Black Friday kicks off the biggest retail season of the year and, despite its US origins, consumers around the world now wait for the annual flash sale to start their holiday shopping, or simply buy the things they want at a lower price.
This holiday season, Bain forecasts – an albeit subaverage – three percent growth in US retail sales across in-store and online in all sectors. In part this is due to the higher cost of living and unemployment, but the potential for interest rate cuts in 2025 is proving a silver lining.
In short, after a tough few years, consumer confidence is still in flux and consumers in all markets welcome new incentives to spend. On the other side of the equation, some consumers are growing suspicious of inflated discounts and opaque pricing around Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
According to a 2023 report by Wunderman Thompson, 56 percent of UK shoppers believe Black Friday deals are misleading. Trust is not the only factor influencing Black Friday spending. According to Quantum Metric, 50 percent of shoppers in the UK prefer regular deals all year round over scheduled sale days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Yet an increase in regular discount days has made 40 percent of consumers feel less urgency to shop key sales.
As retail’s Golden Quarter kicks off, CX Network rounds up eight key things for practitioners and their marketers to know about Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
1. Purchase intent is highest in Canada, Spain, Poland and US
Purchase intent – the customer's likelihood to buy a product or service within a specific time frame – naturally increases during the Golden Quarter, which includes Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Singles Day, Boxing Day and the January sales.
In Canada this year, Boston Consulting Group found a combined share of 83 percent of consumers intended to either “definitely” or “probably shop” during November’s big shopping events. Purchase intent was also strong in Spain, the United States and Poland.
2. German consumers have the biggest spending plans in Europe
According to Statista, among European shoppers this year, those in Germany are planning to spend the most on Black Friday. On average, shoppers Germany are planning to spend €317, followed by Austria (€303) and Spain (€282).
3. In-store retail is popular, but not for everybody
Roughly four out of 10 consumers in the US said they plan to shop in-store for Black Friday this year. In comparison, one percent said they will definitely not do their Black Friday sales shopping in store, but as instore retail experiences become more tech-focused and immersive, this could change.
4. Broken digital experiences are costly
Research from Quantum Metric found the biggest challenge for 40 percent of digital leaders during peak sales is identifying “small digital errors”. With these costing more than ever before, the ability to identify and correct errors before a sale launches is critical.
On average it takes a day or more for issues to be fixed during peak times, yet 73 percent of consumers expect brands to fix purchasing experience issues within a few hours during peak sale periods. Constant monitoring is essential as when things do go wrong, only 23 percent of consumers will reach out for assistance when a journey is broken, or things are not working. The majority simply go elsewhere.
5. Personalized deals can make a brand stand out
The same study from Quantum Metric also found 38 percent of consumers prioritize brands that offer personalized deals, yet a little over half (52 percent) of UK brands are focused on creating more personalized promotions.
While this is still a significant share, it is lower than the high reported by McKinsey in 2021. Back then the global consultancy found 71 percent of shoppers expect companies to deliver personalized interactions.
6. Influence is over, long live reviews
Research from Reputation, due for release later this month, found 68 percent of UK shoppers rely on reviews as their main source for purchasing decisions, more so than recommendations from family and friends, brand marketing claims and opinions from influencers.
7. AI is playing a bigger role in retail’s Golden Quarter
As we recently covered in our LinkedIn newsletter, the CX Network Weekly, research from Optimizely has found 54 percent of marketers in the UK plan to use AI to decide their pricing and deals this Black Friday.
This is just part of how AI is playing an ever-bigger role in retail.
According to a survey by Riverbed, within three years, AI will be used by 76 percent of organizations for automated remediation while 71 percent say they will be using it for 24/7 support functions such as chatbots, 68 percent say it will be used to workflow automation and 61 percent say it will be used for feedback analysis.
8. Social media is the first step in many retail journeys
Social shopping is big business with 70 percent of shoppers ages 27-42 buying through social networks in the first half of 2023. Surprisingly, Millennials lead the way – for now – although Gen Z shoppers are growing in number, with more than half of Gen Z respondents in this study saying they have bought a product direct from TikTok, Instagram or Facebook.
When Retail Week assessed the shopping habits of the 18-24 age group, 59 percent said they are likely to buy on Instagram this Cyber Monday, while 62 percent favored TikTok.
Quick links
- The 10 sins of ecommerce backed by data
- Social media platforms for your Black Friday strategy
- A CX leader’s checklist for Black Friday and Cyber Monday
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