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1 | www.imrg.org IMRG © - October 2016

Alternative strategies for making the most of the biggest

shopping period of the year – without relying on heavy

discounting

http://www.imrg.org/


Foreword: Black Friday – something for everyone?

In the space of just a few short years, Black Friday in

the UK has evolved from an irrelevant US retail event

into the most important shopping period of the year.

Some love it, some hate it, and there are plenty in-

between those two extremes – it splits opinion like

nothing else in retail.

But we shouldn’t assume that its nature is now fixed –

that it will always be about frenzied discounting activity

and huge sales spikes. The event has already

demonstrated a remarkable capacity for evolution –

rising from a minor aside in the Xmas shopping calendar around 2010 to an £810m single

shopping day bonanza in 2014, when the pressure exerted on carrier and retailer operations

caused significant issues for industry.

Then in 2015 it changed from a major shopping day into a shopping period – with many

retailers running campaigns over the week preceding it. As Black Friday has no cultural

significance in the UK (it is linked to Thanksgiving in the US) it appears that it may be highly

adaptable as an event, with no definite sign it’s finished evolving quite yet.

Of course, throughout all this change there has been one constant – heavy discounting

activity. This has built up a strong sense of expectation in the minds of shoppers that they

should hold out for retailers’ Black Friday campaigns to begin, in hope of securing the best

deals.

While this is ok for those able to absorb the potential hit to margins, for SMEs it poses a

significant challenge – how to secure a share of spend in an extremely competitive, heavy

discounting environment while actually making any profit from sales activity.

There is one obvious solution – don’t discount. But wouldn’t that mean missing out on sales,

as everyone else is offering better prices than you?

Well, not necessarily, no. Remember that Black Friday has no cultural significance in the UK,

so it’s what you make it really. By using a bit of imagination, it is theoretically possible for

businesses of any size and type to run successful Black Friday campaigns without necessarily

needing to discount heavily (or even at all).

This paper outlines a few alternative strategies that SMEs might adopt in order to make the

most of the biggest shopping period of the year.

Andy Mulcahy, editor, IMRG



View from the expert: Finding your place

Black Friday is what you make of it, no matter what type or

size business you may be. Even companies that you might not

imagine – such as those in the telecommunications, travel,

event ticketing, publishing and sport sectors – were all among

those participating last year.

While it may seem daunting for a small business to take

advantage of a traditionally discount-dominated day, simple

measures can go a long way to driving up footfall – ultimately

leading to more sales. For 50 years, Barclaycard has been

helping merchants to sell, and over the past few years we’ve

spotted a few ideas that enable retailers to benefit from the

rising popularity of Black Friday.

One way for SMEs to capitalise on the discount period is to

adopt some tricks of their larger counterparts. For instance,

it’s absolutely key to build anticipation and urgency. To do this,

you need to make sure consumers are aware of your offers. Emails, adverts, social media

updates, and impactful website messages in the weeks leading up to Black Friday are just

some of the ways you can get your message out there. Once you have people in store, make

sure you highlight the number of products remaining to create a real urge to buy.

Small businesses can also leverage their unique position in the market, for example, by

highlighting their status as part of the community high street. Even little gestures in store, such

as providing free seasonal food and drink, can help to turn your shop into a neighbourhood

meeting point as the festive period kicks off – potentially leading to many more sales. Remind

shoppers that their purchases are supporting a small business and local communities. The

concept of ‘buying local’ is a growing trend, so you should try to take advantage of it.

Black Friday has become a hugely important time in the retail calendar, and – like it or not –

looks here to stay. The good news is, businesses can capitalise on the opportunity it brings,

regardless of size. I hope this report gives you a few thought starters, and encourages you to

continue to brainstorm throughout the next few months. Once you hit upon the right idea for

your business, take advantage of your agility as a SME to implement it straight away – and

you’ll be well on your way to Black Friday success.

Greg Liset, head of small business, Barclaycard



Alternative strategies for SMEs

For those wanting to avoid discounting altogether…

1 – Run community events

Independent retailers with stores

often convey a sense that they

are part of the local community,

and this can be turned to

advantage during busy shopping

periods.

