Online marketers get ready – Black Friday is here to stay
Well, it seems to have happened again. Once more an American-centric trend has made its way across the Atlantic and begun to influence the UK market place. We are talking of course about Black Friday, the American marketing drive that aims to persuade everyone to empty their pockets the moment that they have digested their Thanksgiving turkey.
This is good news for online marketers
Prior to 2010, Black Friday meant very little in this country with just major stores like Amazon trying to push deals at this time of year. 2014 however, appears to be the year that Black Friday has taken root and entered the consciousness of the UK public. Near riots were witnessed out on the streets but far more interestingly, huge waiting times were seen on the websites of major retailers like Currys and Tesco, indicating that the UK’s online shopping population are after a Black Friday bargain too. Indeed, VISA have this week predicted that when the totals are totted up, £518m will have been spent online on cards on Black Friday, which would make it the biggest online shopping day in UK history.
All of which changes the playing field for online marketers, as what was once a primarily American interest becomes a day in the UK shopping calendar to rival the Boxing Day sales. Due consideration for the last Friday in November will need to be given if marketers are to ensure that their brands do not miss out on this huge spike in UK spending with an extra sales point of focus in the winter months.
Reap the benefits by being prepared
This doesn’t just apply to getting your email marketing material out to your customers ahead of the day either. Websites will need to be reinforced to ensure that they can handle the spike in traffic and process all transactions reliably – there’s no point in hyping up your offers if your website can’t deal with the user numbers.
Regardless of the size of your business, it really does look to be time to take Black Friday seriously and make it a part of your annual marketing plan for 2015 onwards.
