November 27, 2006
BrainTrust Query: Black Friday…store traffic, but at what cost?
By Don Delzell, Partner, Retail Advantage
Although a retail consultant, I’ve held myself above the fray and never actually participated in the Black Friday phenomenon. This year, lured by outrageous discounts on large screen plasma TVs I don’t need, I found myself, along with my sleep deprived significant other, in line at a Best Buy at 4 am — along with about 2,000 of our closest friends, four or five police cars, people selling donuts and increasingly bad attitudes. By 4:30, a young man with insufficient information had passed out all the available “tickets” for the advertised Black Friday specials.
All across America, consumers experienced the same thing. Incredible deals everywhere, and very little product to support them. Is this really enhancing the retail brand? CMOs around the country have trumpeted the return of “service to the consumer.” After experiencing the operational nightmare of Black Friday, I question if this retail event has been thought through to the extent it should be. Fortunately for all, it seemed no one had sufficient supplies of advertised super-deals, so everyone will be lumped together into the same box.
There is no question that it is impossible for retailers to have sufficient inventory to meet demand on loss leaders. In fact, it may even be argued that they don’t want to. The question becomes how to manage the event for the consumer so that the benefit of the loss leader (driving traffic) isn’t outweighed by the negatives of the experience (disappointment, unpleasant shopping conditions).
My significant other, who is neither a power shopper nor a retail consultant, wondered if a lottery would not be a better idea. Retailers should be forthcoming… that there are a limited number of each item… and pass out a limited number of lottery tickets for each. Allow customers to pick up to three lottery items, and then keep the loss leaders off the floor. Avoid the crush, the frenetic attacks on merchandise presentations, and use the loudspeakers to conduct the lotteries.
Discussion Questions: Are Black Friday limited-quantity, super-deal tactics ruining the event for the retail community? Are there more responsible
and yet equally effective tactics for super-deals?
The lottery is only one of many ideas, but one thing’s for certain… Black Friday is out of control, and absolutely demands that retail operators take
responsibility for managing the event, rather than being managed by it. And that was my experience. The event seems to be managing the retailer.
Customers disappointed, fights in the aisles, displays torn apart, employees feeling physically threatened… instead of a party, it’s becoming a nightmare.
The entire retail community should take responsibility for these situations. We created Black Friday. It is now our responsibility to manage it.
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Black Friday is an expectation for shoppers and retailers. Not to participate is retail suicide for the retailers. This is a great way for stores to jump start their “true” holiday season and to move merchandise (in much larger volumes) faster.
The only cost here for both the consumer and the retailer is in not participating. Both expectations feed off of each other, and each requires the participation of the other to be successful. This creates a circle which cannot be broken in this modern retailing model. Frankly, it is a good thing, since it gets the retail picture moving in the right direction by drawing a line in the sand from both a shopping and timing perspective.
We gathered data for a client about shopping patterns and experiences for the Thanksgiving weekend. We are not allowed to share all we discovered, but I can tell you this:
Thirty-six percent of all consumers who shopped in brick-and-mortar stores over the holiday said that special pricing did not affect their normal shopping patterns for the holiday at all (all data is plus or minus 3 points). Eight percent said special pricing changed their shopping patterns significantly. That is not a lot.
Fifty-nine percent of all consumers who shopped in brick-and-mortar stores over the holiday said that their overall shopping experience was “very negative” or “somewhat negative.” This is a number that I believe ought to give every retailer chills.
These two data bundles lead to this conclusion: only a small portion of consumers appear to be lured by the special pricing, and a large portion of consumers say their shopping experience is quite poor. I believe this may be saying: these pricing events are not working and are contributing to retail’s problems.
The Thanksgiving Weekend is composed of three separate events. Each now features early opening specials and each has its own role within the business plan.
Friday is all about the hype. It is for PR as well as IR (Doug is spot on.).
Saturday for some is the last day of the fiscal week on which to make the week.
Sunday is when it gets interesting. Aside from the early opening specials, it is the beginning of line/department sales.
In total, the weekend portends outlet preference for the balance of the shopping season.
But “ruining the event”? Come on. This is all ebb and flow. Wal-Mart got everyone’s attention last year, and now the band wagon is full. As experienced by most: when the going gets tough, shoppers turn pro. Listen to those who do plan and execute their Friday excursions, and you will hear joy, albeit tinged with sleeplessness.
Remember folks, we are now in the retail equivalent of the playoffs. And it is at this time of year we must keep in mind, “Retail ain’t for sissies!”
