Online Marketers Gearing Up for Black Friday & Cyber Monday

Is your online marketing campaign ready for Black Friday and Cyber Monday?

Now that Halloween has come and gone, retailers and consumers alike are gearing up to kick off the holiday shopping season. In a down economy, sales expectations are modest and if you ask most companies, simply meeting last year’s sales levels would be considered a success. What can consumers and retailers expect this holiday season and how can retailers leverage online marketing to maximize holiday sales?

First, consumers are still expected to shop on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. A recent survey from Accenture as reported in an article by MediaPost shows that 52% of shoppers plan to shop on the day after Thanksgiving, up from 42% in 2008. These shoppers, however, will be pickier and will only buy if they can get a superior discount, like 20% or more, according to the survey. According to a research from Yahoo! Network Insights looking at trends from last year’s holiday season, Cyber Monday is still a top online shopping day. While Black Friday is typically viewed as a heavy “in-store” sales day, Yahoo’s research shows online retailers experienced a greater percentage increase in conversions on Black Friday than they did on Cyber Monday. Both days still experience above average online conversions compared to the average day in November, with Black Friday seeing a 147% increase and Cyber Monday seeing a 73% increase.

A question we have, however, is how will Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales be affected given that consumers are planning to shop earlier this year? According to the same survey by Accenture, 69% of shoppers plan on doing the bulk of their shopping by December 7. We’ve already seen sales starting immediately following Halloween. With reports that retailers are being cautious on inventory quantities as well as already having reducing pricing due to the economy, consumers and retailers alike may want to lower expectations for the official kick-off to the holiday sales season.

What is important to note here is that by the time consumers actually open their wallet to make a purchase, whether it is early in the season or late, they’ve already spent the time to research it in order to locate the best deal. And the bulk of research is conducted online. As a consumer, we need to be searching out those retailer and “deals” sites to find the best price and location to buy from. A quick search in Google using the phrase “black friday online deals” brings up an array of sites dedicated to deals for the Friday after Thanksgiving.

As a marketer, we need to be building awareness earlier than ever this year. Here are a few tips to consider for your campaigns:

• Online media buys should be beginning well in advance of Black Friday with consideration given to front and end loading the flight for the season.
• Plan to test online ad messaging and keywords and be ready to change throughout the season. Ads earlier in the season may target sales, new products or point consumers to where to purchase. As the season grows older, messaging may switch to “end of year,” “final sale” and “last chance.”
• Provide strong incentives such as “Free shipping” and “guaranteed arrival by the holidays;” these are the kinds of advantages savvy shoppers are looking for.

As a side bar, we’ve seen clients this year who have a strong online ecommerce components choosing to direct consumers to purchase offline within their online advertising. For companies who rely heavily on in-store retail sales and fight for shelf space, this type of strategy is becoming more and more evident. This holiday season promises to be a challenge to both retailer and consumer, but the right online approach will help both survive.

Related posts:

1. Black Friday, Cyber Monday and eDay
2. Cyber Monday Research Recap
3. 2006 Online Holiday Campaigns: Midseason Perspective
4. Advertising in 2007 Online Holiday Gift Guides

3 Comments

1. I believe black friday and cyber monday will definitely see an increase in shoppers this year. While many shoppers last year who thought they didn’t need to go fight the crowds to save a few bucks will definitely be fighting those crowds this year. Although I also believe you are correct, I have already seen a lot of people doing early Christmas shopping trying to just get it past them.

     Comment by Robert Renfro — November 5, 2009 @ 9:31 pm

2. Hopefully, retailers have prepared well in advance to take advantage of consumer interested in advance of the holidays. Generally, online shopping should grow relative to offline shopping since convenience and economy can be maximized through online shopping. As for retailers highlighting offline sales, I believe that the increase is due to a better approach to integrating online and offline channels.

     Comment by Russell: Medical Disposables — November 23, 2009 @ 11:46 am

3. The black friday was pretty good for me this year, thank god. wish i can get it the same next year

     Comment by online winkelen — February 7, 2010 @ 3:53 pm

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