“Black Friday” is so named because that is the day when most retailers’ ledger sheets go “in the black.” Competition on this day is fierce, which forces most retailers to use incredible sales, special offers and other tactics to chase after sales. With competition increasing, many retailers have decided to offer their best sales on the weekend and week following “Black Friday.”
Kate and Ryan will be live blogging through this shopping extravaganza so it only seems appropriate to name this special blog the “In The Black Turkey Feed.”
Join us for an extra helping of information starting today!
Wednesday 3:50pm – Kate
Welcome to our live blogging event!
If we’re going to spend the holidays with each other I feel like I should introduce myself. My name is Kate and I am the chief blogger at Volusion. To date I have written 120 posts for Volusion’s blog. (How do I know that? They ‘re numbered on my computer.) I like cheesy medical dramas, colorful office supplies, charts/graphs, and watching sports (football and hockey mainly).
Thanksgiving is so close you can almost smell the turkey! Unlike those people that hate the bustle of holiday shopping and dread mall traffic and long lines, I love holiday shopping. Last year I went shopping at midnight at the mall, returned home, did my online shopping, slept for a few hours, and then got up early to go into work.
This year I started getting Black Friday email promotions on Monday! I don’t ever remember the promotions starting so early or getting so many of them (but to be fair I think more companies have my email address than ever before)! Here’s a summary of what I’m seeing so far:
-Kate Pierce eCommerce Specialist
Wednesday 4:10pm – Ryan
Since Kate added an introduction, it’s only appropriate that I should add one as well.
Hi, my name is Ryan and other than being the Volusion Community Evangelist, I am a geek and a gadget/consumer electronics nerd. My interests are in things that flash bright lights, make beeping noises and have buttons. Button functionality is optional. Like Kate, I have a love for hockey that rivals my love for CE and Turkey.
With loads of turkey, Hockey, sales, shopping and new gadgets hitting the shelves, this week is a perfect storm of awesome for me. I’d like to thank Kate for inviting me and thank you for joining us! I’m looking forward to it!
-Ryan Connelly Community Evangelist
Wednesday 5:45pm – Kate
With the amount of travel I’ve had to do the last two years I fee like every major US airline has my personal information. This year more than ever I’m seeing tons of Black Friday travel deals- free miles, quadruple points with qualifying purchases, discount flights. The cruise companies are jumping on board too… yes, the bad puns have begun!
The abundance of plane and cruise offers opened my eyes to the fact that even companies that do not traditionally take advantage of the Black Friday shopping frenzy may be taking advantage of the craze this year to try to capture sales. Perhaps next I’ll get some sweet offers for an electric toothbrush, chainsaw, or floor tiles! …Actually, there are a few of those that I wouldn’t mind finding some savings on.
Anyways, I invited a few people over for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow at the last minute so I’m off to the grocery store to pick up some extra food. I want to make sure that there will be enough for everyone to stuff themselves to the point of needing to be rolled out the door!
Wednesday 8:20pm – Kate
I got the items I needed- the grocery store was not nearly as busy as I’d imagined it would be. There were actually a good amount of turkeys left (big ones mostly)! When I got home I was greeted by the annual stack of pre-Black Friday fliers. It looks like there’s a lot of electronics on sale this year, which isn’t different from other years really. I’ve heard that flat screen tv’s have been dubbed this year’s “must-have toy” for big kids.
If you’re looking to get your hands on a shiny new piece of technology this year Engadget has laid out what you should look for and what you should avoid this year in terms of electronics.
Thursday 12:10am – Kate
I’ve spent a good chunk of time on my laptop tonight finalizing my Thanksgiving Gantt Chart. Yes, I made a Gantt Chart to track which fixin’s need to be prepared when. It’s even color coded to differentiate between preparation time and cook time. In this time on my laptop I checked my email a number of times. It seems one company has resorted to sending me the same email over and over. Over the last 24 or so hours they’ve sent me a “50% off almost everything on Black Friday” email FOUR times! They’ve got some good deals, but boy is it annoying. Note to merchants: don’t drive your customers mad promoting yourself!
Recent find: Gizmodo’s “Black Friday Deals: The Only List You’ll Need” for geeks like Ryan. I would like to clarify that while that is certainly an extensive list, it is comprised solely of national retailers. There are a lot of great bargains to be had out there from smaller retailers.
Who’s got some killer Black Friday deals planned? Leave a comment to let our readers know what promotions you’re running!