Current expectations of Black Friday are that each store has limited amounts of the product so you need to go through the ads, find out which products you really want at a certain price and how many are offered at the stores, and plan a strategy for being early in line at the stores offering whatever you want at the best price. It’s a type of lottery game or gambling experience. However, some of the prices offered are so great that consumers put up with it.
The second expectation is that many products are on sale that day so consumers can do a good amount of Christmas shopping on that day for the “best” prices of the season. However, not all stores offer their best prices that day — which is also frustrating to the people who do get out early, stand in line, and brave the crowds. Any stores that offer lower prices later risk creating negative feelings from the consumers who purchased on Black Friday believing that they were getting the “best deal.” Those consumers will have loyalty to that retailer negatively affected.
Another expectation is that is a tradition and marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season. Those stores that offered sales on Wednesday or shopping on Thanksgiving were trying to get a “jump” on the competition, may actually change the expectation of holiday shopping beginning on Friday, or risk creating negative feelings toward those retailers because many consumers are really busy on Wednesday and Thursday and don’t want to do shopping then or miss “good” deals.
Do the customers in line have a bad experience? absolutely. Are most of the products sold out in 20 minutes? You bet. Are the customers running away from these stores because of it? No way!! Does this pull sales forward that might occur later on? Not a chance. People complain every year but they come back because the lure of below cost pricing and the excitement of getting a great deal always overwhelm the bad experiences. Why do people wait out? Because they want electronics and they want a great price, it saves them real money and gets them a highly coveted product that will enhance their life. Do people wait in line for cheap Thanksgiving turkeys? No because they aren’t long-term possessions they are just food. And that doesn’t excite anyone.
I want those 8% of the price driven people in my store because they are going to tell the other 90% about the great values they got and how these products aren’t expensive but are affordable for everyone.
The electronics business is driven by volume. Unit volume is crucial to drive market share gains and manufacturing efficiency and disruptive pricing is one of the ways to drive mass acceptance of products in order to reach those efficiencies. Black Friday promotions are a great way to remind people of how affordable the electronics industry can make goods that seemed unattainable to people just a few years ago. And it helps introduce new product categories to the masses (like GPS systems this year).
All in all, Black Friday is a success every year and a growing phenomenon for the electronics industry. Retailers love the high rings and traffic it brings (you couldn’t throw a stick this year at any retailer without hitting iPod accessories, for example). No one lines up at Home Depot for ladders and toilets, but this year Home Depot had a great price on an LCD TV and they generated lots of interest and traffic.
I firmly believe that Black Friday is one of the most effective messaging vehicles retailers and manufacturers in my industry have to communicate to the world the value and excitement electronics bring and I am certain we will see this opportunity continue to be exploited in the years to come.
While experts decry the downside of limited quantities and how it and other “Black Friday” efforts by retailers impact customer service, consumers seem to love shopping during this special event. During my time at a major outlet mall on Thursday night and Friday morning shoppers were upbeat, excited and having a great time either in line or in stores. The lines were long and the parking lot was packed well into the night. And the mostly young shoppers seemed to enjoy their experience.
On Friday morning between 4:30 and 8 a.m. shoppers were certainly less boisterous. But the lines were long and orderly. Best Buy seemed to do the best job of handling the large crowds. Visiting twenty busy stores during Black Friday I talk with dozens of shoppers who were all enthusiastic about the bargains they got and the overall shopping experience. Yes, aggressive pricing impacts profits and limited quantities may disappoint some shoppers, but this special day is good for retailers and good for consumers. What more could we want for the retail business?
Black Friday makes for great press and is especially important for the large public chains to thump their chests and show Wall Street how well they did. Or at least that’s what they hope to do.
For the most part, I would think that people who stand in line all night to get an outrageously low price know that the odds of getting it aren’t great. You live by the sword, you die by the sword. Well let’s hope no one dies, but you get my drift. I applaud the Gap, P.C. Richards, and others who have tried to make their Black Friday sales a great event without stooping to the limited quantities and knocking people down to get the special. But great press is great press. Regional and independent retailers should just run anti-Black Friday specials and continue to do what they do well, serve the customer in an inviting and enjoyable atmosphere.
Personally I’m more outraged by the non-food stores being open on Thanksgiving Day and the malls opening at midnight. I think it is an insult to the hardworking retail employees and their families. While I’m sure not all employees minded going to work on Thanksgiving Day, I think we’re losing what the holiday means. If we can’t close our stores for a couple days a year and enjoy the holidays, then shame on us. I admire and respect the people who work retail and they deserve an enjoyable day with families and friends without having to go to the store in the middle of the night. I say keep Black Friday on Friday MORNING.
