence — is sidelined in favour of price wars. That undermines both brand identity and long-term sustainability.
  

In practice this means: your local outdoor brand and store, your independent apparel label — they are squeezed in this crap. They are forced to either slash prices, which undermines cost structures and brand quality and equity, or they refrain, and risk being bypassed by discount-hungry customers.

Why the Outdoor & Apparel Industry is Especially Vulnerable

In the outdoor and apparel segments, several compounding factors make the discount culture particularly harmful:

• High cost of materials, sourcing and production: Good outdoor gear often involves technical fabrics, ethical manufacturing, certifications, specialised fit and durability. Margin pressure is already real.
  
• Brand value and longevity matter: Outdoor gear is meant to last, to perform; apparel builds identity. When discounts dominate, the message becomes “cheap now” rather than “quality, durability, trusted brand”.
  
• Inventory/stock risks: With heavy discounting you may end up over-stocking ahead of the sale, or clearing deeply discounted items that degrade brand perception.
  
• Consumer expectation shift: When the norm becomes “wait until Black Week”, full-price selling becomes harder. That challenges a business model like yours at Superino that chooses to not offer discounts.
  

No Discounts, No Focus is a Statement of Value

Here’s where businesses with no black friday focus, takes a principled stand: We do not participate in this discount frenzy. That decision is meaningful:

• It protects brand integrity: If you offer full price consistently, you communicate that your products have enduring value, consistent margin, and you are not chasing quick volume via deep cuts.
  
• It supports a sustainable business model: You avoid being trapped in the cycle of “big sale → spike → slump”. Many smaller businesses that participate heavily in one-off sales find that traffic spikes only to collapse afterwards. > “Over the course of November I’ve tried running some Black Friday sales … All 3 flopped … so I think I can safely make this conclusion by now.”
  
• It aligns with your niche: In the outdoor and apparel world, discerning customers often care about craftsmanship, durability, ethical sourcing. The discount culture dilutes that message.
  

For Superino, this stand is a differentiator. It says: “We believe in a fair pricing, in value, in ethics. We don’t join the cheap-price race.” That may limit some discount-driven traffic — but it builds something more robust: loyal customers, sustainable margins, and fewer compromises on sourcing or production.

The Wider Implications: For Consumers, Competition & the Environment

Impact on consumption patterns and competition

• When discounts become default, consumers begin to believe that full price is overpriced, and that waiting for the “deal” is rational. That delays purchases, disrupts full-price sales, and pressures brands across the board.
  
• The bigger players dominate the spectacle: they set up massive marketing blitzes, offer dramatic markdowns, grab attention — smaller brands cannot compete on that scale, so they get squeezed out of the noise.
  
• This distorts competition: it’s not simply about better product or brand experience — it becomes about whose margin is deeper and whose logistic chain is largest. Small shops – with less margin, less stock, less marketing budget – are at a disadvantage.
  
• The “sale fatigue” sets in: customers internalise the expectation of offers, which in turn reduces full-price purchases. The long-term health of the brand becomes undermined. As one article puts it: “The challenge of disloyal shoppers … many of these shoppers may not return after the discounts fade.”
  

Environmental and social implications

• Overconsumption: The discount events encourage impulse buying, which leads to higher volumes of goods produced, transported, shipped, packaged — greater resource use and waste.
  
• Packaging and shipping waste: The surge in online orders, expedited deliveries, returns — all contribute to higher carbon footprint, more packaging waste (often single-use), and increased landfill contributions.
  
• Shorter product lifecycle: When items are bought because they are cheap rather than because they are needed or truly valuable, they may be discarded sooner, replaced by the next “deal”. This undermines durability and leads to more waste.
  
• Erosion of ethical sourcing: For brands to sustain deep discounts, they may be tempted (or forced) to cut corners: cheaper materials, lower labour costs, less oversight. That undermines labour rights, supply-chain integrity, and environmental standards.
  

In short: the discount culture is not simply a marketing issue — it has real consequences for local economies, for brand ecosystems, and for the planet.

What to Do Instead: Toward a Healthier Model

Given all this, here are some actionable ideas — both for brands like Superino and for consumers who want to buy better.

For brands

1. Stand for full-price value: Commit to showing the true cost of your goods — the materials, labour, sourcing, certifications. Communicate that you’re not using steep discounts as a tool.
   
2. Focus on building loyalty and brand experience, not just bargains and give some discounts to your loyal customers (but only the newsletter receivers): Offer quality, durability, unique design, excellent service. Loyalty built on value is stronger than traffic built on promotions.
   
3. Limit or avoid major discount events: If you choose not to join Black Month/Week, you avoid the margin erosion, you avoid training customers to wait for deals, and you retain pricing integrity.
   
4. Highlight certifications and ethical sourcing: Especially in outdoor/apparel, credible certifications (e.g., for materials, labour, environment) make a difference. Use them in your storytelling.
   
5. Educate consumers: Explain why full-price makes sense — long lifespan, better materials, repairs, low turnover. Shift the conversation from “cheap now” to “smart buy”.
   

For consumers

• Buy to full price from trusted, certified brands: When you purchase from brands that clearly indicate ethical sourcing, durable materials, sustainable practices, you are supporting a healthier ecosystem.
  
• Resist the automatic urge to wait for a sale: If you truly need an item now and care about quality, waiting for a “deal” may not be rational — it might compromise your value expectation.
  
• Look beyond price: Think lifespan, repairability, material, brand ethics. A slightly higher upfront cost may translate into much better long-term value.
  
• Support local and smaller brands: When you buy from smaller shops or local stores (rather than just price-giants), you help maintain diversity in the market, keep local jobs, retain brand variety.
  
• Avoid the bargain-trap: The rush to “deal hunt” often leads to overbuying, under-using, quickly discarding. A considered purchase is better for you, better for the planet.
  

Why “deal-hunting” is bad for everyone — including the deal-makers

• Deal-hunting trains customers to postpone purchases and expect ever-lower prices, which makes full-price sales harder.
  
• It shifts competition from product/experience/quality to margin wars — a zero-sum game where only the largest survive.
  
• It encourages volume-over-value: buying more items because they’re cheap, rather than fewer items because they’re good. That leads to waste, faster consumption cycles, and weaker brands.
  
• Businesses that rely heavily on deals end up with: squeezed margins, excess inventory, damaged brand equity, customer churn, and burn-out among staff who handle the frantic sale periods. For example, one small business owner wrote: > “I own multiple retail stores … The first few years I loved Black Friday … However … in fact possibly slightly worse.”
  
• In essence: the deal machine undermines itself and the broader ecosystem — it creates short-term spikes but long-term instability.
  

Conclusion

The “Black Month / Black Week / Black Friday” culture is not harmless fun. It is a structural shift in retail that favours large players, undermines smaller brands, trains consumers to expect discounts, and fuels unsustainable consumption.

For a brand like Superino that chooses to opt out of the traditional discount game (we only have discounts for our loyal newsletter receivers), the opportunity is to carve a distinct, sustainable, value-driven path: no large markdowns, full-price integrity, certified sourcing, durability, and a business model built for the long term.

For consumers and for the planet, the alternative is clear: buy with intention, support brands that stand for value, ethics and longevity — and move away from the sale-rush mentality.