Thursday 2:25pm – Kate
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!
Whew! Finally took a break to get back to the blog. Got up this morning watched the parade with my husband and then started the turkey. I’ve been peeling, baking, basting, chopping, and stirring since. Dinner is at 4:00 and hopefully everything will turn out great.
What I’ve been hearing from online store owners so far is that traffic is looking good- pretty consistent with last year at this point. Getting those conversions remains the challenge as always. Just remember, that if visitors aren’t buying now they may be comparison shopping and returning later to complete the sale!
Right now my Black Friday shopping plans aren’t finalized. I’m thinking I’ll probably doing my online shopping first this year because some stores that I usually keep my eye on are doing midnight deals, and then the retail locations I’d like to visit all seem to be opening at 5am this year. Later when I’m a little less excited (i.e. drugged by the tryptophan) I’ll make make my game plan!
Compliments of my husband: Black Friday Shopping Tips
Thursday 7:50pm- Kate
Dinner was great! Ate so much that it hurt to move and then the moment I felt like I could squeeze some more in I ate some apple pie. Now the daunting task of dishes looms before me!
We just made our first online purchase! Every year we get our anti-virus on Thanksgiving or Black Friday because of the great deals. This year we actually got it completely free (after rebate of course)!
Thursday 8:20pm- Kate
I was looking online to see where the buzz was building for Black Friday shopping when I found an interesting article from The New York Times talking about Black Friday versus Cyber Monday. This was an encouraging excerpt:
“Stores have greatly reduced their inventories since last year, when the economic downturn forced them into panic selling. So while there will be sales, as there are every year in any economy, it is possible stores might run out of certain products or sizes. ‘For the best selection you are going to need to shop early this year,’ said Kimberly Grabel, senior vice president for marketing at Saks. Her best advice? ‘Stay home and shop online.’”
Thursday 10:50pm- Kate
Just over an hour left until the online midnight sales start. Eeeeee!! (that was the sound of excitement)
In my online searching for Black Friday deals I found a bizarre money-making idea being reported on by the Chicago Tribune. Apparently there are people who will research local Black Friday deals, camp out and stand in long retail store lines on your behalf to make sure that you get the best deals on the items on your wish list. Think of them as crazed holiday personal shoppers.
(For those who read the article, who thinks that that guy Panvino actually DID have the personal shopper buy the gift for his girlfriend but knows he would have gotten in major trouble if she found out?)
Thursday 11:55pm- Kate
I actually got an amazing deal shopping online just now. There was an item I had been looking for online for my husband for a while now and I just found it for $10 off. The online site gave me all of the info I needed right in their header:
The $10 off and flat rate shipping meant that I got the item for well less than I would normally have paid, but upon checkout the deal was made even sweeter! I was actually offered the option of free shipping, with the item guaranteed to arrive by Dec 24th. Since I just need it in time to wrap and set under the tree that was fine by me!
The lesson to be learned here is that you need to give shoppers a reason to stop their comparison shopping and fork over their payment info right away when they are browsing your products. Make sure that you reduce any anxiety they may have about buying and any doubt that you have the best deal available. How?
If you have any other suggestions for converting holiday shoppers let us know below!
Friday 12:05am- Kate
Happy midnight!
To kick off Black Friday here is the weirdest promotion I’ve seen: An Animal Shelter in Hamilton, OH is Having a Black Friday Sale. Get there early, lest you miss out on getting 50% off new family pet!
If you’ve seen or heard about anything that can top this tell us. For now, the bar is set!
Friday 1:20am- Kate
I was going to head to bed after my last post (since my alarm is set for 4:30am) but I’m currently mesmerized by my husband who is online configuring an HT PC (or as I referred to it earlier “some sort of computer tv thingy”). He’s definitely a night owl so he’s just hitting his strides now in the bargain hunting department. Aside from the thing that he is busy configuring he’s also discovered a deal on a wireless keyboard and mouse set that he is going to hunt down tomorrow. Every year we get sucked into the realm of geek gadgetry.
Friday 7:15am- Kate
So I got up this morning and was to the stores by 5:10. Here’s the good, the bad, and the ugly from my trip:
The Good
I got some insane deals. I didn’t camp out for any of the high ticket items or anything but I managed to score some of those season favorite $5 and $9 DVDs, save up to 75% on apparel, find a few items for my husband’s stocking. I found a good deal on a board game that I love as well but ended up leaving it and heading for the door when I saw that the checkout lines each had 20+ people.