Mingling amongst the unwashed masses as I do, I realize that almost all of the ‘Black Friday’ partakers are fully aware of the limited quantities of advertised below sale products. They are also fully aware that they will probably not be able to purchase those items. I think the thrill is in the chase here… this is an annual Christmas outing for some, plotting strategies, Thanksgiving table conversations, joining with like-minded friends or relatives to beat the odds. In other words, it’s fun and not so bad since most have Black Friday off from work anyway.
I did it once and that was enough. But it does give me some mental baseline product prices and ideas for Christmas shopping. Bet that’s the same as most consumers.
To the best of their ability, retailers have the same responsibility to take care of their customers on “Black Friday” as on any other day of the year; if not more so. The stores who do the best job managing high traffic, speed of checkout and inventory demands on doorbusters end up sending the strongest message about what their customers can expect the other 364 days of the year.
Opening at 5 a.m., then advertising “doorbusters” for the next 7 or 8 hours, and then running out within 30 minutes is just plain bad forecasting, or cynical management, or both.
It seems that many of these “Black Friday” specials are designed to lure the customer in, but consumers are being tricked. Retailers saying “while quantities last” are deceiving the customers. For example, I went in to a retail electronics store to purchase a “Two Day Special” item and of course it was out of stock and they were not offering rainchecks. I went to the same store the next morning and the shelf was filled with the item that just hours before was out of stock. Of course it was no longer on sale.
Every year a group of us girls use the Black Friday shopping day as our annual excuse to get out of the house and have a good time. Most of us realize that we probably aren’t going to get lucky with every special deal we want, but we sure have fun out there-yes, even waiting in the freezing cold for hours for a store to open to save a measly $25-50. Just the week before I waited outside for over 40 hours for the new Playstation 3, a gift my husband and daughter just had to have. I personally don’t agree with a lottery system to manage the small inventory of special deals. I don’t think it’s fair to those consumers who get there first and wait the longest and then they may or may not receive what they were waiting for. I heard there were some stores who used a lottery system for their stock of PS3’s, but how “fair” is that? There were people who waited for days to get one and then there were people who showed up an hour before the store opened to have the same exact chance! I agree with the hype that Black Friday offers us shopaholics, it’s a day of fun, and for those people that can’t just take it as that, then they need to stay home and sleep in.
Perhaps one of the most glaring examples of Black Friday chicanery is that practiced by Sears Holding Corp. Those coupons for $10 off a $50 purchase that had so many people standing in line in the wee hours of the morning have a list of exclusions that make them virtually worthless as far as holiday shopping is concerned. One associate brought out a magnifying glass and went over the fine print.
Once you eliminate everything on the following list, not much appears to be left other than Sears in-house clothing lines, most major appliances (not a big holiday item) and other high profit items that fit in with Mr. Lampert’s higher profit on lower sales model.
The biggest gift goodies these days are electronics (totally excluded) and video games and game systems (also excluded) so if you can’t buy the favorite holiday items, why have a holiday coupon in the first place?
Strict regulation… absolutely; maybe Congressional hearings…or a U.N. Resolution….
Seriously, the nation has survived other fads from Pet Rocks to goldfish swallowing (well, I guess some of the goldfish didn’t survive that one ), and it will get through this silliness; if outright deception or other fraud is being committed, it should be handled through existing laws.
Black Friday…love it or hate it. I have never actually shopped on a Black Friday. Through the years, the term Black Friday, has taken on greater significance and hype for the media and for retailers. The loss of margin associated with the extra discounts, the anger of consumer by finding a lack of sale product and the bad feelings this causes must be weighed against the positives. I have heard reports from retailers that the stores were packed on Friday, breakeven traffic on Saturday and poor traffic on Sunday. Was the hype, extra pay and upset customers worth it? Once upon a time, the Friday after Thanksgiving was viewed as the kick-off of the X-mas shopping season. Today, with the kick-off coming earlier and earlier, Black Friday seems to be, for some consumers, a badge of honor and an attempt to get the few items that are available for the super-sale. I wonder how many retailers, after the entire weekend, actually ended up in the black. Or is Black Friday about retailers keeping up with the Jones’s?
Being curious about the Black Friday phenomenon, I decided to participate for the first time this year by visiting a few big box retailers at 5:30 a.m. What I found was a heavy dose of “What did I get myself into????”
There are certainly a different set of rules for the hours before noon as well as different customer expectations. The customers I observed are not there for a pleasant shopping experience, they are there to grab and go. In many cases friendliness and tact were left at home.
