The “Black Friday Trends 2023–2026” series, developed by MKOR across four editions, provides a clear view into the evolution of purchase planning, digital channels, generational differences, and consumer expectations in Romania. Moving beyond a single promotional campaign, its data offers a continuous perspective on an evolving market.
By Ehab Soltan
HoyLunes – Examining the evolution of consumer habits requires looking beyond the static snapshot provided by a single commercial event. True market intelligence emerges when it is possible to observe the dynamics of change over time, identifying patterns, shifts, and underlying trends. The research series “Black Friday Trends 2023–2026“, developed by the firm MKOR on the Romanian market, provides precisely that analytical lens. Across four annual installments, the study not only documents public attitude toward one of the calendar’s most intense sales campaigns but also uncovers a profound metamorphosis in expectations, discovery channels, and decision-making methodologies of the contemporary buyer.
The 2026 edition marks a historic high in the series: 70% of respondents state their intention to make purchases during this commercial event, significantly exceeding the 57% recorded in 2023 and 2024, as well as the 62% reached in 2025. However, the key vector of sociological and strategic interest for the industry lies not merely in the expansion of potential buyer volume, but in the pronounced premeditation with which individuals approach the act of buying.
Planning as the Blueprint for the Purchasing Act
Contrary to the traditional narrative that links discount periods to impulsive decisions, MKOR’s findings paint a picture of an analytical and disciplined consumer. Among those planning to buy in 2026, 84% state that they structure their list of needs a month in advance, while 86% arrive at the event with a pre-defined budget limit. For this edition, the average planned budget stands at 2,100 lei (approximately 393 euros based on the exchange rate used in the research), a figure that maintains constant stability relative to prior periods despite the complex inflationary and macroeconomic environment.
This pattern reveals that commercial conversion is not improvised at the point of sale; the decision matures over weeks. For brands and market operators, this phenomenon substantially shifts the window of influence, as promotional offers do not impact a passive target, but rather an informed demand that has spent weeks monitoring the product, evaluating alternatives, and weighing the true value of the advertised discount.
Methodological Precision in Trend Research
One of the most noteworthy aspects of MKOR’s work lies in the rigor of its data architecture. The study applies a methodological design that measures purchase intent prior to the event, reserving the verification of actual behavior for the following year’s edition. The firm explicitly clarifies that these represent independent samples within an equivalent population framework, allowing aggregate trendlines to be drawn across the time series without inaccurately attributing individual causalities to a single longitudinal cohort.
This transparency in sample management provides technical credibility to the conclusions. Continuous research demonstrates that the value of market analytics resides not in capturing a sales spike, but in structuring consistent data series capable of contextualizing consumers’ cultural and operational shifts over time.
Knowing the consumer means more than just knowing what they buy. It means understanding the structures of planning and trust that precede their decision.
Digital Acceleration and the Centrality of the Marketplace
The evolution documented by MKOR fits into a broader digital transformation that positions Romania at the forefront of e-commerce convergence in the European Union. According to Eurostat data, the proportion of internet users in the country making online purchases rose from 17% in 2014 to 60% in 2024, registering one of the most pronounced growth trajectories in the EU block.
MKOR’s study clearly reflects this maturation within the specific scope of Black Friday. In 2026, 60% of shoppers plan to buy exclusively through digital channels, representing a thirteen-point surge from the 47% recorded in 2025. The hybrid channel—combining physical browsing or purchasing with online platforms—accounts for 29%, while strictly in-store shopping drops to a residual 8%.
Within this digital ecosystem, the marketplace confirms its operational hegemony as the primary node of choice for 70% of buyers. Corporate online stores and direct manufacturer portals rank second at 61%, while established mobile applications reach 41%. This landscape proves that the customer journey is increasingly omnichannel and networked: information sources are fragmented across retailer environments (74%), social platforms (57%), conventional advertising (45%), and even the recent emergence of artificial intelligence assistants, already utilized by 6% of the sample to track and compare promotions.
Generational Segmentation and the Trust Factor
MKOR’s report provides segmentation that dispels the notion of a homogeneous digital consumer. The propensity to purchase during Black Friday 2026 peaks among Generation Z (78%), gradually tapering off among Millennials (69%) and Generation X (66%). Discrepancies are even sharper across discovery dynamics: while younger audiences center their inspiration phase on platforms like Instagram (33%) and TikTok (31%), Generation X relies on television broadcasts (44%) and Facebook (40%) as primary information anchors.
Alongside the generational gap, the study devotes a key section to the psychology of conversion among undecided shoppers, who represent 24% of the analyzed sample in 2026. For this hesitant segment, activation depends not solely on discount magnitude—demanded by 61%—but on certainty regarding true value: 36% of undecided buyers indicate that their decision requires clear and simple verification of historical price tracking relative to the promotional discount.
This finding underlines that in digitally mature markets, promotional clarity serves as a decisive brand asset. An offer loses effectiveness if unbacked by a trustworthy environment where the buyer can audit the authenticity of the price reduction.
Romania as an Observatory for European Retail Transformation
A cross-sectional reading of the “Black Friday Trends 2023–2026” series establishes the Romanian market as a highly instructive case study for the European digital economy. The e-commerce acceleration recorded by Eurostat gains deep operational meaning when contrasted against MKOR’s metrics on advance planning, channel adoption, and transparency demands.
Romania displays not only a quantitative rise in digital transaction volume but also the rapid adoption of sophisticated consumer habits characteristic of advanced markets. For international operators and industry analysts, MKOR’s research delivers more than a campaign playbook: it serves as a manual on how continuous market research becomes a primary strategic tool. In a constantly fluctuating commercial environment, decoding the consumer journey is not merely about measuring what is purchased, but about understanding the cognitive structures, trust channels, and planning processes that precede every purchase decision.
Primary Analysis Source: MKOR, “Black Friday Trends 2023–2026. Plans and expectations from the consumer’s perspective”. Study conducted on a sample of 1,000 individuals aged 18 to 55 in Romania using its proprietary panel, with data segmented by age, gender, and buying habits. Complementary transactional data sourced from NETOPIA Payments’ merchant portfolio. https://mkor.eu/research/black-friday-2026-romania/
Complementary Macroeconomic Source: Eurostat, statistics on e-commerce adoption across the European Union. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/w/ddn-20250220-3 https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/product/view/isoc_ec_ib20?lang=en
