Preparing for Black Friday

Hosted by Shelby Klick and Vince Ventura

 

Black Friday in 2017- including the days leading up to and after Black Friday - is expected to be the biggest shopping pull of the year with sales higher than 2016.  Black Friday has definitely changed the way retail functions during the fourth quarter and leading up to the holidays.  Consumers now are after deep price cuts and discounts that some argue make the day “unprofitable and unsustainable”

 

Small Businesses everywhere are attempting to compete with the big box stores starting with Black Friday. Here’s our tips for having a successful Black Friday.

 

 

• Be Profitable

 

• If your business or pricing structure can’t compete with the extremely steep discounts typically seen on Black Friday, don’t do it.  There are many ways to get traffic in the door without unprofitable discounts.

 

 

• Gifts Cards or Gift Certificates

 

• Send out an email just about your gift cards.
• Visual Displays & Signs - People won’t purchase gift cards unless they know about them and can see them, just like any other product in your store.
• Upsell at the register - this is a technique that may take some training of your cashiers and maybe even incentivize to see which employee can sell the most gift cards.
• Special Deal - free gift with purchase of gift card, or a discount on the gift card itself.

 

• 75% of people how use gift cards spend 22% more than the value of the gift card.

 

 

 

• Join Forces

 

• Black Friday can be scary when you’re in it alone. Join forces with other local businesses. .
• A lot of consumers head to big box stores or shopping malls because they can shop a larger variety of products or visit a lot of places in one trip.  Partnering up with other local businesses can be a bigger draw for your customers if they see a lot of businesses in one central location having deals at the same time.
• Have an event: Example: Sip and Stroll where customers can stroll to each store to shop and enjoy snacks and refreshments.
• Joint advertising: Hand out fliers talking about your joint sales or event. Use a punch card to encourage people to visit each store and enter completed punch cards into a raffle.
• Creative partnerships - Pair up with businesses like local restaurants, coffee shops and the like to give discounted drinks, appetizers, and when they present a receipt from your store or give them a special coupon.  Or vise versa.

 

• Late Hours
• • Open your doors for late hours.
  • Advertise it for those who are busier or for those who want to avoid the madness
  • Talk about it - A lot!

 

 

• Product

 

• Focus on your product. Talk about what makes you different than the big box stores and the value each of these products give.
• Some people struggle talking about their products. Remember that you are the one that purchases the merchandise for the store (If you’re not, talk to your buyer). Talk about each product’s value and why you chose to sell it in your store.
• People sometimes go to big box stores because they don’t think they will be able to find things for everyone on their list at a small store. Give examples or gift guide for everyone. This is a great way to showcase unique items and let people connect with your business.

 

• Bundle

 

• Gather gifts that go great together. Consumers are after those big ticket items as well as trying to get as much bang for their buck as possible. By bundling, you can place smaller ticket items in a new light or save customers the hassle of finding products that go well together.
• Allow you to sell at a slightly higher price point OR incentivize buying all items with a discounts when all are bought together.

 

• Don’t focus on one day

 

• Try having progressive sales
• • Start November off with smaller sales every week that give a “Pre-Black Friday” or a “Taste of Black Friday” or “Black Friday Comes Early”.
  • This allows you to put discounts on things you can afford to discount and draw in different customers with each new sale.
  • On Black Friday, create a splash by focusing your sale on your big ticket items only because you will most likely be able to put the steepest discount on these and still be profitable. It would also make your progressive sales end with a bang on Black Friday and flow into the shopping weekend.

Key Points

• Join forces
• Stay late
• Focus on product or bundles
• Don’t get overwhelmed because you can be successful by spreading your sales out