Black Friday is considered the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. Retailers open early and stay open for longer and offer promotional sales. Sometimes people even queue for hours, before the store opening, to get their hands on the best discounts. The aim of Black Friday promotions is to attract as many customers as possible and increase sales in the short term. The benefit for the customers are clear - better price equals money saved. Who wouldn’t be attracted to that?
Types of Black Friday deals Research shows that promotion sales can even more efficient than advertising or personal selling. As customers, we might come across promotions such as 50% off, buy one get one free or 3 for the price of 2. These types of promotions increase sales but make less profit. That’s why setting the right discounted price is crucial.
What's the promotion threshold? What the retailers consider on days like Black Friday is the Promotion Threshold. This is the minimum value of price promotion required to change consumer’s purchase intentions. Imagine you’re going to the shop to buy a new smartphone. Instead of the normal $500, it’s been discounted to $475. Not a great price decrease, is it? Many believe that the promotion threshold is 15 percent. So for $425 dollars, you would be more likely to get the smartphone.
Why we buy the things we buy Your purchase decision is also influenced by factors such as the brand of the product you are buying or what the actual store looks like~. If you like the brand you will be likely to pay more. Just like when you go to a fancy looking store – you will automatically assume that the products are worth more. This is often just an illusion because neither the brand nor the store design have any influence on the product quality.
Online Black Friday deals And of course, we mustn’t forget the online world. Over the past couple of years Black Friday has gone digital and you can find a ton of attractive promotions from the comfort of your home. Online promotions include strategies like: Bonus items (such as buy three product from this cosmetic brand and get a free cosmetic bag), free shipping or percentage discounts~.
Why do people go crazy on Black Friday? Whether it is online or out there in the real world, Black Friday plays with our emotions in a number of ways. The limited time the promotions are available give us a now-or-never type of mindset. On one hand, we might regret buying the TV and wasting our money. On the other hand we might anticipate regret – if we don’t buy the TV, we’ll come home and be sad we didn’t buy it~.
Looking for best ways to save money on Black Friday? Here's a couple of tricks!
1. Set a budget and don’t go over it
2. When you’re going to the stores take only your debit card rather than taking your credit card out on a ride
3. Ask yourself – do I really need or want what I am about to buy?
4. Know how much you are willing to sacrifice for whatever you are about to buy. The fact that you have to spend hours of your life standing around in a queue or trying to get through a crowded store in order to get your desired item – is also paying the price. You pay with your time and comfort. How much are these two things worth to you?
5. Be prepared to tackle - the fear of missing out. Just like in life it’s not possible to do everything and be everywhere, on Black Friday you will not be able to buy everything. So a tip for hacking FOMO? Acceptance of the current situation. It’s ok that you didn’t buy your 98inch TV with speakers and added 3D feature. Chill. Remember, Black Friday is not a once in a life time opportunity. In the end, it’s just shopping.
Sources:
https://file.scirp.org/pdf/AJIBM_2015012315250677.pdf
http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/faculty/lee.cooper/Pubs/The%2520Discounting%2520of%2520Discounts%2520and%2520Promotion%2520Thresholds.pdf
https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/analyzing-the-influence-of-sales-promotion-on-customer-purchasing-behavior-2162-6359-1000243.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_(shopping)