For retailers offering rock bottom deals with limited quantities, the shopping experience they offer will be unpleasant for their customers most of the time. Large crowds of tired people stuffed down aisles, waiting in lines for products that might not be available does not make for a nice experience. With that said, the customers are aware of this and expect it. That is why they get in line at 2 a.m. and do it year after year. I’ve heard the saying, “Retail is a different animal” and those seven hours are a gnarly three headed beast.
Do you suppose that if there were no obscene specials that the stores would have to close on ‘Black Friday’ due to lack of customers? No, that supposition is just silly. Consumers shop in mass on ‘Black Friday’ because the majority (however slight) have the day off and it seems like the thing to do as a result of the upcoming holiday.
Based on Race’s finding regarding the negative experiences, one might suppose that the increasingly ridiculous tactics of recent years are simply neither working nor satisfying. It also suggests that the allure of the ridiculous price is less effective than the hype that surrounds it.
So what’s the answer? Is it possible that retailers in general have simply lost the art and skill of retailing itself? What is it?
Some interesting observations come to mind from the current year. Thinking about the uproar over the change of name from Marshall Field’s to Macy’s might be a perfect example that consumers (at least some) are longing for something different — an experience. Could that be possible? Could it be all that’s left is the frenzy which fills the void and yet produces little result?
Certainly, reports are coming in with the results over the weekend. Early surveys and results are coming in at anywhere from 6-16% sales increases. (That of course is depending on who paid for the survey.) But in fact it might be this — the results, while up, may have not been impacted as much by the frenzy but more impacted by other factors.
My question is, would an incredibly different experience offered by a retailer in the early morning hours on Friday have produced better results? Certainly Wal-Mart would have been forced to offer a radio controlled Silverado at half price, but did others need to do the same? (Incidentally, I restrained myself from diving into the crowd for the toy truck – I was told I am too old for toys – imagine that!). But, what if a retailer really did something innovative on Black Friday? And I don’t mean backing up your opening from 5:00 a.m. to midnight. I mean something really different. I am thinking that a retailer who tried that might have amazing results and get enhanced loyalty in the days going forward to the big day. Okay, maybe it’s wishful thinking, but I do have a hunch that it just might work. It would take guts, but it just might work.
I also admit to not having participated in the Black Friday frenzy, so I am not sure of the perspective that I hold to be accurate. There seems to be a particular type of person that the concept of Black Friday brings a certain joy or mission to their lives. When I read about an outlet mall in my area opening at midnight Thursday, and the parking lot being full (5,000+ spaces) at 12:30 am, then I am not sure the retail community needs to, or can manage that environment.
The “rules of customer satisfaction” seem to be somewhat different for this 24 hour period or in most cases a 4-6 hour “hot special,” “limited time” sale that a lot more of us just will not get. And that may not be a bad thing. Black Friday seems to be an event, not simply a shopping experience.
Same goes for the Cyber Monday issue. With all of the households having computers, why is it that, once they get to work, today is the time to log in and shop on their employer’s time? Must have rested up Saturday and Sunday from sleep deprivation and long lines from Friday? Not sure.
In my lifetime I think I may have participated in a Black Friday event one time. My recollection was of an unpleasant experience which I have not yet repeated.
We all know from the food business that there are a large number of hard-core cherry pickers in this country, many of whom are unprofitable for the retailer but we still value the volume they contribute to the total. I wonder if anyone knows the average number of SKUs these folks purchase on Black Friday. I’d be willing to venture they divide and conquer their shopping lists among family members and conduct organized “hit and run” operations to realize all the values they are seeking across a group of retailers.
I also think many shoppers stay away from Black Friday to avoid these hard core shoppers and the images we see on the news of these types of events. I do agree that Black Friday has become an important PR event for the retailers in the U.S.
Many shoppers read the fliers with the hot prices, and even though they don’t go to the 4 a.m. events, they associate the advertising retailer with the low prices. So I suspect these will continue as misguided “PR events,” despite the customers who, justifiably, feel ripped off and angry. Big picture, these shoppers are in the minority, and I expect that is factored into the decision on how to handle these things. There is already a little self-policing, with retailers saying in their ads that there are “30 per store” or whatever on an item. That feeds the flames, even though your chances may be on par with winning the lottery. Over time, I expect this will sort itself out, as more 4 a.m. shoppers have bad experiences and talk about it so that “buzz” gets around, and retailers get a better grasp of the damage they are doing to themselves. But my gut instinct is that this will be a slow process.
I agree with the sentiments of this article. Every marketer needs to manage customer expectations. Black Friday has developed a new set of customer expectations which certainly appear to be counter to “a kinder, gentler retail experience.” Unfortunately, expectations once created are difficult to change. The best retailers can hope for is to better manage this difficult day.