The Bad
Parking was terrible. That’s to be expected, but I knew I was in trouble when I got to the first stop on my trip and had to wait for a parking spot. At one store I swear it might have been closer if I had just walked from home.
If I was looking for a GPS system, flat screen TV, or kitchen appliance I would have been out of luck. (Luckily none of those were on my mind this holiday season.) Those were all just empty shelves a mere 15 minutes after stores opened.
The Ugly
A man ran head-on into me while he was picking his nose. I’m not talking about the polite “fake nose scratch” nose picking. It was a full on “half the finger up the nose” nose picking- like a little kid might do in public. I actually think he ran into me BECAUSE he was picking his nose so vigorously.
It feels strange to be the only one in the office right now, but hey it took a mere 10 minutes to get here. I could get used to that kind of commute on a daily basis.
I’m going to go try to find some coffee and I’ll be back later with more informative news and less rambling.
Friday 9:30am- Ryan
I made it into work.
Traffic by the mall was so deadly I was wondering if I’d need a tank to get through. I re-routed my trip by 20 miles, away from any shopping plazas, and it was eerily silent and deserted.
Since I make the best coffee in the known universe, as soon as I got in, I decided to brew a fresh pot (you’re welcome Kate). Something tells me that with all the tryptophan in the turkey we all ate yesterday, a nice strong cuppa’ Joe is just what the doctor ordered.
As for shopping trends, I heard that people had started camping out at Best-Buys across the nation as early as 5:00pm Wednesday for the $29 netbook “door busters” they were offering.
That sounds like a crazy low price and, well, it is. With around 1/3 of most retailers’ annual revenue coming from this day, and with Black Friday last year being the worst Black Friday in four decades (according to what I heard on the radio) retailers are pulling out all the stops this year.
The question is: Did they succeed this year, or will online shopping feature even more strongly this year than in past years??
Friday 9:50am- Kate
Well, I wouldn’t call it the best coffee in the world, but I would call it the strongest coffee in the world. I swear you can just smell it and start to feel the caffeine buzz.
According to the Los Angeles Times Black Friday could set a precedent for the rest of the holiday shopping season: “Spending patterns on Black Friday could have far-reaching implications for the battered economy: Strong sales could kick-start the recovery after months of uncertainty. A sluggish season could mean more weakness beyond Christmas.”
Friday 12:40pm- Kate
Ryan’s coffee is so strong that it ate through my styrofoam cup and began leaking. Unfortunately I feel like I could crash at any second. Going to bed, getting up at 5am to shop and then going in to work has proved to be much more difficult than going shopping at midnight, going to bed and then going in to work. I really need a nap!
Looks like online store owners are really starting to see those sales rolling in!
Share with us what you’re seeing in terms of traffic and conversions in the space below!
Friday 1:30pm- Kate
A Wall Street Journal article quoted Macy’s CEO Terry Lundgren as saying that early traffic and sales numbers on Black Friday are pointing to “very good signs” for the holiday shopping season. In fact, this morning more than 5,000 customers waited for the Macy’s flagship store on 34th Street in NYC to open at 5 a.m.
(I just love the picture used for that article because it looks like the one lady is doing her best to hold up the mountain of toys in front of her, while the other is scanning shelves for more toys to pile on top!)
Sunday 8:00pm- Kate
So for those of you have been waiting all weekend to get the report of hard Black Friday numbers. BizReport just published their Black Friday Recap, in which they state: “According to comScore $595 million was spent online on Friday, making Black Friday 2009 the second heaviest shopping day of the year so far; that is also an 11% increase in spending over 2008. So far, the holiday season has seen more than $10.5 billion spent.” Good news for onlline retailers!
Sunday 9:20pm- Kate
The theme of the day seems to be “Cyber Monday secrets.” I’ve been getting emails all day with “Cyber Monday sneak peeks,” “Cyber Monday mystery codes,” and “Cyber Monday exclusive deals.” (Almost all of the deals have ended up being free shipping and 10-50% off select merchandise.) These emails are clearly geared toward driving traffic to online stores, rather than disclosing deal details. And, they’re working! I have visited all of the stores that have sent me these types of emails.
Are any of you out there using this type of “mystery deals?” Tell us about your Cyber Monday promotions!
1 Comment Add your own
1. In the black Turkey Feed &hellip | November 25th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
[...] Original post by Ryan [...]
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