International retailers rethink strategy for Black Friday

The growth of major sales events such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Amazon Prime Day is changing the shape of peak season, according to a new survey from marketing firm Yieldify.

In a survey of more than 400 US and UK retail marketers, Yieldify found that retailers are anticipating Black Friday revenue this year to be 25 percent higher than 2018, and revenue from the wider holiday season to be 28 percent up on last year.

Taking a closer look, however, it is clear that attitudes towards the discount-driven event are evolving. Twenty-two percent of pureplay online businesses surveyed said they are opting out of Black Friday altogether, and those that are participating will offer smaller discounts than their omnichannel peers.

In addition, rather than offering heavy discounts over the Black Friday period, many retailers are looking to spread discounting across the holiday quarter, with price cuts peaking in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

Eighty-five percent of retailers surveyed said they will offer discounts in the weeks leading up to the Christmas period, and more than half (57.6 percent) will offer discounts across their entire range during the Christmas period – higher than on Black Friday (50.6 percent) or Cyber Monday (44.4 percent).

US retailers are more likely to favor this approach to discounting, even on Black Friday, with 61.9 percent discounting across all ranges versus just 39.3 percent of their British counterparts.

“[This] attests to the trends we’ve been seeing in recent years with our clients – what used to be a race to the bottom for discounts has evolved into a more diverse set of approaches to the traditional peak season,” Yieldify chief executive and founder Jay Radia said.