Is Your Business Ready for Black Friday and Cyber Monday?
Retailers are gearing up for two of the busiest days of the year as Christmas shoppers descend to the high street and take to the internet in a bid to cross off most if not all of their festive shopping lists.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday represent the days where consumers are most likely to respectively hit the shops and buy gifts online in the run up to Christmas.
Two thirds of shoppers pay more attention to online advertising during these days, making it a great opportunity for businesses to secure some extra income.
READ MORE: Sofa Sunday and Cyber Monday take on Black Friday in the Battle for Christmas Sales
Dominic Trigg, EMEA Managing Director of marketing technology specialist, Rocket Fuel said that the UK has taken to what has previously been a US tradition in focusing attention on specific shopping days.
He commented: “It is clear that UK consumers have now whole-heartedly embraced what are traditionally US-centric shopping days in Black Friday and Cyber Monday, as more and more UK retailers offer discounts and deals in the lead up to Christmas.
“Black Friday in 2013 saw a 19 percent increase in visits to retail websites compared to 2012’s level, while, Cyber Monday saw consumers log over 115 million visits to retail websites which was a nine percent increase from the year before. For 2014, it’s expected these numbers will be exceeded as retailers like Amazon offer consumers great deals of up to 40 percent off to drive online transactions over this period.”
With the big online players offering huge discounts, the pressure is not only for their supply chains to deliver the goods, but for competitors to prevent themselves being priced out.
In the lead this year up to these two days, retail sales remained resilient with the pace of growth expected to accelerate once again in the crucial Christmas run up, according to the CBI’s latest quarterly Distributive Trades Survey.
Barry Williams, CBI Distributive Trades Survey Chairman and Asda Chief Merchandising Officer for Food, said:
“It’s no secret that it has been a demanding year for the retail industry but shopkeepers haven’t been pulling their punches when it comes to getting shoppers through their doors – borne out with the lowest essential item inflation in five years and growing online sales.
“This latest survey shows many have been winning some rounds in what has been one of the most challenging years for both the industry, and for customers.”
Sofa Sunday (November 30) is another day tipped to see a lot of online retail activity, falling between Black Friday (November 28) and Cyber Monday (December 1).