The other negative is that deep discounts seem to shift consumer purchases forward, not necessarily increase overall seasonal sales and profits (we shall see). As the saying goes, “Anyone can give away products; it takes brains to sell them.”
P.C. Richard, a New York-area appliance & electronics chain, headlined its Thanksgiving ads “No Minimum Quantities,” emphasizing that everything advertised was really available, in-stock, for everyone. Retailers using come-on ads with minimum quantities train the public to expect disappointment. In contrast, The Gap’s promise of 30% off every Friday morning purchase of $50 or more, was honest and simple. Retailers interested in healthy, long-term customer relationships would do well to think about The Gap and P.C. Richard’s approaches, versus the retailers whose prices are below cost with quantities below the demand.
I did not personally venture into the darkness but I had friends who, out of boredom, decided to experience the midnight opening of a local mall. After battling a three mile traffic jam they returned home at 2:00 a.m. without ever leaving the car. The Black Friday experience defines the difference between shopping and buying. If retailers had a more synchronized integrated marketing campaign in place buyers could purchase the targeted deals online allowing retailers to design more in-store experiences conducive to the art of shopping. Perhaps they’d increase their bottom line while enhancing their brand relationship with their customers.
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Black Friday is an expectation for shoppers and retailers. Not to participate is retail suicide for the retailers. This is a great way for stores to jump start their “true” holiday season and to move merchandise (in much larger volumes) faster.
The only cost here for both the consumer and the retailer is in not participating. Both expectations feed off of each other, and each requires the participation of the other to be successful. This creates a circle which cannot be broken in this modern retailing model. Frankly, it is a good thing, since it gets the retail picture moving in the right direction by drawing a line in the sand from both a shopping and timing perspective.
We gathered data for a client about shopping patterns and experiences for the Thanksgiving weekend. We are not allowed to share all we discovered, but I can tell you this:
Thirty-six percent of all consumers who shopped in brick-and-mortar stores over the holiday said that special pricing did not affect their normal shopping patterns for the holiday at all (all data is plus or minus 3 points). Eight percent said special pricing changed their shopping patterns significantly. That is not a lot.
Fifty-nine percent of all consumers who shopped in brick-and-mortar stores over the holiday said that their overall shopping experience was “very negative” or “somewhat negative.” This is a number that I believe ought to give every retailer chills.
These two data bundles lead to this conclusion: only a small portion of consumers appear to be lured by the special pricing, and a large portion of consumers say their shopping experience is quite poor. I believe this may be saying: these pricing events are not working and are contributing to retail’s problems.
The Thanksgiving Weekend is composed of three separate events. Each now features early opening specials and each has its own role within the business plan.
Friday is all about the hype. It is for PR as well as IR (Doug is spot on.).
Saturday for some is the last day of the fiscal week on which to make the week.
Sunday is when it gets interesting. Aside from the early opening specials, it is the beginning of line/department sales.
In total, the weekend portends outlet preference for the balance of the shopping season.
But “ruining the event”? Come on. This is all ebb and flow. Wal-Mart got everyone’s attention last year, and now the band wagon is full. As experienced by most: when the going gets tough, shoppers turn pro. Listen to those who do plan and execute their Friday excursions, and you will hear joy, albeit tinged with sleeplessness.
Remember folks, we are now in the retail equivalent of the playoffs. And it is at this time of year we must keep in mind, “Retail ain’t for sissies!”
Current expectations of Black Friday are that each store has limited amounts of the product so you need to go through the ads, find out which products you really want at a certain price and how many are offered at the stores, and plan a strategy for being early in line at the stores offering whatever you want at the best price. It’s a type of lottery game or gambling experience. However, some of the prices offered are so great that consumers put up with it.
The second expectation is that many products are on sale that day so consumers can do a good amount of Christmas shopping on that day for the “best” prices of the season. However, not all stores offer their best prices that day — which is also frustrating to the people who do get out early, stand in line, and brave the crowds. Any stores that offer lower prices later risk creating negative feelings from the consumers who purchased on Black Friday believing that they were getting the “best deal.” Those consumers will have loyalty to that retailer negatively affected.
Another expectation is that is a tradition and marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season. Those stores that offered sales on Wednesday or shopping on Thanksgiving were trying to get a “jump” on the competition, may actually change the expectation of holiday shopping beginning on Friday, or risk creating negative feelings toward those retailers because many consumers are really busy on Wednesday and Thursday and don’t want to do shopping then or miss “good” deals.
