Almost every big brand has started with some sort of Pre-Black Friday promotion (including Argos, Currys, Walmart, Amazon, etc.) starting the 1st of November. Last year, we were being amused by Amazon’s Black Friday week and were [sarcastically] forecasting a Black Friday month for the future. Well, it’s official: it is happening. Here are some of the impacts that we believe this will have on the market and on the purchase behaviour.
- Brands, sellers and re-sellers will see an increase in sales for the
products that they’ve put on promotions. The bulk of shopping this year
will still be done on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
- If the trend continues like this in the future, it may lower the effectiveness
of the actual Black Friday event.
- It’s creating expectations for consumers and for brands to discount
even more products at even lower prices. While this may be good for consumers
(we aren’t even going into the subject of creating a consumerist society), it
can become disastrous for brands wanting to keep up, but also to make a profit.
- Fraud will most likely increase: sellers/re-sellers wanting to show
that they also have deals on their products will only make it look like they
are doing so by increasing their prices prior to the event and then “dropping
them” when the event starts.
So, while sales and revenue for sellers may increase, it could be only for the shorter gain. When looking at the bigger picture, brands and sellers will create expectations for consumers that they won’t be able to PROFITABLY sustain (i.e. how much can you discount and still make a profit?!).
What do you think about our theories? We would love to read your opinions below.