Sep 29, 2020
Black Friday Cyber Monday sales have become an American eCommerce tradition, beginning 2005. Last year, eCommerce stores processed over $700 billion in sales just during this 4 day sale event.
Australia played its part too. Here, Black Friday hasn’t historically been a ‘thing’, but Aussie retailers are catching on fast. Last year, it grew by over 50% and it now represents the start of the busy Christmas sales period.
Typically, eCommerce sales can increase by over 30% just on Black Friday alone. And with the right strategy, this event can lead into a bumper Christmas promotional period!
My vote is definitely to run a Black Friday promotion, and use it to kick start your Christmas sales promotions.
Now, with that said, this year’s Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) promotional event will be unlike any other.
Fears around COVID-19 and subsequent retail store closures have shifted consumer spending online and away from brick-and-mortar. My opinion is that this new consumer behaviour is pretty well entrenched now, so it's a shift I believe will continue well into the holiday season and beyond.
As more shoppers rush online to make their BFCM purchases, inventory and shipping constraints will present challenges for retailers of all sizes, but especially for small business.
With all this in mind, if you want to make the most of this year’s biggest shopping event, it’s critical that you start planning as early as possible. Despite the different climate we're now operating in, BFCM is still a tremendous opportunity for your business to end the year strong, whatever that looks like for you.
With an unsettled economic climate, supply chain shortages, and shifting consumer behaviour, navigating Black Friday Cyber Monday may feel particularly stressful this year.