Leveraging Black/Plaid/Pink Friday...
and preparing for Small Business Saturday & Cyber Monday
Welcome to Fall and the 4th quarter, retail friends! As you prepare for a busy holiday season, I urge you to consider your industry and your competition before deciding what promotions you choose to offer. I’ll include 30+ tips in this newsletter post, beginning with some definitions and insights from experienced retailers.
Barbara Mooney of Daisy’s Mercantile in Alameda, California recently shared some Black Friday thoughts with me. “I am amazed how many [independent] retailers give up on Friday,” says Mooney. “We do an insane amount of money. We make our best swag on Friday. Saturday still wins by a mile, but it has made Friday crazy good.”
At Daisy’s, they call it small biz weekend and they promote in-store happenings for Friday, Saturday AND Sunday. Barbara and her team plan fun things like a pop up shop of small makers (aka: kids) during the weekend and customers enjoy the adorable shopping experience.
Barbara has an interesting approach to Small Business Weekend that I believe could work for many Retail Details readers…
“We don’t discount anything. We have amazing gifts with purchase at many levels, food and beverage bar all set up, but I am not discounting stuff at a time when I don’t need to.” ~Barbara Mooney, Daisy’s Mercantile
Barbara’s statement brings me back to the opening of this newsletter, urging you to consider your industry and your competition when planning your promotions. And to further clarify, considering what your competition is doing does NOT necessarily mean doing the same thing that they are doing or trying to “top” their promotion ideas. A smarter approach could be for you to do the exact opposite, like no discounts. I’ll provide more approaches later in this post.
Countering Black Friday
Many independent retailers prefer to promote Small Business Saturday, Pink Friday or Plaid Friday instead of Black Friday.
WHAT IS PINK FRIDAY? Celebrated on the Friday before Black Friday, Pink Friday in 2024, falls on November 22. The purpose of Pink Friday is to encourage shoppers to discover and support small retailers FIRST during the holiday season. The nationwide event, established in 2020, is dedicated to celebrating and supporting small and local businesses. Pink Friday highlights the value of community, urging shoppers to invest in the vibrancy and diversity of their local economies before turning to big-box retailers. Pink Friday uses the hashtag #SHOPSMALLFIRST. Learn more about Pink Friday at The Boutique Hub’s website.
WHAT IS PLAID FRIDAY? Celebrated on the day after Thanksgiving, Plaid Friday's purpose is to celebrate and support small, independent businesses, as an alternative to Black Friday. Some communities celebrate it by encouraging consumers to wear plaid as they shop and dine downtown, and take advantage of special deals at participating businesses. Learn more about Plaid Friday (11/29/24) at The American Independent Business Alliance’s website.
WHAT IS BLACK FRIDAY? Celebrated on the day after Thanksgiving in the United States, Black Friday is considered the start of the holiday shopping season. It's known for big discounts on popular gifts, particularly electronics and toys. Known for long lines and blowout sales, Black Friday has been diluted in recent years as many big box and online retailers extend the promotion to days or even weeks in advance of Thanksgiving (and even on Thanksgiving Day & continue the promotions after the fact, too). The result is that consumers no longer anticipate doing a majority os their holiday shopping on the single day, which is great news for independent retailers.
WHAT IS SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY? SBS is a marketing initiative created and promoted by American Express back in 2010 to encourage holiday shopping on the Saturday after Thanksgiving in the United States during one of the busiest shopping periods of the year. It has grown beyond simply an affiliation with American Express and is currently promoted by the Small Business Administration, too.
WHAT IS MUSEUM STORE SUNDAY? On 12/1/24 (the Sunday following Thanksgiving), over 2,100 museum stores representing all fifty United States and in 20+ other countries, will promote shopping at museums and cultural institutions. Learn more about Museum Store Sunday at the Museum Store Association’s website.
WHAT IS CYBER MONDAY? The National Retail Federation coined the term Cyber Monday in 2005 to address the fact that many e-commerce sellers felt left out of the revenue boost that was being realized for brick-and-mortar stores on the days after Thanksgiving. This year, Cyber Monday falls on 12/2/24. In the same way that independent retailers may or may not embrace Black Friday in some form, those of you who have e-commerce may benefit from promoting Cyber Monday, as well.
Longtime retailer, Weston Lewey knows her customers, her community and her competition, so she celebrates Black Friday and Small Businesses Saturday similarly at her gift store Chez Weenie in Forrest City, Arkansas. “We usually have a big Black Friday, mainly because our town is so small that to shop big box stores and department stores, other than Walmart, they have to shop online or travel out of town,” reports Lewey. “Seems like people enjoy getting out the day after Thanksgiving, and for that, we are thankful!”
Lewey offers 20% off storewide for Black Friday, one of the few days during the holiday shopping season that she offers a discount. “We also participate in Small Business Saturday, by offering the same discount as Friday, but it is not promoted as heavily, and is generally a bit less hectic than the day before,” says Lewey.
Promotional Ideas, Tips and Examples — (in no certain order)
According to the National Retail Federation, over half of consumers shop for themselves during the holidays, so consider promotions that offer a two for the price of one deal so that customers can get something for themselves and a gift for someone on their list. Gift Card promotions also fall into this category. Example: Buy $100 gift card, get a $20 gift card free
Implement a Bounce Back promotion that brings customers back to your store in January. (I wrote about Bounce-Backs previously, click here to read it.)
Remember that ~80% of your business likely comes from your top 20% of customers, so prioritize your best customers when planning promotions.
Create bundles with varying price points AND varying configurations, so you have something for ALL gift purchasers. (I wrote about bundling, click here to read.)
Consider double loyalty points on special days versus discounting.
Keep reading for 23 more tips!