Everyone is familiar with Black Friday; we’ve all heard the stories of people camping out on Thanksgiving night to get the best deals of the season. Recently, however, there has been a shift in how Americans partake in Black Friday deals. Instead of stores solely offering deals on the last Friday of the month, they share coupons throughout Thanksgiving weekend. Some stores have even opted to partake in “Black November.”
This year, Cyber Monday has become the largest day for e-commerce sales; consumers spent about $3.4 billion. Cyber Monday has edged out Black Friday sales of $3.34 billion. What does this all mean for retailers and marketers? The results of Black Friday and Cyber Monday are officially in and we have some takeaways from that data.
- Decrease in social conversation. For the past four years, there has been a significant decrease of 72% in social media conversation surrounding Black Friday. The same decrease is being seen in social conversations about Cyber Monday, but it is not as drastic. Perhaps, shoppers are more interested in consuming social media posts about Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals than actually participating in the conversation.
- Small Business Saturday brings joy to social media users. Although the conversation surrounding Black Friday hit a negative note, Small Business Saturday brings joy to social media. Years of hearing the same stories of people fighting over products have left consumers feeling upset. The introduction of supporting local businesses through Small Business Saturday has lightened up the mood. Retail marketers should consider working with small businesses to increase the joy for its brand supporters.
- Black Friday might turn cyber. The past few years have shown an increase in online Black Friday sales as opposed to shopping in-store. Predictions have shown that by 2020 more than half of the sales made on Black Friday will be conducted online. As a comparison point, 25% of the sales made on Black Friday in 2010 were online.
Are you curious about retail marketing trends? Kraus Marketing has worked on creating digital marketing campaigns for a variety of multi-point retailers. Please contact us today to learn how we can help you.