Black Friday 2016 Goes Mobile and Green… and we were right! The traditions of the materialistic and consumer driven yearly event that is Black Friday surely is dying! Sure, it’s due to the evolution of retail (as we so eloquently noted). Other factors such as mobile usage and the Green Movement made a huge impact this year, as well.
Just Go Mobile, Already!
Most retailers opened their doors Thanksgiving evening, leaving malls pretty quiet Friday morning.
Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at NPD Group, commented to Bloomberg News:
“I’ve been doing this for 40 years, and I’ve never seena Friday morning be this quiet. Thursday has stolen Friday, there’s no question about it.”
There’s also no denying the massive impact online sales has had on in-store turn-out. Online sales over Thursday and Friday rose 18% to $5.27B, according to Adobe Systems Inc. Compare that to in-store visits which fell 1% from 2015. Adobe notes that revenue generated from mobile devices rose 33% from 2015 – raking in a good $1.2B on Black Friday.
We saw retailers taking different routes to bring in profits this year, too. Wal-Mart, which plans to close 154 U.S. stores, focused much more on web deals than getting in-store foot traffic this year. The retailer is hosting a series of online promotions entitled “Cyber Week” and has tripled its e-commerce selection to 23 million products this year alone. The giant retailer also noted that 70% of its online traffic over the two days came from mobile devices.
Meanwhile, Target is taking a different route. The retailer, which also has announced planned store closures this year, is offering a 15% discount on almost everything in stores and online Sunday and Monday. Target.com encountered double-digit growth on Thanksgiving. This is all thanks to deals on televisions and Apple products, of course.
Following the trend of mobile, Amazon noted that mobile orders on Friday topped last year’s holiday and Cyber Monday numbers.
Well-known “E-tailer” EBay Inc. strategized to catch up with Amazon this year by introducing the wrath of Mobile Wednesday. EBay aimed to target consumers during their holiday travels after noticing a 15% increase year-over-year in purchases via mobile.
#OptOutside: Black Friday Goes Green
While some consumers headed to stores this Black Friday as voyeuristic observers, others chose to #OptOutside. In October, outdoor gear and apparel retailer REI announced that it would be closed Thanksgiving and Black Friday for the second year in a row. An estimated 2.7 million people pledged to participate across the country and take advantage of free park admission in at least 13 states.
Other corporations also chose to attract attention by doing Good. Subaru joined the fun and pledged to make a donation to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) for every picture shared via social media of a person outside with their dog with the hashtags #OptOutside and #MakeADogsDay. Other companies such as Google, Meetup, Upworthy, Burton and Yeti joined the “Green Friday” movement as well, spreading the #OptOutside tag all over their social accounts.
REI and Subaru weren’t alone in their efforts to do Good either. Patagonia announced on its blog that it would donate 100% of global black Friday sales to grassroots organizations. This includes small underfunded groups who work on the front lines to protect our air, water and soil.
Whether Patagonia’s announcement actually got shoppers to come out on Black Friday or not, we have yet to find out. Either way, it’s undeniable that retailers must adapt to the evolving landscape of retail: including embracing mobile-friendly websites and the act of giving back.
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