Black Friday: Helping or hurting retailers?
After finishing our turkey dinners for Thanksgiving, boys, girls, moms, dads, grandparents and even some pets braved the cold winter evening to line up for Black Friday sales. Most retailers opened their doors between 8pm and 12am on Thursday evening and Friday morning. A few days prior when preparing for what stores we should hit first, a discussion arose about the worth of getting up early or staying up all night shopping for the “greatest holiday deals”. Does the concept of Black Friday help or hurt retailers?
Marketing Black Friday and Cyber Monday as the best deals of all time might be a heavy exaggeration. There are plenty of other times within the year, coupon combinations, or other ways to manipulate retailers to get a good deal on products. The companies that reap the benefits of Black Friday are larger retailers. They can provide significant markdowns on their items after years of Black Friday experience it is apparent what signage verbiage and colors attract the most consumers. This day isn’t planned on short notice, companies prepare and analyze what items they can afford to discount, what amounts they can give, and what kind of crowds they will see year after year. Not only this, they are able to clear out unpopular or out of season items by reeling in customers with bright red “CLEARANCE” signs along with display new seasonal items for the holiday season.
It is obvious that consumers will hit large retailers like Target, Best Buy, Wal-Mart and Kohls for early bird specials on electronics, home, and clothing items but what about the smaller retailers? Having worked at a small Southern California based women’s clothing retailer I was appalled at the minimal sale we were offering as our first Black Friday special. Not only did we have to remain open all night long, we only offered discounts on our already unpopular sale items. This hardly caught the attention of mall goers when we opened at 12am. Small retailers aren’t able to provide 40, 50 or 75% off all items in store, not only is this unrealistic but in the end it would cost the company money. It was after I realized that my store couldn’t be compared against stores like Macy’s or H&M that I started to think of positive ways that small retailers could actually benefit from Black Friday.
- Black Friday brings the consumers. (With enticing signage and properly merchandised window displays, you can attract an entirely new audience.)
- Use of appropriate discount offers. (This not only gets customers excited about the current purchase but also incentivizes them to come back again.)
- Spend ____ amount and get a coupon for _____ percent off your next visit in December
- Spend ____ amount and get ____ dollars off your next visit in December
- _____ percent coupon for any purchase made today to redeem in December.
- Scratch card for a percentage off your next visit with any purchase made today.
- Creates new relationships. (Having a good experience during the hectic Black Friday shopping can bring customers back into your store.)
While small retailers might feel forced into providing Black Friday deals it is in the stores best interest to instead look at this as a marketing opportunity. Knowing how to select markdowns to reduce unwanted stock along with creating an incentive to visit the store again can bring in new consumers instead of marking down the entire store and losing money. The competition with Cyber Monday is giving retailers an entirely new way of approaching Black Friday. For those who have websites and brick and mortar stores this means incentives to customers on both ends to choose their stores as well as their website. All I can say is you better bring the value, and that doesn’t mean marking down old sweaters.