Looking Back On Black Friday and Cyber Monday Shopping

There is much discussion this morning about Macy's and Kohls coming in lower than expected for Holiday Sales. Early on, Brick Retails were reporting higher than projected sales and were making predictions based on these Black Friday - Cyber Monday initial sales.

Although they may not have hit the numbers they had predicted, there are some things to consider from a marketing perspective. In the last few years, Thanksgiving has been coming earlier and earlier playing into the popular opinion there is more time for sales. When it comes to Holiday purchasing key phrases such as Black Friday, and Cyber Monday have us pulling our credit cards for these awesome deals.

The longer shopping season is not always a good thing, there is less urgency, giving shoppers more time to plan and execute their "NICE LIST." Without overspending, on that last-minute gift or an impulsive buy, a retailer's bottom line is negatively impacted. On the marketing side of things, we may have done such an excellent job of promoting Black Friday, and Cyber Monday Events, that these events now carry an expiration date just like the holidays. Black Friday was on November 23 in 2018 cushioning shoppers with 32 days to prepare, in contrast to the 25 days we will see in 2019. In the wonderful world, of instant gratification and overnight shipping by the time Christmas Eve rolls up Black Friday feels like it was in the distant past.

Of course, there is all the excitement of Amazon and Target doing well, but they’re not the same business model as the retailers Macy’s and Kohls. Target sells coats, TV's, milk and bread while Amazon has no physical retail store.

Online ecommerce marketers were under the impression that Bricks and Mortar were fading, with a shift towards all web markets. However, the thinking has changed, and there is still a future for Brick Retail. The important big box retail sectors are doing an incredible job of mixing the brick and cyber, taking advantage of their physical locations while leveraging the web to increase sales.