Success here is dependent on

creating additional reasons to

visit the store as opposed to just

promoting products. A fairly

simple, but potentially attractive

idea would be to offer a free

beverage – good quality coffee

and tea, or maybe even

something a little stiffer if

appropriate – or providing interesting seasonal food and drink that may pique the interest of

passers-by.

It may even be possible for you to partner with other small businesses, particularly if you are

located close to each other. This might enable the creation of special co-promotions, but it

also raises the prospect of pooling resources to bring in entertainment services and provide

an inviting and friendly environment for people – perhaps using musicians and other types of

entertainer, or setting up activities for children to engage in (bouncy castles, treasure hunts

etc).

The key here is to stand out somehow and give people reasons to visit you, which may create

sufficient buzz to get people returning in the longer-term too.

2 – Actively promote the fact you’re not discounting

Sometimes, just not participating can be a strategy in itself. For example – Jigsaw tried this

approach in 2015, by taking a principled stand against Black Friday discounting. Oddbins used

the opportunity to have a bit of fun, too.



If you have the right kind of proposition and reputation with shoppers, this can be effective –

but obviously it won’t work for everyone.

3 – Showcase your expertise

It’s not all about price – people

sometimes need some support

and assistance to ensure they

are purchasing the right products

for the right purpose.

Having a special focus on

customer service may prove to

be a differentiator – running free

advice clinics on how to get the

most out of products that you sell,

or offering free repairs during the

Black Friday week as a means to

getting shoppers in store.

And there is nothing like a bit of

storytelling to attract people’s

attention. Look for ways to articulate the stories behind your products to help stand out – where

they were made, why they are special etc.



4 – Show your green credentials

Some people positively hate

Black Friday, believing it

represents a brand of

consumerism gone mad – a

viewpoint capably validated by

the in-store scuffles that broke

out during the event in 2014. This

doesn’t necessarily mean that

they hate shopping of course, it’s

probably just that in many cases

they are more conscientious

about how things are done rather

than being swayed by the best

bargains.

Providing this type of shopper

with an alternative approach could prove beneficial to winning them over during the event but

also for the longer-term.

A differentiator that may appeal could be around demonstrating your green credentials – are

your products fair trade or locally-sourced for example, do you support charities or work with

the local community in some way, how do you ensure that every step of your supply chain is

compliant with ethical standards?

Showcasing that you are a retailer with rock-solid principles may be more important to some

shoppers than rock-bottom prices.

5 – Go a bit further

The marketing noise that shoppers are exposed to during the Black Friday period ratcheted

up several notches in 2015, and we can certainly expect another escalation in 2016 as retailers

compete fiercely for shopper attention.

Obviously the more generic the communication, the more likely it will get lost in the overall

marketing maelstrom. A bit of personalisation can go a long way in this situation and creates

a good opportunity for SMEs and independent retailers to stand out – and it doesn’t

necessarily require discounting.

It may be possible to put customers into segments, so you can identify those that are most

frequent customers or spend the most each visit, for example. Then, leading into the Black

Friday period, put together unique content specific to them – something humorous perhaps –

to reward them for being regular customers, which may help to increase loyalty by showing

them that you really value their custom.



And for those wanting to discount in alternative ways…

1 – Support a charity

Industry may have created the expectation that Black

Friday is all about heavy, even slightly frenzied

discounting – but discounts can have different

intentions. For some shoppers it is not just the

opportunity to get something at a discounted

rate that is important – they want to shop with

principled retailers too and may respond well

to doing something positive in the process.

Instead of just offering a standard discount,

you might try charging full price across your

full range of products but run a campaign

guaranteeing that 20% (or other appropriate

percentage) of all sales made within a specific

timeframe will be donated to a named charity.

Selecting one that is relevant to the range of

products you sell would likely extend the appeal.

Taking an approach similar to this also presents opportunities to run follow-up marketing

campaigns, to announce the amount raised and set benchmarks to try to beat in future

campaigns.

2 – Discount positive ranges

In 2014 the slow start to November trading caused alarm and many retailers were forced into

far heavier and wider-ranging discounting than they would have liked. In 2015 we had a

precedent to work from, and the extending of the Black Friday period over a longer timeframe

led to a more focused approach to discounting – such as restricting discounts to a single

product category or range on each day of a campaign.

