Each year, one of our favorite blogs to write is the one where we preview the “shopping holidays” that are traditionally after Thanksgiving, i.e. Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, and Giving Tuesday. This year’s blog is going to look a little different, but that seems to be the theme for all of 2020, doesn’t it?
The National Retail Federation issued a report from a survey of retailers and the results are pretty clear. It’s no surprise that people are starting to Christmas shop much earlier than they normally would. According to their report, 42 percent started shopping earlier than normal yet as of mid-November, 74 percent said they had some shopping left to do. Consumers are also expected to spend an average of $998 on holiday-related items including gifts and food. Consumers are expected to make 60 percent of their purchases this holiday season online, which is about 4 percent more than last year. The figure that seems to strike us the most is that a whopping 96 percent of all retailers surveyed expect their online orders to increase.
Now, let’s look at the individual days.
Black Friday
Usually here is where we start sharing expert projections on how many are expected to participate in this long-time tradition of major sales the day after Thanksgiving. We searched and didn’t find much, and the reason is clear. In recent years, major retailers have started their biggest Black Friday sales a day or two before the event, often much to the ire of some patrons who don’t like stores being open on Thanksgiving. This year, however, most major retailers are closed on the holiday but have been offering “Black Friday” sales all month. That said, it is nearly impossible to measure growth (or lack thereof) in Black Friday patronage because is no longer a single defined period.
Small Business Saturday
This is the 11th year for Small Business Saturday, which was started by American Express but has taken on a life of its own. Black Friday is known for attracting huge crowds to the big box stores and Small Business Saturday is set aside for attracting business to, you guessed it, small businesses. It’s also a time to encourage “Shop Small” all year long and this year is especially poignant. The theme is “Share Joy, Shop Small All Season Long.” The idea is that it’s important to support small business all season and also to do so in a socially distanced way. This year, the SBS website also gives a guide to finding Black-owned businesses and emphasizes shopping both online and in-person with any local small business.
Adapting Your Black Friday Strategy for 2020Cyber Monday
Black Friday has traditionally been the in-person shopping day and Cyber Monday has been the online shopping day, but those lines are now heavily blurred. Still, Online retailers do ramp up for Cyber Monday with flash deals and many other specials. According to Business Insider, the amount spent on Cyber Monday grows noticeably each year and 2020 is expected to be the same. However, sales are predicted to only grow from $9.4 billion in 2019 to about $10 billion in 2020. Yes, that’s still an astounding about of money!
Giving Tuesday
Giving Tuesday is not actually a shopping day. Instead, it’s a day to show appreciation for your favorite non-profits by making financial donations. Many will have campaigns to help offset the losses they have suffered in 2020. We hope that you will participate in this very important event! You can learn more on the Giving Tuesday website about the global effort that started in 2012.