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Will this be the year REI regrets opting out of Black Friday?

Written by George Anderson

Source: REI

Its own recent history suggests that REI shouldn’t take too much of a business hit closing its stores and giving its workers a paid day off on Black Friday. But will this be the year the outdoor co-op regrets doing the same for its website? Earlier this week, REI announced that it would close all 151 of its stores and not process online orders on Black Friday as part of its third annual #OptOutside campaign. In all, 12,000 workers will be paid to enjoy the day in the great outdoors with family and friends. Research from The NPD Group found that consumers plan to shop for Christmas gifts earlier this year with nearly 30 percent starting over the Thanksgiving weekend. Part of the reason for consumers getting an earlier start is because they plan to do more of their shopping online. Two-thirds of those surveyed by NPD said they plan to do at least some of their shopping online this year. Salesforce has forecast that Black Friday will be the busiest digital shopping day in U.S. history. While not all agree — Adobe, for example, projects Cyber Monday will set a new single day online record with sales reaching $6.6 billion, a 16.5 percent increase over last year — it is clear Black Friday will be one of busiest days of the season for retailers. REI and its CEO Jerry Stritzke have been on a mission since 2015 when the retailer launched its #OptOutside campaign to bring some calm to the commercial frenzy that comes with the start of the holiday shopping season. “Right now, I think people are looking for a moment to take a breath, reground themselves and come together,” said REI CEO Jerry Stritzke, in a statement. “More than 700 organizations and nearly eight million people have joined #OptOutside over the past two years.” This year, REI has introduced a “new experiential search engine” that features images from Instagram posted by #OptOutside participants. The images are “augmented with real-time information about locations and experiences across the country.” Those using the search engine can click on a photo and discover information about a specific trail including directions, its difficulty rating and user reviews.

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