Black Friday is what you make it

“Black Friday is now Thanksgiving Day”, he said.

But this opportunity also comes laden with potential pitfalls. We take a look at what leading retailers are doing in the run-up to the event.

Sales during the four-day period from Black Friday to Cyber Monday are actually declining as more stores open on the Thanksgiving holiday and deeper discounts are seen closer to Christmas (Super Saturday, the last Saturday before Christmas, for example). That means checking up on deliverability issues, and running email campaigns in a way that doesn’t overwhelm customers to the point of unsubscribing. Be sure to check on Thanksgiving and on Cyber Monday to find the best deals on your favorite cruise lines. This is an important change from previous year. “If they’re staying at home, it’s not really news”. Target will let shoppers in at 6 p.m. while Best Buy and Toys R’ Us will start at 5 p.m. Craft retailer Michael’s will open at 4 p.m. Who knows? You may just find everything on your shopping list there.

Emails should reflect customers’ past purchases by suggesting likely additional purchases and not the items already bought. The site will be loaded with all the information needed to plan a strategic shopping trip: sale information including door buster offers; mall directories with store listings; maps and more! So October emails should be going to early birds, while last-minute offers should be going to the procrastinators. A simple, tasteful card with a thoughtful note on the inside that says something about the connection that you share is a spectacular way to maintain a relationship and show someone that he or she really matters to you. “The idea of shopping online has introduced this notion of 24/7, any time you feel like it”.

Checking the niche website, The Black Friday, one can see that the top five Black Friday ads come from Walmart, Best Buy, Amazon, Target, and Kmart.

Still, if you have Friday off from work, why not use it to prepare for the holidays in other ways?

It’s an expensive problem that can have lasting effects. With that in mind, it’s best to prepare a game plan ahead of time. “We’re looking for this, where do we go?’ So we direct them”, Chapman said.

According to the National Retail Federation, more than 135 million Americans will shop over the Thanksgiving weekend. “So I can afford to give Coach bags, Nike stuff and all other branded items I could not otherwise afford to give for birthdays and Christmas to my friends”, said Hernando.

“On the data security point retailers have to be careful”, he says.

Imagine waiting outside for hours and then you finally get through the doors of the department store. “It’s always a consideration”.

At 20 percent, Costco ranked lowest in discount rates for Black Friday deals; however, because the retailer sells in bulk, numerous items are already offered at a discounted rate. Despite the drop in Black Friday weekend sales, overall holiday sales have been rising.

Black Friday, the day that’s expected to be the UK’s biggest-ever online shopping day as the industry passes the £1bn sales milestone, is now just days away. Even months of gasoline savings have failed to spur spending, with many consumers choosing to bank those dollars or pay down debt.