Black Friday Promos Embraced Today's Shopper: Market Track 12/3/2015
After years of earlier store openings and increasingly deep discounts, Black Friday 2014 seemed to have shoppers reaching somewhat of a breaking point. Many of the best deals in 2014 started before breakfast could be served on Thanksgiving, forcing shoppers to abandon time with their families in favor of scoring a deep discount.
Retailers took a different approach in 2015 by embracing the way people shop today. Advertising and promotions focused less on being first to open or having the best doorbusters, but more on ensuring shoppers knew they could get great value whenever and wherever they shopped. Black Friday store opening times leveled off in most cases, and were even pushed back in some.
A few select retailers even publicized that they were closing their doors on Thanksgiving to give shoppers time back for family. Most retailers also offered their Black Friday deals both in-store and online, and offered
alternatives to Black Friday throughout November in the form of weekly online sales.
Most importantly, they delivered these messages through all media channels. No matter where a shopper turned for information to help them choose where to shop or what to buy, retailers met them.
Among items covered in the report:
- Who increased their Black Friday/Holiday messaging early in the season in TV?
- How did e-tailers Amazon and Jet.com approach intraday online pricing on popular toy items?
- What categories had the biggest online discounts early in the season?
- What brands led the pack in terms of number of print promotions?
- How were retailers using creative offer types to drive repeat trips?
Ryne Misso is the Director of Marketing at Market Track, a global provider of advertising and promotional tracking, brand protection, and eCommerce pricing solutions. Over 1,200 clients leverage Market Track’s competitive insight into print, digital, broadcast and eCommerce to optimize their advertising strategy. Prior to transitioning to Marketing, Misso spent four years in account management for Market Track’s small and mid-market manufacturer vertical.