Black Friday and Cyber Monday vs Shopping Trends
The count-down has started. The biggest shopping days of the year – Black Friday and Cyber Monday are only a couple of weeks away. Most of the shoppers and retailers are already thrilled about the events.
In case you still have doubts or if you are not ready for the big days – here you can find quick tips, advice and predictions.
Black Friday evolved in the USA and takes place the day after Thanksgiving (during the Christmas shopping season). It’s both online and in-store and tends to last for 5 days (the best deal day is the first main day) Unlike Black Friday, Cyber Monday is the UK’s biggest online 24-hr shopping affair. It takes place after the US holiday – Thanksgiving.
Even though people enjoy getting a great deal and shopping discounted products, the mass shopping events have a down side, too. In a recent study (conducted with US & UK consumers) it was revealed that most of the shoppers are planning to shop online instead of in store this year – because in-store experience too chaotic.
According to Periscope By McKinsey [i] ;
- With 13% (US) and 9% (UK) saying that the “stores are just too chaotic”, 39% of US and 42% of UK shoppers plan to do the majority or all of their Black Friday shopping online (compared to 35% and 33% in 2015).
- Convenience is driving consumers toward online shopping, with many saying it is easier than going to stores on Black Friday (27% US, and 25% UK). Shoppers are also planning to purchase higher priced items online this Black Friday (79% US, 78% UK), and 70% will shop across a much wider range of categories.
- Desktop devices remain dominant with 60% of US and 55% of UK shoppers planning to use them this shopping season. Tablets are gaining popularity, but still only 29% of UK consumers plan to use them to complete transactions, with an even lower 20% in the US.
- The smart phone (66% US and 70% UK) was considered the best device for getting ideas when shopping, but was behind tablets and desktop devices for deeper research and making purchases.
Commenting on the findings, Channie Mize, Global General Manager for Retail at Periscope said, “The research highlights that consumers consider the Black Friday experience stressful and inconvenient compared to shopping online. The physical store is not dead, but struggling. Retailers need to find new attractive ways to draw consumers into their stores, using data-driven insights to inform the buying, assortment and promotional activities to maximum effect across all channels, giving customers the great experience they crave.
On the other hand, according to the Adobe Digital Insights (ADI) report (which conducted research with European consumers):
- Black Friday (November 25th) and Cyber Monday(November 28th) will be the key growth drivers of holiday spending in Europe as they continue impacting seasonal shopping patterns.
- Holiday spending in Europe will increase by 10% this year, which is a little below the 11% estimate of the United States.
- Most money in Europe will be spent in the United Kingdom and Germany, who will both grow by 10% to 27.1 billion euros and 22.9 billion euros respectively.
- Holiday sales in France are forecast to grow by 11% to 14.3 billion euros.
- 1 in 4 USD spent will come from a mobile device this year, with smartphones becoming the key driver.
- Smartphone revenue is forecast to surpass tablet revenue in Europe for the first time, growing 134% over three years versus a stagnating performance by tablet.
- Sales from smartphones will nearly double (+96%) in this holiday season and mobile browsing is expected to be up 60% compared to last year. Tablet traffic is expected to fall by -2%, even as revenues increase by 13%.
ADI also predicts that Black Friday, which overtook Cyber Monday as the top online sales day in 2014, will once again be the peak day across much of Europe. Especially in the Nordic countries, Black Friday has increased strongly over the last couple of years. Since 2013, sales on this day increased by 187% in this region, while elsewhere in Europe it increased by 66% during that period.
Finally, the study shows that in-store shopping experience is not about to disappear completely, but consumers’ behavioral approach to the shopping is changing day by day. From now on, it’s essential for retailers to keep up with technological and organizational challenges in order to be successful in the future.
[i] The online research was conducted in October 2016 by Periscope to understand the consumer attitudes towards Black Friday and their expected shopping patterns. The web-based survey targeted consumers in the United States and the United Kingdom aged between 18 and 60+. The survey gathered 1,570 qualified responses.