Everyone has a different strategy for Black Friday discounting – some may just look to clear

old stock, others might go as far as to buy-in stock specifically for the event. But an approach

that offers the best chance of success is one that focuses on the customer rather than

available stock.

With that in mind, it might be possible to just offer a discount on product ranges that could be

regarded as being ‘positive’ in some way – such as healthy food and drink or exercise

equipment; the type of products that encourage people to be active and live a healthy lifestyle.

By doing this, it becomes possible to market the fact that you genuinely have your customers’

best interests at the heart of your campaign.



3 – Create intelligent bundles

Following on from the previous point, there are different

types of shopper looking for purchases on Black

Friday – some are just looking to snap up the best

bargains, while others have a definite idea of

the kind of thing they are after.

You may be stocking a product they

particularly want – so instead of

discounting products individually, you

might look to create bundles to increase

the appeal of completing that purchase

now. For example, if you sell mobile

phones, you could give a phone case for

free; if you sell clothes, you could include

an accessory like a bracelet or hair band.

The key is to focus on what is different about

your offering – why should people shop with you,

how are you adding value and helping them to make

informed choices?

4 – Create specific offers

As with the ‘Go a bit further’ strategy listed previously, a bit of personalisation can make all

the difference to shoppers caught in the eye of a marketing storm once retailers’ Black Friday

campaigns are in full flow.

If you are able to segment your customers in any way – something simple such as splitting by

regular customers and one-time purchasers – you could look to structure different marketing

messages for each segment. This may be done through direct email or possibly an SMS

campaign, if appropriate and you have permission to do so.

For those that are repeat customers, you might try an approach to make them feel more valued

– perhaps announcing that you’ll be discounting and offering them early access to the best

deals, or exclusives on certain ranges that may have been of interest to them previously.



Over to you…

As can be seen from the strategies outlined in this paper, Black Friday isn’t really a fixed event

that has to be approached in a rigid way. The key thing to understand is that, like it or not, we

have primed people to be ready to shop in huge volumes during a short timeframe of the year

– the Black Friday period.

As it has no cultural significance in the UK, it can mean more or less anything – it’s not

restricted to retail either, after businesses from numerous other verticals launched campaigns

in 2015 – and take place during a period that can be extended or contracted over time, as

we’ve seen over the previous two years.

If the Black Friday period remains the peak shopping event of the year, it’s hardly something

that can be ignored by SMEs, independents and other retailers who feel unable to compete in

a meaningful way with some of the major retail brands. It’s all about identifying your strengths

and turning them to advantage, in order to secure your share of the huge upturn in retail

spending.

Whether you choose to discount or not is entirely up to you – but don’t assume you have to sit

on the side-lines in either case.

Black Friday is what you make it.

Contact

IMRG Barclaycard [email protected] / +44 (0)203 696 0992 [email protected] /

+44 (0) 207 116 4755


mailto:[email protected]


About IMRG

For over 20 years, IMRG (Interactive Media in Retail Group) has been the voice of e-retail in

the UK. We are a membership community comprising businesses of all sizes – multichannel

and pureplay, SME and multinational, and solution providers to industry.

We support our members through a range of activities – including market tracking and insight,

benchmarking and best practice sharing. Our indexes provide in-depth intelligence on online

sales, mobile sales, delivery trends and over 40 additional KPIs.

Our goal is to ensure our members have the information and resources they need to succeed

in rapidly-evolving markets – both domestically and internationally.

www.imrg.org

About Barclaycard

Barclaycard, part of Barclays Bank PLC, is a leading global payment business that helps

consumers, retailers and businesses to make and take payments flexibly, and to access

short-term credit and point-of-sale finance. In 2015 we processed over £293bn in

transactions globally. Barclaycard is a pioneer of new forms of payment and is at the

forefront of developing viable contactless and mobile payment schemes for today and

cutting-edge forms of payment for the future. We also partner with a wide range of

organisations across the globe to offer their customers or members payment options and

credit.

www.barclaycard.co.uk



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