Black Friday falls on November 23 of this year, but retailers have already begun to promote the huge discounts that they plan to offer on his behalf. Some offers are already available to buyers.
Although Cyber Monday has grown in importance, Black Friday "is still significant as the kickoff to the holiday season," said Ray Wang, senior analyst at Constellation Research.
Black Friday sales are no longer limited to brick and mortar stores.
For example, Amazon launched more than 50 days of "Black Friday Deals" last week, with hot gift ideas in toys, electronics, housewares, kitchenware, decorations and clothes. It will offer free shipping on over 100 million items.
Walmart announced huge savings on products in various departments. He also unveiled a number of special programs, including advance access, pre-black Friday, online special offers and Black Friday and the Christmas advertising match.
He has a Dare to Compare section on his website, where he posts the results of price checks all day long.
Sears and Kmart, who are under the same ownership, decided to discount everything in the store, CNBC reported – perhaps an effort to reverse the situation of companies that are breaking records.
Sears reportedly marked the goods 10-50 percent, and Kmart 10-40 percent. Kmart has also decided to bring back its Bluelight Specials, while Sears has relaunched its holiday catalog.
Other players
The eBay product discounts extend to a variety of categories, ranging from laptops and smartphones to vacuum cleaners, luggage, sports equipment and power tools.
Costco has announced offers on Microsoft Surface Pro, laptops, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and TVs, among others.
Dell announced last week's Black Friday and Cyber Monday offerings including up to 50% off a variety of Dell PCs, Alienware and Dell Gaming and VR systems, monitors, and more. accessories and more.
The Siren song of Black Friday
Black Friday has gone from a one – day in – store event to an all – encompassing vacation sale that starts in early November.
Black Friday "was traditionally the moment when retailers went from red to black," Wang Wang told the E-Commerce Times. Many stores have gone out of their way, announcing Black Friday sales earlier and earlier, so "Black Friday's retail model has begun to lose its meaning".
Retailers "are now extending the economies of Black Friday for a longer period of time and also using Cyber Monday for huge sales," said Cheryl DeGrasse, vice president of acquisition at
eBates.
"This is especially the case online," she told the E-Commerce Times.
Up to a third of in-store sales are in the fourth quarter, DeGrasse observed.
Sales are actually offered on various items throughout the year, but the label of holiday sales is only applied at the end of October or at the beginning of the year. November, she said.
The importance of Black Friday is increasing because "investors are putting more emphasis on Black Friday," Wang said.
Black Friday Bonanza this year
Spend this black Friday "will rise from an average of US $ 495 to US $ 737, or about 49 percent," Wang predicts.
Online SMEs can take advantage by identifying buying trends to make sure they stock the right product and inventory, he said. Among his suggestions:
- Start early to generate demand
- Take pre-orders; and
- Set up gift registers.
Offering exclusive one-day offers is another way for online SMEs to take advantage of the shopping frenzy of Black Friday, DeGrasse said.
The Impact at Christmas
Black Friday sales will not dampen Christmas sales, predicts DeGrasse from eBates. "In fact, the more consumers start shopping, the more they end up buying."
However, the impact of Black Friday on Christmas sales "depends on door changes and cuts," Wang Wang noted. "It also depends on blockbuster gifts, like a new game console or a new device."
Richard Adhikari has been a reporter at ECT News Network since 2008. His fields of intervention are cybersecurity, mobile technologies, CRM, databases, the software development, the central and midrange computer. and the development of applications. He has written and edited for many publications, including Information Week and Computerworld . He is the author of two books on client / server technology.
Email Richard.