In the US, Black Friday, always the Friday after Thanksgiving, is huge for retailers. It goes from the Friday through the weekend. Then there is Cyber Monday, the Monday right after.
The US Black Friday ‘season’ is now entrenched in the UK. But it is yet to gain traction here. We do have an online sale but it’s not big.
I am interested in Black Friday as it is massive in the UK, a place to where the season migrated.
The idea of boosting seasonal sales ahead of when you might traditionally discount for a season is interesting. It is something we have tried a couple of times this year, discounting for one day only quite early in the season. The goal was to gain a buzz, and it did. This worked for a specific location where more than a third of shoppers are not regular, not local. I think that is the key.
Retail today demands thinks be changed up. This is why I think it is important we talk about a different approach to when we use a discount as a promotional mechanism.
We did a one-day Christmas sale early this month. It was a terrific boost. It was not a Black Friday event and I am not proposing this here.
In the UK ten days ago I was surprised at the extent of Black Friday. Here is a gallery of window signs, demonstrating the extent of retailer engagement in the season. I took all these photos in a short period the Saturday and Sunday following Black Friday.
I would be careful doing Black Friday as it may just as quickly fizzle out due to negative consumer sentiment.
My first thought is WTF it’s not Friday the 13th. I suspect that would be the opinion of most customers.
If were going to start appropriating national days from other countries why the USA? Thanksgiving has as much relevance to us as Ukrainian independence day (I think the Ukrainian’s are still waiting for that day).