Remember when Black Friday was just, well… a Friday?
These days Black Friday stretches over a week, or in some cases, a fortnight! But for SMEs and Independents, is slashing your prices and pouring more money into your advertising budget really worth it? Well, we’ll let you be the judge…
Firstly, when It comes to selling on Black Friday, 45% of sales in 2018 were made by laptop or desktop, 26% in store and 24% on mobile. Positive! The maybe not-so-positive statistic? Sales from Social Media made up only 1% of purchases. So, maybe give those Facebook ads a rest for the day?
One in six people plan to definitely buy something on Black Friday, and in 2018, only 30% of shoppers bought from a retailer they’d not used before. So, if you’re hoping to find some new customers this Black Friday, you might be out of luck. However, it might be worth sending out an exclusive discount to past customers using Email Marketing. These are the customers that have shown support for your business in the past, so let them know they’re appreciated.
Competing with the big players is always tricky. Amazon held 26% of the Black Friday market share last year, and the majority of Black Friday website traffic in the UK was directed to popular Supermarket chains offering cut price Christmas booze. Gulp! Not on Amazon? Not selling cheap spirits for the festive season? Then don’t let your advertising budget become the ghost of Christmas past.
Think about your target audience. Statistics show that Black Friday deals are most popular with an 18 to 35-year-old age group, and that consumers over the age of 55 have no interest in Black Friday at all, avoiding the event entirely! Further to this, Men spent around £50 more than Women in both 2017 and 2018, and over three quarters of under 25s were only planning to buy something for themselves. Bah humbug! The Millennial market might make you millions, but Mums, mince pies and mittens? Maybe not so much!
Consumers living in Wales and East England spent the least amount of money than any other area in the UK – and a whopping £200 less than consumers in London. The bad news for local business is that footfall fell by 6% on Black Friday in 2018, and studies show that consumers only visit shops to do research into their purchase, before finding the cheapest deal online.
All this being said – Last year, 67% of Black Friday discounts offered were launched between the Monday and Thursday leading up to Black Friday. So, if you are thinking of running a Black Friday campaign, why are you still reading this blog post? Quick! Your competitors are getting the head start on you! Go, go, go!
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