Set Your Alarm: Black Friday 2012

Ever wonder when the best days to go holiday shopping are? What about which retail categories are going to do well this year? All this and more in our conversations with SBC’s retail experts. Check back often for more.

Matt Wilson, General Manager and Partner

Do you think consumers will shop differently this year compared to last?
Consumers are smarter this year. News coverage of the real math behind deals during the stretch from Black Friday to December 24th have demonstrated that earlier shopping in the year will net better values. And retailers should not fear “showrooming” as much as they have in the past. A new Deloitte survey found that smartphone use in a store actually increases the likelihood of customers purchasing items at that store. In fact, roughly half of consumers surveyed said that the use of their smartphone for comparison influenced their decision FOR the store, not against. However, a third of consumers are using a third-party app to do the comparison shopping and general product searches…which has created an arms race for retailers to develop their own “price matching” apps. Good luck!

Seek the Sales: Black Friday 2012

Ever wonder when the best days to go holiday shopping are? What about which retail categories are going to do well this year? All this and more in our conversations with SBC's retail experts. Check back often for more.

Matt Wilson, General Manager and Partner

How do you think the longer gap between Thanksgiving and Christmas will affect holiday shopping?
December will deliver one of the big pushes for major brick and mortar sales, as two December shopping weekends will be fed by pay periods (the 1st and 15th are Saturdays and consumers will be paid on the Friday prior), one additional weekend and a Monday prior to Christmas day (Tuesday, 12/25). We will also see an increase in in-store fundraising for the Red Cross and a push from the Salvation Army to support recovery and response efforts in the Northeast.

Black Friday By The Numbers

Black Friday, retail’s biggest shopping day, is fast approaching. You’ve heard predictions, favorite ads, and what has been successful from our retail experts. Now, you can check out the latest from SBC Advertising in visual form. Looking for opening hours for major retailers on the big day, how technology will be used and the impact of online shopping? It’s all there.

Brave the Crowds: Black Friday 2012

Ever wonder when the best days to go holiday shopping are? What about which retail categories are going to do well this year? All this and more in our conversations with SBC’s retail experts. Check back often for more.

Shawn Brown, VP/ Creative Services

What is your opinion on retailers opening doors on Thanksgiving night?

Just as it seems every year, the holidays come earlier and earlier in the retail world. We all saw many stores decked out in holiday fare on some level around October, and the influx of holiday toy catalogs started showing up at my home even earlier.

As most of us know, approximately 10 percent of holiday sales happen on Black Friday. Walmart has decided to hedge its bets a bit by opening the official start of the holiday shopping season even sooner. At 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving night, Walmart will open the doors and invite holiday shoppers in with a plethora of savings and "Black Friday" specials. This will give Walmart a 4-hour head start over most of their competition, essentially creating a 28-hour Black Friday shopping day. 

Collect your Coupons: Black Friday 2012

Ever wonder when the best days to go holiday shopping are? What about what retail categories are going to do well this year? All this and more in our conversations with SBC’s retail experts. Check back often for more.

Becky Ziegler, VP/Account Director

How is the idea of Black Friday changing for consumers? For retailers?

As retailers continue to move their store opening hours up to Thanksgiving Day, the significance of a traditional Black Friday retail model will become less and less important. More consumers are shopping online (post-pie shopping!) and using retail stores to showroom rather than purchase. It’s still an important retail day but not nearly as important as five years ago. Consumers are getting much more sophisticated and they know and even talk about “showroom shopping.” 

Make Your Shopping Lists: Black Friday 2012

Ever wonder when the best days to go holiday shopping are? What about what retail categories are going to do well this year? All this and more in our conversations with SBC’s retail experts. Check back often for more.

Matt Wilson, General Manager and Partner

What are your expectations for online sales?

Internet holiday sales will push close to $40 billion for November 1 to December 26 from the similar period take of $35 billion in 2011 - I $5 billion increase or around 14 percent. FedEx and UPS, the key logistics providers for holiday sales, have reported that they predict holiday shipments will increase 13 percent and 10 percent respectively.