We lift the lid on shoppers’ Black Friday sale secrets
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Ahead of the biggest 24-hour sale of the year- our exclusive survey reveals the online sales drivers that push purchases over the busiest shopping period in the calendar**
After a tough October, which registered the slowest growth in online sales since 2012, we’re hoping Black Friday week will mark the start of a successful ‘golden quarter’ for retailers.
Many retailers have already kicked off their Black Friday promotions, and a recent study we conducted revealed why.
It may seem counter-intuitive as we approach the biggest 24-hour sale of the year – but our research revealed that stretching Black Friday sales over a week could significantly encourage customer participation.
Our survey revealed that 43% of shoppers said they will spend more online if discounts were spread out over a week. When young people aged between 18 and 24 were asked, this figure rose to a whopping 60%.
There are obvious benefits to this approach for retailers; enabling them to streamline processes and reduce pressure across all elements of their operations, from their websites, to warehousing, to logistics.
Another interesting trend that our research unearthed was the growing customer appetite for buying fashion, health, and beauty products online during this period. These key product sectors are overtaking popular electricals as sought-after sales items - with customers increasingly using the traditionally tech-led Black Friday sales to stock up on key purchases across these lifestyle lines.
This growth across cosmetic, style and health led purchases, reflect an ongoing consumer focus on lifestyle products. It also links to the fact that we’re seeing an increased interest in Black Friday offers from female shoppers keen to pick up a bargain.
Our survey showed that women registered significantly higher interest in online Black Friday promotions than men, with 45% saying that they would be likely to take part in the sales, compared to 38% of men.
How vendors choose to approach Black Friday can be the difference between boom and bust. It’s fascinating to see the different strategies and approaches being employed by the nation’s most creative, ambitious brands to capitalise on this key moment in the retail calendar.
We’re looking forward to an invigorating sales season, which delivers a boost to retailers, great bargains to shoppers and paves the way for a very Merry Christmas in households across the UK.
*Source: Yodel’s Have Your Say customer survey, 4707 responses, November 2017