Black Friday continues to break records year after year and, while the pandemic led to a boom in online sales and a huge growth of ecommerce, the recovery and the return to physical stores has been a challenge for many retailers. Given the importance of this event, we bring you some Black Friday Retail recommendations for this year 2023.

This Black Friday 2023, with the shadow of war in Europe and rampant inflation in most countries that has reduced consumption and margins, has forced retailers to take action.

But not everything is negative, here are some Black Friday 2022 data that give us a glimmer of hope.

Black Friday 2022 results

Black Friday 2022 in Spain:

In the case of Spain, according to a study by TC Group and published by PinkerModa, Black Friday was in 2022 the single event that generated more sales throughout the year, above campaigns such as Christmas, Valentine’s Day, or the January sales.

The consolidation of physical stores as the backbone of Retail was consolidated, with an increase compared to 2021, especially in the north of Spain. In large cities such as Madrid or Barcelona, although the influx and sales increased, it has not been as significant as other years, because of the war and the price increase due to inflation.

In many cases, the fear of a price increase during the subsequent Christmas campaign led many consumers to anticipate Christmas shopping, being electronics and fashion, although beauty products or spirits also stood out.

Black Friday 2022 in Latin America:

In Latin America, the results are mixed:

In the case of Colombia, steep inflation, along with credit and energy costs, led to a slowdown in consumption, with just 29% of respondents admitting to exceeding their previous year’s figures.

Retailers’ expectations were not accurate, and a high level of inventory stock was maintained until the Christmas campaign.

In other markets such as Chile, cost and price increases also influenced the decline in consumption, with sales down 7% compared to 2021.

Sales in physical stores exceeded 60% compared to online sales, although the latter were the ones that maintained a higher sales ticket, taking 56% of total turnover.

In the case of Mexico, we have to compare the data with the Buen Fin, a commercial campaign of similar or greater importance to Black Friday in the country.

The data for 2022 was positive; total sales increased by 23% compared to previous periods, with an increase in online sales of 31%, according to a study by Concanaco Servytur.

Physical stores consolidated their recovery, accounting for more than 70% of total sales, although 21% of shoppers opted for both online and physical shopping.

With such disparate data between countries, what trends are expected for 2023?

Black Friday Retail recommendations for 2023

The trends for this year’s Black Friday retail campaign are eagerly awaited by consumers (as prices rise they expect to find great deals that will give their wallets a breather)…

…And from Retailers (despite the positive data in Spain, the global situation for Retailers has made them lose margins in promotional campaigns like this if they want to be competitive, or not achieve their goals despite the high percentage of sales that this event represents in the retail calendar).

Here are some trends and tips to help you plan for Black Friday 2023:

Promotional strategy:

Basic, right? Not so much. Having a promotional strategy is not just about selecting several products and discounting them by a percentage. You will have to analyze the sales history of other years and the purchasing trends in each of your stores to know which products will work best in promotions. Also take into account margins, logistics times and if you are going to be on time to cover all your needs, and if you can offer some kind of cross-selling or up-selling with your discounts to increase the value of your average ticket.

Marketing and advertising campaigns:

If there is something that warns us that Black Friday is approaching, it is the hundreds, if not thousands, of advertising campaigns from Retailers announcing their offers. Designing a good marketing strategy is fundamental for the success of your sales, just tell that to the Barbie producers! You won’t deny that you’ve seen more people wearing pink lately, and the doll company has a lot to do with it.

To do this, study your target audience and select the products that will best meet their needs.

Online presence and branding:

Here we must also talk about digital presence and how your brand is seen on social networks and the internet. The sooner you start to create a community loyal to your brand and products, the greater the reach and impact your actions will have, and the more you will be able to get out of your campaigns.

Consolidate your regular customers in the long term:

Black Friday is a perfect campaign not only to get rid of the overstock you have generated throughout the year and give a boost to your sales. Among the offers you include, you can offer promotions that build customer loyalty and retain them in future campaigns or launches.

Offer different sales channels for each segment:

As we mentioned before, knowing your target audience and their needs will allow you to detect through which channels they are most active, and prioritize your efforts according to where you can get the most out of them.

In your online store, in physical points of sale, through social networks or chat? Which sales channel can help you achieve your goals the most? Don’t rule any of them out, and assess the opportunity cost when prioritizing them.

Ease of payment:

Do not allow that in such important sales days as these you can lose a sale for not having an acceptable payment method by your customers.

The more alternatives and facilities you can offer, the greater the chances of avoiding a stockout.

Credit or debit card, cash, Bizum or Paypal, cash on delivery… These are just some of the options you should consider to ensure correct collections.

Use AI to help you plan:

The initial phase of this whole strategy involves analyzing not only your audience, but also the state of health of your business and the stock you are going to have available in your stores. Managing a store or two may be easy, especially if you have only a few SKU’s….

But what if you are managing the planning of tens or hundreds of stores, with thousands of different products and assortments?

Analyzing the performance of each product and category, in each of your stores can be a slow and tedious job, that’s why predictive demand analysis tools with Artificial Intelligence can be a great help. Not only to save time, but also to save logistic costs and to get your orders to suppliers to the stores on time.

At Analyticalways we would like to talk to you more about this topic. That’s why we invite you to click here to discover what AI can do for your promotional campaigns.