Do the customers in line have a bad experience? absolutely. Are most of the products sold out in 20 minutes? You bet. Are the customers running away from these stores because of it? No way!! Does this pull sales forward that might occur later on? Not a chance. People complain every year but they come back because the lure of below cost pricing and the excitement of getting a great deal always overwhelm the bad experiences. Why do people wait out? Because they want electronics and they want a great price, it saves them real money and gets them a highly coveted product that will enhance their life. Do people wait in line for cheap Thanksgiving turkeys? No because they aren’t long-term possessions they are just food. And that doesn’t excite anyone.
I want those 8% of the price driven people in my store because they are going to tell the other 90% about the great values they got and how these products aren’t expensive but are affordable for everyone.
The electronics business is driven by volume. Unit volume is crucial to drive market share gains and manufacturing efficiency and disruptive pricing is one of the ways to drive mass acceptance of products in order to reach those efficiencies. Black Friday promotions are a great way to remind people of how affordable the electronics industry can make goods that seemed unattainable to people just a few years ago. And it helps introduce new product categories to the masses (like GPS systems this year).
All in all, Black Friday is a success every year and a growing phenomenon for the electronics industry. Retailers love the high rings and traffic it brings (you couldn’t throw a stick this year at any retailer without hitting iPod accessories, for example). No one lines up at Home Depot for ladders and toilets, but this year Home Depot had a great price on an LCD TV and they generated lots of interest and traffic.
I firmly believe that Black Friday is one of the most effective messaging vehicles retailers and manufacturers in my industry have to communicate to the world the value and excitement electronics bring and I am certain we will see this opportunity continue to be exploited in the years to come.
While experts decry the downside of limited quantities and how it and other “Black Friday” efforts by retailers impact customer service, consumers seem to love shopping during this special event. During my time at a major outlet mall on Thursday night and Friday morning shoppers were upbeat, excited and having a great time either in line or in stores. The lines were long and the parking lot was packed well into the night. And the mostly young shoppers seemed to enjoy their experience.
On Friday morning between 4:30 and 8 a.m. shoppers were certainly less boisterous. But the lines were long and orderly. Best Buy seemed to do the best job of handling the large crowds. Visiting twenty busy stores during Black Friday I talk with dozens of shoppers who were all enthusiastic about the bargains they got and the overall shopping experience. Yes, aggressive pricing impacts profits and limited quantities may disappoint some shoppers, but this special day is good for retailers and good for consumers. What more could we want for the retail business?
Black Friday makes for great press and is especially important for the large public chains to thump their chests and show Wall Street how well they did. Or at least that’s what they hope to do.
For the most part, I would think that people who stand in line all night to get an outrageously low price know that the odds of getting it aren’t great. You live by the sword, you die by the sword. Well let’s hope no one dies, but you get my drift. I applaud the Gap, P.C. Richards, and others who have tried to make their Black Friday sales a great event without stooping to the limited quantities and knocking people down to get the special. But great press is great press. Regional and independent retailers should just run anti-Black Friday specials and continue to do what they do well, serve the customer in an inviting and enjoyable atmosphere.
Personally I’m more outraged by the non-food stores being open on Thanksgiving Day and the malls opening at midnight. I think it is an insult to the hardworking retail employees and their families. While I’m sure not all employees minded going to work on Thanksgiving Day, I think we’re losing what the holiday means. If we can’t close our stores for a couple days a year and enjoy the holidays, then shame on us. I admire and respect the people who work retail and they deserve an enjoyable day with families and friends without having to go to the store in the middle of the night. I say keep Black Friday on Friday MORNING.
Mingling amongst the unwashed masses as I do, I realize that almost all of the ‘Black Friday’ partakers are fully aware of the limited quantities of advertised below sale products. They are also fully aware that they will probably not be able to purchase those items. I think the thrill is in the chase here… this is an annual Christmas outing for some, plotting strategies, Thanksgiving table conversations, joining with like-minded friends or relatives to beat the odds. In other words, it’s fun and not so bad since most have Black Friday off from work anyway.
I did it once and that was enough. But it does give me some mental baseline product prices and ideas for Christmas shopping. Bet that’s the same as most consumers.
To the best of their ability, retailers have the same responsibility to take care of their customers on “Black Friday” as on any other day of the year; if not more so. The stores who do the best job managing high traffic, speed of checkout and inventory demands on doorbusters end up sending the strongest message about what their customers can expect the other 364 days of the year.
Opening at 5 a.m., then advertising “doorbusters” for the next 7 or 8 hours, and then running out within 30 minutes is just plain bad forecasting, or cynical management, or both.
It seems that many of these “Black Friday” specials are designed to lure the customer in, but consumers are being tricked. Retailers saying “while quantities last” are deceiving the customers. For example, I went in to a retail electronics store to purchase a “Two Day Special” item and of course it was out of stock and they were not offering rainchecks. I went to the same store the next morning and the shelf was filled with the item that just hours before was out of stock. Of course it was no longer on sale.
