Hype for Black Friday

During the month of November, there is always much excitement. There is the joy and yearn for the traditions of Thanksgiving, watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade, the many Thanksgiving Day Football games, and the festive Thanksgiving meal. However, there is another part of November that everyone looks forward to year after year and that is the Black Friday shopping weekend.

Because the major religious holidays are right around the corner, the end of November is the perfect time to do all the necessary shopping for your friends and family. There’ve been several decades worth of history of people lining up outside stores to ensure they receive the absolute best deals on the items they desire. Since the beginning of the month, there have been dozens of predictions as to how this year’s Black Friday holiday shopping will turn out. Being in the midst of the shopping spree, let’s discuss some of those ideas.

Predictions for This Year’s Black Friday Shopping Rush

From the general predictions that have been released over the past few weeks, it is estimated that roughly 85% of Americans plan to do at least some shopping over the Black Friday weekend. With that 85%, it is expected that holiday sales will increase somewhere in the range of 3% to 4.8%, which makes the revenue range anywhere from $717.5 billion to $1 trillion. Since online shopping will have grown by 17-22%, the consensus is that 60% of consumers won’t shop in stores on Thanksgiving day, making it a 40% increase from 2016.

Technology Takes the Lead

With each passing year, mobile devices play a larger role in holiday shopping. Smartphones will represent about 48.3% of product views and website visits and will make up about 27.2% of the total revenue, with is up 11.6%. It is also estimated that 46% of consumers plan on using their mobile phone to shop, with is up 40% from 2017.

Smartphones provide a variety of services. During a holiday shopping rush, one of those services that people are using them for is a price checker. Even if the customer is shopping in the physical store, they tend to search online for a price comparison in-store to make sure they are receiving the best deal they can.

With the new technology that has appeared and developed in recent years, it seems that Black Friday has stepped down and Cyber Monday has risen as consumer’s choice shopping day. It is estimated that 76 million people plan to shop online on Cyber Monday. This is because many consumers believe that Black Friday is overwhelming. In the U.S., the overall satisfaction with Black Friday has decreased from 84.5% to 77% from 2015-2017 and continuing to drop. To put that in perspective, the usual satisfaction with shopping is 91%.

The Big Players in Retail

In regards to the key companies for the Black Friday weekend, it appears that they will continue to be Amazon, Best Buy, Kohl’s, Target, Walmart, Macy’s, JCPenny, Sears. One big change from last year is that Toy’s R Us is absent from that list due to its recent bankruptcy. Because of that gap, several companies such as Amazon, Target, and Walmart have rushed to take its place.

From reports, it appears that Walmart has successfully swooped in to fill that void. They announced in late-August that they were going to increase their toy selection and make its in-store toy-shopping experience better. Walmart has stayed true to its promise by offering 50% off on toys and creating a more kid-friendly environment to test out their toys.

A Professional E-Commerce Website is the Key to Success

From the statistics and reports, it seems that the growing trend will continue to be online shopping. As more deals are released online for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the greater need there is for top-notch e-commerce websites. If your website’s web design looks shabby in any way, has a confusing UI/UX, or a slow loading speed, you and your website will lose customers.

That point rings true, especially this weekend. With consumers being in a hurry to snatch up all the deals they can, they don’t have time to wait around. Have eMagid’s team of professional web developers examine your website for any flaws and let us help you create a better e-commerce website together. Visit https://emagid.com/services/web-development/ to view our web development and web design services.

Digital Marketing Makes the Difference

During Black Friday weekend, a time where every business is competing with each other for customers, proper online marketing can make or break a potential sale. There needs to be a planned approach to bringing in customers. Using tactics like email marketing and Google Ads can help attract customers to your website. In addition, publishing promotional content on your website is also a key idea that everyone should use. Within these marketing pieces, placing valued keywords such as ‘act now’, ‘offer ends soon’, ‘exclusive’, ‘hurry’ will absolutely assist in driving sales.

Lastly, you can create as much promotional content as you want, but if no one can see your website, there isn’t much point. Making sure your website SEO, Search Engine Optimization, is updated and ranking for what it should be, is absolutely key. If you are concerned that your website isn’t being properly ranked or need new ideas for your online marketing, have eMagid’s team of professional marketers sit with you to discuss potential options. Visit https://emagid.com/services/seo-marketing/ to view our marketing and SEO services.

Only Time Will Tell

As of yet, there are no definitive answers as to how Black Friday weekend 2018 will turn out. All the predictions made so far are truly intriguing and it will be interesting to see if the trends turn out the way they were predicted to or if consumers will take a different path.

Come back Tuesday, November 27th, to see the results of 2018’s Black Friday shopping weekend!