Every year we get to that point where large and small businesses are considering whether to give Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. The decision can be difficult, as there are pros and cons to consider on both sides. This article will closely inspect the benefits and drawbacks of providing discounted goods on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. By the end, you should generally know whether Black Friday and Cyber Monday are good for sellers and retailers, and if you should discount goods on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
As consumers, we all know that the public looks for deals. Christmas is a busy season; with so much pressure to shop and spend money for everyone you know, it's not hard to see why consumers take every deal they can get and increasingly push for better deals.
Additionally, significant retailers focus on pushing Black Friday and Cyber Monday traffic and sales into a confined period. As such, it's one of the best times for e-commerce sales out of the entire year.
Each year, Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales increase as the demand continues to grow. So, it's not difficult to see that these two major consumer holidays are excellent opportunities for retailers to capitalize on customer demand and draw additional traffic to their websites.
Many sellers view Black Friday and Cyber Monday as a means of clearing out old inventory to introduce newer stock in time for Christmas. This concept applies to fashion retailers, of course. Still, electronic retailers also offer discounts on select items such as televisions, laptops, monitors, computers and gaming consoles, knowing they are releasing newer models soon.
Acquiring new customers is an expensive task; however, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are two excellent consumer holidays that offer retailers a chance to build new customer relations at a crucial time of year.
If you bring in new clientele during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend and keep them happy, you've given yourself a chance to maintain repeat sales throughout the Christmas season. If you've found that you've retained customers for the long haul and are content purchasing your products at a full price down the road, this justifies offering Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales.
As we've mentioned, consumers face internal and external drives to purchase items for their friends and family and themselves around Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend. These motivating factors for consumers can (and hopefully will) convert themselves into incremental sales.
All this is to say that when customers go on websites looking for great deals, most also purchase products at full-price thanks to those strong urges to spend money as the holiday season grows.
Another benefit of featuring deals on your website closer to the Christmas shopping season is that you can process and ship orders well before Christmas day.
The fear of missing gifts under the tree is long gone because of shipping delays. Your consumers are happy, you're so glad because of the incremental sales, and you've freed up lots of storage for the later season.
We hear the terms Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and our brain immediately pictures a gold dollar sign dancing around the items on our wish list all year. These two terms are synonymous with discount giving (and generous ones at that); unfortunately, consumers have grown to expect better deals yearly.
This growing pressure can place a heavy burden on retailers, especially if margins are tight enough as is.
Most retailers grow weary of the Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend -- for a good reason. The demand for blowout deals can have a significant impact on margins.
Although most sales generate around the Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend, and most retailers love the business of these sale days thanks to the incremental sales, it does come at a cost for others regarding reduced profit margins.
The challenge with these blowout sales days is that the consumers already expect huge offers on their favorite brands, and you cannot avoid them. If brands and retailers want a share of the consumers' spending, then you must be able to attract customers with worthy deals; however, you must account for profit margins and stay in line with it to get the desired results.
As a retailer, you must consider how much money you can really take off of your sale items, as too much of a sale will reduce margins even if you sell more. This is especially true if you could have sold this product at full price closer to Christmas day.
Again, you risk missing out on sales if you don't offer deals, but your competitors do.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are quite the head-spinner for retailers.
For retailers, giving massive discounts at a crucial time of year opens up the *high* possibility of returned items. Moreover, these retail returns during the late holiday season mean an increase in E-commerce returns to online sellers before Christmas.
Unfortunately, an increase in returns during the busiest time of year means retail distribution centers have become even busier.
Another downside of the Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend is the crowding of stores -- both online and in-person, and the competition you must perform against. With so many retailers hyping up their weekend discounts, it's hard for others to be noticed among the crowd.
In addition, although Black Friday and Cyber Monday drive search traffic, it increases competition for retailers. Publishers use key terms such as Black Friday deals and Cyber Monday sales to drive traffic further. The sudden fluctuation of these terms makes it harder for retailers to secure a spot on the first page of search engines.
Oh, the waiting game... Nowadays, with Black Friday and Cyber Monday engrained in consumers' minds, everyone expects a discount.
The only problems are:
