Everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask ☺
Hi Heather,
As Australians are increasingly embracing Black Friday sales, we wanted to help by explaining the concept, so that:
- you can be prepared for if / when your business starts participating
- you can understand how your business might be impacted.
When does it fall?
Black Friday is an informal name given to the day after the American Thanksgiving day; the day that typically involves families getting together, and celebrating everything they can be grateful for. This year, Black Friday falls on the 24th November.
Like any big date in the calendar, over time businesses will see an opportunity and start promoting their sales well ahead of Black Friday; think "early Boxing Day Sales".
We have already started seeing TV advertisements in Australia for Black Friday sales, as well as email promotions leading up to the big event.
What happens on Black Friday?
Many American States have a public holiday on the day after Thanksgiving.
Retailers take this opportunity to run amazing sales on hot products to kick off the Christmas shopping season. It's likely the busiest shopping day of the year in America. That's why it's called "black", because it's when businesses are trading in the black (rather than in the red).
So even though it is a public holiday in many states, the retailers will stay open in order to run their sale events. Lots of people will go in-person to the sales, just to be involved in the madness for a day out with their friends, even though they might be of an age more likely to shop online.
It's American, so why should I care?
With more and more Australians buying products online, including from American companies which may run significant Black Friday Sales, Australian retailers will need to at least anticipate stronger competition around this time.
Australians who are making a purchase of a luxury item, especially one that originates in the USA, are more likely to consider purchasing from the USA if they can get a great price. Obviously, that's as long as they aren't in a hurry to get their item! Christmas is still far enough away, so that a shopper should still get delivery by then, if they are buying a present.
Not only that, but I'm sure you have noticed Australian businesses in the last few years have also started advertising Black Friday sales of their own. So competition will also be from local stores.
What are shoppers expecting?
Amazing deals! Items being marked down by anywhere from 30-90%. Often products will be bundled.
Sales might be available for members only: a great way to get new members to your loyalty program or marketing database!
What about Cyber Monday?
Not to be out-done by Black Friday, which is dominated by bricks-and-mortar retailers, the name 'Cyber Monday' was coined in America by businesses wanting to encourage customers to shop online instead. This term started in 2005. It of course, falls on the Monday after Thanksgiving.
We are also already seeing emails referring to Cyber Monday sales.
Businesses in many countries around the world participate in Cyber Monday, sometimes calling it different names. For example, in 2012 here in Australia, retailers got on board with promoting "Click Frenzy" on the same Monday. Many Australian websites crashed that day due to the massive spike in traffic! Cyber Monday style events are shown to generate large increases in sales.
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