Black Friday and the subsequent days saw a £7 billion cash injection into the British retail sector. Unsurprisingly most of these sales came from online purchases.
Report stats show that whilst the overall retail spend was 28% higher over Black Friday when compared with the weeks before, the in-store retail spending was actually 7% lower than 2017.
Why did Digital Retailers Win?
There are several reasons as to why online stores won on Black Friday. One reason is the 24/7 nature of online shops which allows online retailers to start their Black Friday offers from midnight instead of being constrained by store opening hours.
Other reason for online retailers winning on Black Friday is the simple fact that Black Friday is a normal working day. Its easier for workers to simply shop online during their commute and lunch breaks than to make time in their day to visit brick and mortar stores.
The main avenue here is m-commerce, those looking to purchase on their mobiles. The retailers with websites that could be easily accessed and used on mobiles saw record sales.
Online shopping becomes more appealing when you consider the urgency that the big giants have placed around their Black Friday deals. All the ‘Limited Time Only’ language surrounding Black Friday deals means that people are anxious not to miss out and the quickest way to grab a deal, and multiple deals, is to grab them online.
The Winners of Black Friday
The main winner of Black Friday was without any doubt the online retail giants such as Amazon. Amazon reported that British consumers had brought 100,000 toys and 60,000 beauty items by mid-morning.
What’s key to remember with Amazon is that Black Friday is a huge item in their calendar, it is something that they spend the rest of the year preparing for.
With this in mind, you can prepare your online infrastructure for Black Friday 2019. If you are wanting to make Black Friday 2019 your biggest yet then you will find it beneficial to start prepping now.
The key factors to focus on are:
- Ensuring a fast site loading time.
- Ensuring clear calls to actions throughout your website to allow to easy promotion of offers and deals.
- Ensuring correct stock management so that you can fulfil all of your orders.
- Looking offline to ensure that your team and infrastructure can handle the influx.
- And most importantly, ensuring that your website functions well on a mobile screen in every way.
Head into 2019 with a plan to help ensure that you get your slice of the Black Friday sales.
Published: 28th Nov 2018