Customer expectations for Black Friday are evolving and brands are beginning to change their approach to what was historically one of the busiest in-store shopping days of the year.
When outdoor outfitter REI announced recently they would not only keep their doors closed on Thanksgiving Day, but on Black Friday, too, it made news in just about every major outlet around the country and a long list of other big retailers took notice.
With total spending measured at more than $50 billion for the day in 2014, Black Friday as a shopping day isn’t going away any time soon. But a significant number of customers have been changing their preferred deal-hunting day to late on the Thanksgiving Day holiday itself, presumably to avoid the Black Friday crowds.
In addition, online sales records are continuing to be set year after year over the full holiday weekend and that sound you hear is opportunity knocking on the email marketing door.
The statement from REI president and CEO Jerry Stritzke noted in part that, “Black Friday is the perfect time to remind ourselves of the essential truth that life is richer, more connected and complete when you choose to spend it outside. We’re closing our doors, paying our employees to get out there, and inviting America to OptOutside with us …”
Black Friday sales have been trending downward over the past several years. Just more than 55 percent of shoppers were in stores or online over the 2014 Thanksgiving weekend according to the National Retail Foundation (NRF). That’s down from almost 59 percent a year earlier. Total spending was down, also, to $50.9 billion in 2014 compared to $57.4 billion in 2013. It seems to be evolving away from individual sales days to a full weekend sales cycle, which further favors digital and email efforts.
The in-store trend is predicted to continue in 2015 and brands like REI are banking on a changing public perception of the season. They believe that a significant number of their customers value holiday time with their families over getting great deals in the early hours of the morning.
With online sales over Thanksgiving and Black Friday setting records at $1.33 billion and $2.4 billion, respectively, according to Adobe, there is a huge opportunity to reach customers digitally over the full course of these days. More and more consumers, it seems, are opting out of the early morning crowds at physical stores in favor of a comfortable seat in front of their digital devices and email marketing managers must pay attention to take advantage.
Need help getting ready for Black Friday and Cyber Monday? Check out our Infographic.