Thoughts From The Cake Scraps

As a marketer, I’m acutely aware of the benefits of a well ran promotion.  And as a (top 30 under 30) direct marketer, I know the coupon/promo code is a valuable tool for attribution.  Still, lately I have become frustrated with all of the discounting going on.  I’m going to break this up into at least two parts to make it digestible.

Case 1: Black Friday

Remember when Black Friday used to mean something?  Remember when it was a day of unheard of deals, available only that one day?  It was great, wasn’t it?  When it first started in the 1970’s, and really grew in the 1980’s, it was a day of great reveal.  Nobody, it seemed, knew what deals would await them.  Later, websites were created for the sole purpose of revealing the circulars which retailers tried to keep as quiet as they could.  And then, what started out as a heavy shopping day due to most non-retail employees being on vacation, started to creep.

The creep started in a fairly innocent way.  Stores would have day-after-Thanksgiving sales.  And then The sales grew bigger and door-buster sales started to emerge.  Stores needed the foot traffic and they needed people to shop with them before they shopped elsewhere.  Prices, for the moment, could only go so low.  Next, stores started to open earlier.  First it was 6:00, then 5:00, then 4:00.  Once the process started there was no turning back.  The every year the door-busters came earlier until they opened at midnight.  They could go no earlier.  Just kidding.  This year Walmart is opening at 22:00 Thanksgiving night.

While stores are racing to open earlier than ever, the tentacles of Black Friday started to invade other channels (including Cyber Monday).  Signs, circulars, and emails started proclaiming “Black Friday Like Prices”.  Amazon.com made the whole week a week of deals.  I even saw “Black Friday in July” slogans to tell me just how good of a deal I was getting over the summer.  As Black Friday neared, stores no longer strived to keep things secret.  In fact, they now actively release circulars early and those sites that used to leak the deals are now commercialized versions of their old selves.

The immediacy of the day has been going downhill for quite some time.  Then, Walmart pulled a game-changing move – again. In 2011 they will not only match competitors Black Friday prices on Black Friday (as they did in 2010) but are offering a price match that “is both forward looking and retroactive”.  Basically, as long as supplies last, you’re good to go all season long.  Talk about a lack of urgency.

Now, the important thing to keep in mind is that I’m not sure what the alternative is for these stores.  The fact is consumers have a finite amount of money to spend on gifts and if a store doesn’t attract them in and get the consumer to spend at their store, the consumer will just go someplace else.  Ultimately the consumer is the one who decides when enough is enough.

Will you be heading out at 22:00 on Thanksgiving night to shop?

This has been a Thought From The Cake Scraps.

I do love a good Black Friday event, but it appears that this year stores are coming up a bit short.

To be fair, I am only looking at Wal-Mart.  That is really the only store that will have a sale of any type in my area.  Yeah, I live in ‘that town’.  But I also hate the huge lines at the major stores.  It just isn’t worth it for me.  Never has been.  But if it is your thing then go for it.

Anyway, even though I have only really looked at Wal-Mart I think that they are usually a good gauge of how Black Friday deals will be overall.  If Wal-Mart cannot put on a good show then we are in for some trouble.  The exception might be for the kids.  They do have lots and lots of cheap stuff that will appeal to kids.  So maybe you don’t find something for yourself, but pick up something for the kids.

The other thing that I noticed is that the deals, in terms of items offered, are very similar to last year.  Maybe it is like that every year and I have missed it.  All I know is that Wal-Mart seems to have TVs, some okay console bundles, okay movies deals, a GPS unit, and computers on sale.  Same stuff, new day.  I guess it is still a deal.

I will do some more browsing on bfads.net because I really like how they lay things out. (Leave a comment if you have a site you really like)  Perhaps some deal will show up there.  I am looking to buy a laptop, but I want it to have bluetooth and not be totally tiny.  Battery life is also a plus.  I will have to do a bunch more research to figure out what is truly a good deal.

I want to spend my hard earned money retailers, give me a chance!  I’m still pulling for some great on-line deals to pop up.  TigerDirect has had some great ones already.  I hope others join in!

Will you be going out on Black Friday?  If so, where and why?

This has been a Thought From The Cake Scraps.