Every year a group of us girls use the Black Friday shopping day as our annual excuse to get out of the house and have a good time. Most of us realize that we probably aren’t going to get lucky with every special deal we want, but we sure have fun out there-yes, even waiting in the freezing cold for hours for a store to open to save a measly $25-50. Just the week before I waited outside for over 40 hours for the new Playstation 3, a gift my husband and daughter just had to have. I personally don’t agree with a lottery system to manage the small inventory of special deals. I don’t think it’s fair to those consumers who get there first and wait the longest and then they may or may not receive what they were waiting for. I heard there were some stores who used a lottery system for their stock of PS3’s, but how “fair” is that? There were people who waited for days to get one and then there were people who showed up an hour before the store opened to have the same exact chance! I agree with the hype that Black Friday offers us shopaholics, it’s a day of fun, and for those people that can’t just take it as that, then they need to stay home and sleep in.
Perhaps one of the most glaring examples of Black Friday chicanery is that practiced by Sears Holding Corp. Those coupons for $10 off a $50 purchase that had so many people standing in line in the wee hours of the morning have a list of exclusions that make them virtually worthless as far as holiday shopping is concerned. One associate brought out a magnifying glass and went over the fine print.
Once you eliminate everything on the following list, not much appears to be left other than Sears in-house clothing lines, most major appliances (not a big holiday item) and other high profit items that fit in with Mr. Lampert’s higher profit on lower sales model.
The biggest gift goodies these days are electronics (totally excluded) and video games and game systems (also excluded) so if you can’t buy the favorite holiday items, why have a holiday coupon in the first place?
Strict regulation… absolutely; maybe Congressional hearings…or a U.N. Resolution….
Seriously, the nation has survived other fads from Pet Rocks to goldfish swallowing (well, I guess some of the goldfish didn’t survive that one ), and it will get through this silliness; if outright deception or other fraud is being committed, it should be handled through existing laws.
Black Friday…love it or hate it. I have never actually shopped on a Black Friday. Through the years, the term Black Friday, has taken on greater significance and hype for the media and for retailers. The loss of margin associated with the extra discounts, the anger of consumer by finding a lack of sale product and the bad feelings this causes must be weighed against the positives. I have heard reports from retailers that the stores were packed on Friday, breakeven traffic on Saturday and poor traffic on Sunday. Was the hype, extra pay and upset customers worth it? Once upon a time, the Friday after Thanksgiving was viewed as the kick-off of the X-mas shopping season. Today, with the kick-off coming earlier and earlier, Black Friday seems to be, for some consumers, a badge of honor and an attempt to get the few items that are available for the super-sale. I wonder how many retailers, after the entire weekend, actually ended up in the black. Or is Black Friday about retailers keeping up with the Jones’s?
Being curious about the Black Friday phenomenon, I decided to participate for the first time this year by visiting a few big box retailers at 5:30 a.m. What I found was a heavy dose of “What did I get myself into????”
There are certainly a different set of rules for the hours before noon as well as different customer expectations. The customers I observed are not there for a pleasant shopping experience, they are there to grab and go. In many cases friendliness and tact were left at home.
For retailers offering rock bottom deals with limited quantities, the shopping experience they offer will be unpleasant for their customers most of the time. Large crowds of tired people stuffed down aisles, waiting in lines for products that might not be available does not make for a nice experience. With that said, the customers are aware of this and expect it. That is why they get in line at 2 a.m. and do it year after year. I’ve heard the saying, “Retail is a different animal” and those seven hours are a gnarly three headed beast.
Do you suppose that if there were no obscene specials that the stores would have to close on ‘Black Friday’ due to lack of customers? No, that supposition is just silly. Consumers shop in mass on ‘Black Friday’ because the majority (however slight) have the day off and it seems like the thing to do as a result of the upcoming holiday.
Based on Race’s finding regarding the negative experiences, one might suppose that the increasingly ridiculous tactics of recent years are simply neither working nor satisfying. It also suggests that the allure of the ridiculous price is less effective than the hype that surrounds it.
So what’s the answer? Is it possible that retailers in general have simply lost the art and skill of retailing itself? What is it?
Some interesting observations come to mind from the current year. Thinking about the uproar over the change of name from Marshall Field’s to Macy’s might be a perfect example that consumers (at least some) are longing for something different — an experience. Could that be possible? Could it be all that’s left is the frenzy which fills the void and yet produces little result?
