Good News for Retailers!
Halloween and Thanksgiving are still on the horizon, but already retailers are gearing up for Black Friday sales. The official start of the holiday shopping season, Black Friday was named for being the day that retailers would begin profitability for the year, from red to black figures. The day has become an indicator of how the rest of the holiday shopping season will go.
Planned discounting brings in many people, allowing retailers to connect with current customers and gain new ones. It also allows retailers to gauge how holiday sales are going in order to control inventory on hand and anticipate needed discounts for later in the season if sales are slow.
“Doorbusters” are offered to bring in early customers, because those early customers spend the bulk of their money in the first few stores they enter. Then they quit shopping and go home when they are tired. This benefits the retailers because early customers will be buying items that are not yet heavily discounted.
According to Kathryn Buschman Vasel in an article for Fox Business titled “What’s Going to Be on Sale”, 225 million shoppers spent $52.4 billion over Black Friday weekend last year. Even through the economy is still shaky, retailers are expecting a strong turnout and high sales this year.
Buying online and picking up the purchase in the store will be an attractive option for customers this year, as will the option of buying on a layaway plan.
What should you look for that might be on sale? The hottest-ticketed sales items are expected to be the following:
Tablets – Although HD TV’s have been dominant in sales for the past few years, tablets are hot this year as a secondary screen that consumers can take with them.
Cameras – New models from Nikon and Canon are expected to sell well.
Airline fares – JetBlue and Virgin had great sales on Black Friday last year and are expected to do the same this year.
Mini ipad – Apple has one coming out soon, and the ipad3 will probably show significant discounts.
Other sale products to look for are kitchen electronics, apparel, and interactive, hand-held and learning toys. Value is predicted to be a greater consideration than volume or quantity for shoppers. Products that are going to last are the products that will be in demand.
Using the pricing rules in CounterPoint allows you to set up discounts in the system that will automatically go into effect on Black Friday morning. Call us at 425-672-4806 or email us if you need assistance with this feature.