This year\u2019s traditional, post-Thanksgiving mayhem has been spiked by the COVID pandemic\u2014but retailers are regrouping. With more agile digital tools and strategies, they will continue to create special occasions to celebrate consumer spending.<\/strong><\/p>\n By the time you read this, the immediate future will be painfully obvious. Most shoppers will have cancelled their post-Thanksgiving plans to pack themselves tightly into retail stores, no matter how big the discounts. It\u2019s another American tradition rocked by this atypical, frustrating year. But all is not lost \u2014 not by a long shot. Despite the doom and gloom predictions, retailers<\/a> have good reason to hope. Black Friday itself will never be the same, but other mechanisms will surely take its place.<\/p>\n Remember that Black Friday as we know it is a relatively recent thing. Yes, the day after Thanksgiving was historically the first day of the Christmas shopping season. But it became a media phenomenon in the mid-2000s, fueled by cable news channels\u2019 hunger for footage of mayhem. (We’re convinced that YouTube and reality TV also had something to do with it.) Before COVID, Black Friday seemed more like a chaotic sporting event than a benchmark for retail profitability.<\/p>\n<\/div> Like pricing, inventory data is stored in a secure database \u2013 sometimes separate from the retailer\u2019s PIM system<\/a>, but usually integrated with it. However, for many retailers, the \u201clast mile\u201d connection to a marketing automation<\/a> or print production system<\/a> is usually less than perfect.<\/p>\n<\/div> For years now, the single-day event itself has been creeping forward, with stores opening ever earlier \u2014 or on Turkey Day itself. (Some retailers have gone further, with their \u201cBlack Friday in July\u201d sales.) Many retailers have expanded the event to a week-long affair. More significantly, however, it has been eclipsed by Cyber Monday, Cyber Week, and every other retail online promotion you can imagine. More than anything else, the online trend itself is the key to retailers\u2019 survival in the age of COVID and beyond, no matter what happens to the infamous media event.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div> Before getting into the bits and bytes, retailers must have a sound idea of the person to whom they are appealing\u2014on a literal Black Friday or its digital successors. Deep, holiday discounts are a given, of course, but there\u2019s more, according to a July 2020 survey by Valassis<\/a>. For example, in the wake of COVID, shoppers are significantly more price-conscious, actively comparing brand pricing through circulars, both printed (76% ) and online (71%). A high percentage of millennials (51%) and Gen Z (43%) scan receipts with their mobile devices for post-purchase points or cash back offers. Coupons and discounts figure more highly among all customers, inspiring them to try a new brand (61%), make an impulse purchase (54%), or speed up their purchase decision (60%).<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div> Shoppers are more price-conscious comparing pricing in both printed & digital circulars<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/li> Millennials & Gen Z scan receipts for post-purchase points or cash back offers<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/li> The Valassis study also notes an increase in impulse buying in 2020, arguably due to the pandemic. Of all those surveyed, 35% considered themselves impulse shoppers, up from 28% in 2019, many of whom do so out of a desire to \u201ctreat themselves.\u201d Despite the pandemic, 45% of those surveyed said they were expanding their budget to buy \u201cfun things and experiences,\u201d using coupons and discounts.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div> With that kind of shopper in mind, retailers must increasingly focus on the details and accuracy of their promotions, even as the current crisis accelerates the shift from in-store and print campaigns to their online successors.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div> It takes a lot<\/em> of preparation and foresight to manage the complexities of an online promotion<\/a>. Simply put, it\u2019s all about the data<\/em>. Think about just one item historically associated with Black Friday mayhem: the flat-screen TV. There are many different SKUs, specs, options, and dimensions to consider. So, the Product Information Management<\/a> or PIM database is a key player \u2014 but not the only one<\/em>. A promotion also needs good, concise descriptions and pictures<\/a> \u2014 the right<\/em> ones, mind you \u2014 to grab the shopper\u2019s attention. Enter the Digital Asset Management<\/a> or DAM system. Sometimes, these two databases are well-integrated \u2014 sometimes, not so much.<\/p>\n We are not done. Another database \u2014 not always part of the PIM \u2014 contains pricing and\/or inventory information. These can be enormously complex, including location- based variations for multi-store and multi-region retailers. Think about it. With COVID restrictions, it\u2019s no longer just about stocking each store with enough flat-screen TVs. That was hard enough. Now, a promotion must account for a store pick-up and warehouse-to-customer delivery process.<\/p>\n<\/div> We\u2019re still not done. Marketing planning systems, sales history, and store brand loyalty programs all require hefty databases, not only collecting purchase information and tracking campaigns but also giving retail marketers the tools to plan and execute promotions. Some of these are well integrated with PIM, DAM, and pricing\/inventory systems (as is the case with Comosoft\u2019s LAGO<\/a>) and can produce both print<\/a> and mobile<\/a> versions of retail campaigns. Other approaches to these complex data sources are more haphazard and less efficient. Before the pandemic, creating campaigns for printed circulars<\/a> was tough enough, especially if it involved multiple versions). However, as 2020 events push us increasingly towards an online campaign focus, the challenge is even greater. Handling all that data effectively is more important than it ever was.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div> Estudio de caso LAGO<\/p>\n<\/div> Descubre c\u00f3mo Lowe’s automatiz\u00f3 la producci\u00f3n de sus anuncios circulares para agilizar el marketing digital y en las tiendas.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>Who IS the Typical \u201cBlack Friday Shopper\u201d?<\/h3><\/div>
It\u2019s All About the Data<\/h3><\/div>
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