Black Friday – the biggest time of year for sales

It is no secret that Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the biggest days of the year for retailers across the globe. Incredibly every year the manic retail sales days seem to outperform the last, more promotion, more traffic, more customers and ultimately bigger sales figures.

Online sales was the winner for retailers this year, with a whopping £1.4 Billion spent in online sales in the UK on Black Friday. Which was up an incredible 11.7% on last years figures! 

However the real winner, was the mobile phone. As 39% of those £1.4 Billion online sales was through the smartphone, as the mobile phone became the dominant device again beating the desktop and tablets to the lion share of the online sales.

Black Friday 2017 stats
11.7% year-on-year growth
Average basket values up by 4.9%
Traffic to retail websites was up by 6.7%
(Source: IMRG)

So how do you make the most out of Black Friday?
Well looking at the stats and figures from 2017, it’s obvious that the smartphone has again a big part to play, and that is no real surprise. We all love our mobile phones and they have become our best friends, they never leave our side and we take them everywhere with us. Smartphone website traffic has taken over from desktop, and the sales that come through the smartphone is continually increasing – it’s expected that the sales through online and the smartphone will increase even more this year.

When it comes to the Black Friday period, making yourself heard and making sure your customers know about your offer or deal is imperative. However competition is very fierce, with every retailer trying to shout the loudest, your marketing can sometimes get lost. 

SMS marketing can help. SMS marketing is one of the most responsive marketing channels around today, with amazing open rates of 98% – you can virtually guarantee your Black Friday marketing message will get read by every recipient. Which means it is an unbelievably valuable marketing channel at a time like this. How retailers are using SMS marketing to boost their sales

Sending text messages with the details of your Black Friday offer, plus a link to your website will dramatically increase your sales numbers. 

When is the best time to start Black Friday?
Some retailers are now running what is known as Black November, where they run their Black Friday sales for the whole of November, in a ploy to beat their competition to those sales. 

The majority of retailers however tend now to run a Black Friday week campaign, and start their deals on the Monday up to the Friday itself and then over the weekend, finally finishing with their Cyber Monday deals.

So timing or length of the Black Friday campaign is really down to your businesses preference and maybe what your immediate competitors are doing. 

In summary Black Friday is not slowing down, and is a massive opportunity for any and every retailer. Black Friday 2018 early predictions have stated again that all sales records will be broken, as this sales phenomenon continues to rise. So make sure your business takes full advantage of the Black November period, get your campaigns ready and set, and make sure you use mobile marketing to get your message heard and you beat your competition to those all important sales.