Promotional Strategy

If you're an avid shopper, there's a good chance you've asked yourself some variation of these questions lately: Wasn't that store offering a "40 percent off your purchase" promotion the last time I came to the mall? And maybe the time before that? Indeed, such promotions have become a mainstay at major e-commerce sites and brick-and-mortar stores since the economic downturn, when deep discounts seemed to be the only way to get anxious consumers to make a purchase. But now, as the economic recovery strengthens, some retailers are trying to put the brakes on their years-long promotional ride.

U.S. shoppers spent 2.4 percent more during the weekend before the Christmas holiday this year, giving a boost to retailers in the final days of 2014. Purchases during the so-called Super Saturday weekend rose to $42 billion, up from $41 billion during the same weekend a year ago, said Craig Johnson, president of Customer Growth Partners, a research firm. The performance on the Saturday before Christmas, one of the busiest shopping days of the year, indicates that this holiday season may fall short of early estimates that it would be the best in three years. 

The worst thing about going to the movies is having to sit upright for a few hours. Everyone knows lying down is the ideal viewing position for anything on a screen — or anything at all, for that matter. No stranger to putting dream-like imagery in its advertising, Ikea moves even more directly into the bedroom with its latest stunt. Moviegoers in Khimki, Russia are being treated to quite a surprise this month. After purchasing their tickets, patrons are led to a theater that's been completely gutted and transformed into a giant bedroom, entirely outfitted with Ikea furniture.

With Black Friday signaling the final stretch of holiday shopping, it's more important than ever for retailers to execute their digital marketing strategies with precision. In a noisy marketplace with countless retailers clamoring for consumers’ limited dollars and attention, using the right message to reach the right people in the right channel at the right time of day is critical.

Have retailers’ earlier and earlier deals each holiday season made Black Friday moot? Not quite. Some 87 million Americans still hit stores on Friday, according to a National Retail Federation (NRF) survey released on Sunday. But by ramping up holiday sales events more intensely than ever, and as early as the first week of November, retailers took a big bite of what's long been the busiest shopping weekend of the year. Total spending for the four-day weekend that started on Thanksgiving is expected to reach $50.9 billion, down 11.3 percent from last year's estimated $57.4 billion, according to NRF projections.

Black Friday weekend is the year's biggest promotional event for most major U.S. retailers, and yet there are prominent holdouts ignoring it - or at least being discreet about their specials. Tiffany & Co., Dollar Tree and T.J. Maxx are among the chains that aren't promoting Black Friday on their websites. That's a sharp contrast with the supersized fonts advertising sales at Wal-Mart, Macy's and Best Buy.

During the holidays, small retailers feel like the little kid in a big family, jumping up and down to get attention. They can't match the pre-Black Friday hoopla of the big-box stores, so they're trying new ways to say, "Hey, look at me!" American Express launched the most successful national campaign in 2010, naming the Saturday after Black Friday "Small Business Saturday." It's a win-win-win, with consumers getting discounts at participating small businesses when they use an Amex card, retailers receiving tons of free TV advertising for the event, and American Express adding more retailers that accept its cards.

Sears will provide members of its Shop Your Way loyalty program access to many Black Friday deals one full week before Thanksgiving, on Sears.com from 6 p.m. on Nov. 20 until 11:59 p.m. (CT) on Nov. 21. During this online member-exclusive pre-sale event, members can log on to their Shop Your Way account during the sale to access the deals. On Thanksgiving Day, Sears stores will open at 6 p.m. with more than 1,000 doorbuster deals on the most popular gifts of the season, through 1 p.m. local time on Black Friday.

Super-charged by increased mobile outreach, intensified consumer planning, and raised numbers of retailer mobile apps, traditional retailers will be going to work earlier, and working harder to engage consumers this season if they want their share of a projected individual $855.00 holiday spend, about 4 percent higher than last year. Sixteen-thousand consumers from the nine U.S. Census regions identified these real facts-of-retail-life in Brand Keys’ 20th annual national holiday shopping survey. And many consumers missed Black Friday. That's because it started last Saturday. Surprised? Well, it shouldn't have been a total surprise.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are quickly approaching and more than ever this holiday season, retailers need to cater to shoppers wherever they are as they research and purchase products. A recent survey of 3,000 global, multigenerational consumers found that 90 percent expect their customer experience to be consistent this holiday season regardless of how they shop — online or in-store. While this is no small feat, if retail brands keep the following priorities top of mind, they'll be ready to meet customer demands this Black Friday and Cyber Monday: