The Secret to Surviving Black Friday (as a Brand)

OK, Black Friday is coming, fast.

Yes, there’s price. Yes, there are “doorbusters.”

But when all else fails, there’s this one secret weapon only the strong retailers (who will survive) will use very liberally at every point of contact with their customers.

Yet this vital skill needed by brands is rare and overlooked yet it’s what successful retailers will do to stand apart, stand out, exceed expectations, and drive sales.

To crystallize this problem even more, the following fact was shared at this year’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity:

“80% of brands believe they deliver great consumer experiences. Only 8% of consumers agree.”  (Bain & Company: Global management consulting firm)

Black Friday Shopping and Spending

Taken from the site BlackFriday.com, below are some interesting statistics from 2017:

• 2017 Holiday sales (Nov. and Dec.) totalled $691.9 billion (up 5.5% from 2016). (Source: NRF)
• Black Friday 2017 (Thanksgiving Day plus Black Friday) raked in $7.9 billion in online sales. That’s $5.03 billion spent on Thanksgiving Day and $2.87 billion spent on Black Friday. This spending level is up 17.9% from 2016. (Source: Adobe Analytics)
• 13 million online transactions were processed on Black Friday 2017 and 12.5 million were processed on Thanksgiving. (Source: Hitwise)
• 174 million Americans shopped on Black Friday weekend 2017 (Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday) (Source: NRF)
• Average per-person spending for Thanksgiving weekend 2017 was $335.47 — and $251 of that was for gifts. Older millennials (age 25 to 34) spent the most per person ($419.52) (Source: NRF)
• Average per-person spending for Thanksgiving weekend 2016 was $289.19 — and $214 of that was for gifts. (Source: NRF)

This is why I talk about this important subject in today’s powerful One Minute Wednesday.

Slamming the Door in Your Customer’s Face

Every bit of conversation and dialog either builds or eats away at the rapport you seek to establish with your customer.

And each little bit builds that yellow brick road to their front door.

And with the biggest shopping day of the year coming at us in a flash, this is what nimble retailers need to know.

Don’t believe me? Listen to this:

If you want to come out of this shopping day with a “win,” don’t overlook your human resources, your humanity, and something no machine or robot can do: care about that person in front of you, and be almost obsessed with what your customer needs and wants.

Otherwise, you may end up like this:

Editorial photo credit of shoppers: Giannis Papanikos / Shutterstock.com