Certainly, reports are coming in with the results over the weekend. Early surveys and results are coming in at anywhere from 6-16% sales increases. (That of course is depending on who paid for the survey.) But in fact it might be this — the results, while up, may have not been impacted as much by the frenzy but more impacted by other factors.
My question is, would an incredibly different experience offered by a retailer in the early morning hours on Friday have produced better results? Certainly Wal-Mart would have been forced to offer a radio controlled Silverado at half price, but did others need to do the same? (Incidentally, I restrained myself from diving into the crowd for the toy truck – I was told I am too old for toys – imagine that!). But, what if a retailer really did something innovative on Black Friday? And I don’t mean backing up your opening from 5:00 a.m. to midnight. I mean something really different. I am thinking that a retailer who tried that might have amazing results and get enhanced loyalty in the days going forward to the big day. Okay, maybe it’s wishful thinking, but I do have a hunch that it just might work. It would take guts, but it just might work.
I also admit to not having participated in the Black Friday frenzy, so I am not sure of the perspective that I hold to be accurate. There seems to be a particular type of person that the concept of Black Friday brings a certain joy or mission to their lives. When I read about an outlet mall in my area opening at midnight Thursday, and the parking lot being full (5,000+ spaces) at 12:30 am, then I am not sure the retail community needs to, or can manage that environment.
The “rules of customer satisfaction” seem to be somewhat different for this 24 hour period or in most cases a 4-6 hour “hot special,” “limited time” sale that a lot more of us just will not get. And that may not be a bad thing. Black Friday seems to be an event, not simply a shopping experience.
Same goes for the Cyber Monday issue. With all of the households having computers, why is it that, once they get to work, today is the time to log in and shop on their employer’s time? Must have rested up Saturday and Sunday from sleep deprivation and long lines from Friday? Not sure.
In my lifetime I think I may have participated in a Black Friday event one time. My recollection was of an unpleasant experience which I have not yet repeated.
We all know from the food business that there are a large number of hard-core cherry pickers in this country, many of whom are unprofitable for the retailer but we still value the volume they contribute to the total. I wonder if anyone knows the average number of SKUs these folks purchase on Black Friday. I’d be willing to venture they divide and conquer their shopping lists among family members and conduct organized “hit and run” operations to realize all the values they are seeking across a group of retailers.
I also think many shoppers stay away from Black Friday to avoid these hard core shoppers and the images we see on the news of these types of events. I do agree that Black Friday has become an important PR event for the retailers in the U.S.
Many shoppers read the fliers with the hot prices, and even though they don’t go to the 4 a.m. events, they associate the advertising retailer with the low prices. So I suspect these will continue as misguided “PR events,” despite the customers who, justifiably, feel ripped off and angry. Big picture, these shoppers are in the minority, and I expect that is factored into the decision on how to handle these things. There is already a little self-policing, with retailers saying in their ads that there are “30 per store” or whatever on an item. That feeds the flames, even though your chances may be on par with winning the lottery. Over time, I expect this will sort itself out, as more 4 a.m. shoppers have bad experiences and talk about it so that “buzz” gets around, and retailers get a better grasp of the damage they are doing to themselves. But my gut instinct is that this will be a slow process.
I agree with the sentiments of this article. Every marketer needs to manage customer expectations. Black Friday has developed a new set of customer expectations which certainly appear to be counter to “a kinder, gentler retail experience.” Unfortunately, expectations once created are difficult to change. The best retailers can hope for is to better manage this difficult day.
The other negative is that deep discounts seem to shift consumer purchases forward, not necessarily increase overall seasonal sales and profits (we shall see). As the saying goes, “Anyone can give away products; it takes brains to sell them.”
P.C. Richard, a New York-area appliance & electronics chain, headlined its Thanksgiving ads “No Minimum Quantities,” emphasizing that everything advertised was really available, in-stock, for everyone. Retailers using come-on ads with minimum quantities train the public to expect disappointment. In contrast, The Gap’s promise of 30% off every Friday morning purchase of $50 or more, was honest and simple. Retailers interested in healthy, long-term customer relationships would do well to think about The Gap and P.C. Richard’s approaches, versus the retailers whose prices are below cost with quantities below the demand.
I did not personally venture into the darkness but I had friends who, out of boredom, decided to experience the midnight opening of a local mall. After battling a three mile traffic jam they returned home at 2:00 a.m. without ever leaving the car. The Black Friday experience defines the difference between shopping and buying. If retailers had a more synchronized integrated marketing campaign in place buyers could purchase the targeted deals online allowing retailers to design more in-store experiences conducive to the art of shopping. Perhaps they’d increase their bottom line while enhancing their brand relationship with their customers.