With Covid and inflation still lingering, get ready for a Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Nov. 25 and 28, that won”™t be as good as last year and will be different in other ways.
Erik Totten of Divante”“ a global e-commerce solutions and experimentation company ”“ predicted that this will not be a Black Friday and Cyber Monday to break records, but then apparently neither was 2021. (Last year, the”¯Adobe Digital Economy Index”¯noted consumer spending for Black Friday was down 1.3% year-over-year (YoY) at $8.9 billion versus $9 billion in 2020. Cyber Monday 2021 was down 1.4% YoY, or $10.7 billion versus $10.88 billion in 2020, (the Covid year, as if we need reminding). Meanwhile, the numbers for Thanksgiving Day shopping stayed flat at $5.1 billion.
Last year, inventory was low, but consumers had cash in their pockets from savings and government programs. This year, inventory is high at big retailers from the Gap to Target, but buyers find their dollars stretched to the max. Still, this is definitely a shoppers”™ market, even with inflation. Already we”™ve seen companies continue to roll out Black Friday-ish steals in October and shoppers getting an early jump in a month that saw discounted Halloween decorations vying for their attention. Look for deep, prolonged deals, including payments stretched out over periods of time and, one thing we”™ve noticed, more aggressive sales pitches by text, email and phone.
Given that Black Friday and Cyber Monday are now more seasonal than one-offs, expect the number of shoppers to continue to decline on those days. They can afford to hold off for the best deals.
Another thing to watch for, Totten wrote ”“ people shopping for themselves. It reminds us of the classic 2012 Target Black Friday commercial.
Hasn”™t it been ever thus?
