Black Friday is coming and so are the customers!
It has traditionally been the American consumers and retailers favourite day of the shopping calendar. Black Friday is the official kick-off date to the American Christmas shopping season falling on the first Friday after the Thanksgiving holiday (27th of November).
So what is Black Friday? Well, the Black Friday sales are pretty much the American equivalent of Australia’s Boxing Day sales but on a much bigger scale due to the size of their population. Black Friday in America is retail chaos, websites crash and overflowing shopping trolleys are used as weapons. The fight for the consumer dollar is fierce and the retailers will do anything to secure their share of the shopping spree with stores opening from midnight to trade.
So why do we care about Black Friday in Australia? Well, thanks to the world wide web, experiences are shared globally, especially when there is a bargain to be had. The clincher here is that Australian consumers are welcomed with open arms into the virtual online doors of mega shopping havens such as Macy’s and Saks Fifth Avenue. American retailers are shipping to Australia. Yes, Black Friday is reaching out it’s tentacles of temptation across the ocean and straight to our Ozzie doorsteps.
In the past Australian consumers, as a trend have gravitated more towards the UK retailers which is perhaps due to the familiarity with so many Australians working and living in the UK. However, with the big American chains now dangling the opportunity to grab an international designer bargain in front of our Australian credit cards, this Friday the 28th is a day which will be followed with great interest by retailers from around the world.
Black Friday is a bit like ‘Halloween’ in that some people will embrace it while others will deliberately ignore the occasion as another American marketing gimmick. However, unlike Halloween, Black Friday is putting Australian retailers in direct competition with some of the biggest players in American retail. As with any marketing strategy, the best strategy is to be proactive and anticipate what your existing and new customers could possibly be looking for and if it’s a ‘Black Friday Bargain’ it may be worth while having a few extra incentives to keep the consumer dollars close to home.
Google Analytics released information from last years Black Friday trading showing a whopping 114% increase in online transactions from its millions of Google Analytics accounts. Followed by ‘Small Business Saturday’ and ‘Cyber Monday’ this could be one long weekend sale your business does not want to miss.
If you would like any information or advice on how to set up a Google Adwords or a sales campaign leading up to Christmas, give us a call today.
