ACCC targets Black Friday emails, socials

The ACCC has launched another sweep of retail promotional practices across the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales period for 2026. The sweep spans multiple retail sectors and will target potentially misleading conduct, including “sitewide” or “storewide” sale claims when a large number of products are excluded, and time-limited offers or countdown timers that run beyond their stated end date.

The regulator will also examine pressure tactics such as misleading testimonials and false claims that stock is running low, as well as sale prices compared against reference prices at which products were never, or not recently, sold. For the first time, the ACCC will assess advertising across websites, emails and social media, reflecting the growing number of channels retailers use to reach shoppers.

The sweep will also track how promotional tactics have changed, including emerging practices, and whether compliance with the Australian Consumer Law has improved over the past three years. ACCC deputy chair Catriona Lowe said shoppers often hold off on major purchases until the Black Friday and Cyber Monday period, expecting genuine discounts.

“Consumers should be able to trust that the advertised savings and discount prices are genuine, but we know some businesses use tactics to mislead consumers into thinking they are getting a bargain even when they are not,” she said. Lowe warned that retailers misrepresenting the size, scope or duration of their sales risk enforcement action, and that fine print disclaimers or exclusions should not be used to qualify a promotion’s headline message.

The regulator noted that retailers must ensure their sales and discount claims are accurate, clear and unlikely to mislead, and urged them to review its guidance on false or misleading claims when preparing promotions. The 2024 and 2025 sweeps uncovered concerning sales advertising practices across Australian retail.

Michael Hill, My House and Hairhouse Warehouse Online paid penalties in June 2025, while digiDirect, James Lane and Vuly paid penalties in September 2026, for allegedly making false and misleading representations about their Black Friday sales. The ACCC also flagged the risk of fake online shopfronts during the sales period, noting that 58.7 per cent of Scamwatch reports involving a financial loss in the first nine months of 2026 related to buying and selling scams.