©Ipopba via Canva.com
Has Black Friday Become Even Less Relevant Post-Pandemic?
With shopping deals arriving earlier and earlier each year, Black Friday appears to have lost further buzz in 2023.
Sensormatic Solutions has predicted that Black Friday, which has traditionally marked the beginning of the holiday shopping season, will continue to be the busiest shopping day of the season, followed in the top five by Super Saturday (Dec. 23), the third Saturday in December (Dec. 16), the Friday before Christmas (Dec. 22), and the Saturday after Black Friday (Nov. 25).
However, PwC’s holiday survey found that just 19% of shoppers were planning to shop on Black Friday, with 27% planning to shop in early November and 16% planning to shop between Cyber Monday and Christmas in anticipation of last-minute deals.
NRF’s 2023 holiday shopping outlook notes that a record 196.7 million consumers shopped over the five-day Thanksgiving weekend — extending from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday — in 2022. Last year, the daily volume of shopping-related searches containing “deals” grew over 2,300% during the week of Black Friday and Cyber Monday compared with September, showing shoppers hunting for deals around the days.
However, the NRF noted that consumers are increasingly preferring to spread their holiday shopping over the entire season. Retailers have adapted with “Black Friday” deals arriving in stores and online in October.
Since the pandemic, the shift to start introducing deals earlier was accelerated by Amazon’s launch of a Prime Early Access Sale in mid-October 2022 that showcased a wide range of holiday deals, followed this year by the Prime Big Deal Days event on Oct. 10 and 11.
Additionally, many retailers have decided to no longer open on Thanksgiving to give store associates a break. This has eliminated many of the in-store doorbuster events that arrive on Thanksgiving afternoon or evening to add excitement — and media coverage — around Black Friday.
A recent report from Coveo, titled, “Black Friday to Cyber Week Evolution: What Are the Winning Strategies, Now?” based on interviews with 92 retailers, found that most retailers surveyed still rely on the Black Friday/Cyber Week peak for driving holiday revenues. However, better-performing retailers were found to be increasingly focused on delivering relevant and personalized offers to customers in order to strategically drive inventory sell-through throughout the holiday season.
“It’s clear from our research that industry-wide events are here for the foreseeable future — but no longer as mass marketing, ‘one-size-fits-all’ events,” said Brian Kilcourse, managing partner at RSR Research, which conducted Coveo’s survey. “Gone are the days when you get people in the door with a sale on one item. It’s now all about personalized offers and deals.”
Discussion Questions
Has Black Friday and the overall five-day Thanksgiving weekend lost further relevance since the pandemic arrived? How has the role of Black Friday and the overall weekend evolved in driving holiday purchases?
Poll
Loading …BrainTrust
Jeff Sward
Founding Partner, Merchandising Metrics
Cathy Hotka
Principal, Cathy Hotka & Associates
The concept of Black Friday has not lost relevance, however, the day and surrounding period has become elongated by early and later discounting. This means that footfall and spend during the core weekend are more muted than they used to be. This isn’t just a post-pandemic thing, this was happening before the pandemic – including when retailers started opening on Thanksgiving and putting deals online during Thanksgiving Day. Of course, it has now been exacerbated by Amazon and other retailer’s early deal days in October.
I’d argue that “Black Friday” has increased in relevance, not decreased. The specific day may have lost a little pop, but it’s still the biggest day of the season. And “Black Friday” as a brand is relevant enough that it can be used in October to signal that start of holiday promotions, and customers know exactly what is being signaled. Few brand promises are that crystal clear. Thankfully the insanity of malls opening Thursday evening after dinner is behind us. And “Doorbusters!” seem to be less important than in prior years.
Having said that, I’d love to see Black Friday lose some relevance. Black Friday became gasoline on the race-to-the-bottom bonfire. Who could open earlier? Who could offer the craziest discounts? It all became margin eroding madness. The Thanksgiving weekend will remain important for a long, long time. And pulling promotions into October is here to stay. But as retailers focus on profitability, I can only hope that some of the madness evaporates. The article’s comments on personalization offer some hope.
‘Black Friday’ has become a generic term for big sales. It’s no longer a one-day event, but an entire season, which suits shoppers because more and more they shop earlier / throughout the year for holiday gifts.
Black Friday as a huge one-day event (practically a national holiday) lost its punch long before the pandemic. The spreading out of the promotional calendar (including doorbusters available long before today) and the ease of online shopping are the two big issues that won’t change anytime soon.
I’ll be the contrarian. I don’t understand Black Friday at all. Why wait in line at 6:00 a.m. to purchase an item that’s readily available online? And don’t get me started on “Cyber Monday.”
To cover Black Friday in today’s market you need a shotgun not a rifle. It is no longer a single day but now a multi day concept which has resulted in natural dilution in its shopping relevance. While once unique, Black Friday, is now simply a catchall phrase for sale or discount.
I don’t believe Black Friday has lost relevance so much as the idea of a formerly controlled sale by fewer retailers and brands, and on a narrowly defined day. But the products, types of deals and days/timing of what constitutes Black Friday has indeed evolved.
I am excited about the direction toward personalization in being able to deliver a new era of meaningful savings for people who really want it and are looking for it. This is what will drive sales in the future. If customer-centricity is truly part of their strategy, then this is the direction we should be going in anyway. The days of everyone running toward the same 50 inch flat screen tv in a crowded store or website are gone for the better.
Black Friday is really two things. First, it’s the sale… the opportunity to promote, advertise, market, create excitement, and get people into a buying mood. Second, it’s an official announcement that the holidays are approaching. Retailers are not only selling to customers who are buying for themselves but also for family members, friends, and work colleagues. This is the “official” beginning of the holiday season, even if some retailers started stocking and promoting holiday merchandise three months ago.
Black Friday as an “attention getter” or a device for highlighting savings, special offers or simply to add “relevance” to holiday or as the case may be (July) savings is worn out. Please drop this nomenclature from the advertising lexicon. Written by an advertising major from a leading university! This weekend I saw an auto manufacturer tv spot during an NFL game that promised “black Friday savings through December 1st”. Black Friday is an accounting or balance sheet reference that has clearly become pervasive and irrelevant. Ad agency Creative Directors, Copywriters and their CMO client need to do better, get truly creative and rely less on worn out tags and instead develop meaningful brand relevant reasons to buy.
In my opinion, the significance of “Black Friday” and the extended “Thanksgiving” weekend has shifted in the post-pandemic landscape. Black Friday remains a bustling shopping day, but its prominence may have faded as retailers increasingly launch deals earlier in the season. The trend of spreading holiday shopping across the entire season is growing, with fewer consumers specifically targeting Black Friday for shopping. This shift is evident in the strategies of major retailers like Amazon which initiates early sales events in October. The decision by many retailers to forego “Thanksgiving Day” openings further contributes to this evolving dynamic.
While Black Friday remains a key shopping day, its role in driving holiday purchases has transformed. The focus has shifted from a concentrated peak to a more extended and personalized approach, reflecting the fact that retailers need new strategies for changing preferences in the retail landscape.
In the post-pandemic era, Black Friday’s significance has undeniably evolved into an extended period of discounting, with a notable shift to online channels. Despite initial predictions of diminished relevance, the latest holiday shopping data revealed a very successful turnout, with 200.4 million consumers actively engaging over the extended holiday weekend. Black Friday generated $9.8 billion in US online sales, up 7.5% from the previous year, emphasizing the need for personalized deals and strategic product offerings in catering to today’s deal-oriented shoppers. As we navigate these shifts, retailers’ focus should remain on aligning product strategies with the changing dynamics of consumer behavior and the extended promotional timeline.