Do you have Black Friday Goggles?
With the 4th Quarter in full swing, retailers are gearing up for the biggest shopping week(end) of the year. Retailers have questions on whether they are featuring the right products and whether their promotional pricing will do enough to drive the foot traffic or web eyeballs they need. Brands want to know which channels generate the most traction for their brand and whether any promotions may damage their brand equity. Retailers and Brands need visibility into their products, the competition, and the market.
In the race for consumer dollars during this annual sales bonanza, retailers begin running promotions earlier and earlier. Amazon essentially began Black Friday deals on November 2nd by launching a preemptive “Black Friday Deals store”. In the store, they state: “Black Friday 2015 is almost here, but we didn't want you to wait until the day after Thanksgiving for Black Friday deals, so we kicked off the savings a little early. We are counting down to the big day with even more deals, all day, every day. You'll find Amazon's fantastic early Black Friday sales right here.” Additionally, Amazon is opening up to 30,000 “Lightning Deals” to it’s PRIME members, before the full effect of Black Friday deals are open to the general customer.
Others, like REI, are taking a different approach to the hype around Black Friday by inviting its employees and customers to take a hike and OptOutside (http://optoutside.rei.com/). REI announced it was closing on Black Friday and giving its employees a paid holiday. This is an excellent retail brand move and will resonate with its customers. And, while Black Friday is a big shopping day, the week and month that surround it are just as big.
So with the various approaches and strategies across multiple channels, the question remains: Do you have your Black Friday Goggles? With the right tools, you should be able to see in the dark, through the fog, and at a distance. You need on-demand, real-time visibility into the metrics that matter most to your brand so you can in-season changes that could make a big difference. At a minimum, your Black Friday Goggles should show you:
1. Where are my products listed?
2. Who is selling my products? What merchants are my distributors selling to?
3. What is the list price of my products? What is the average MSRP variance and price change volatility across channels?
4. How much inventory is available by merchant and channel?
5. What is the sales volume and sell-thru rate?
6. What are the Point of Sale demographics?
7. How are my products positioned versus the competition?
8. How are my products performing versus the competition?
9. When is my competitor running a promotion related to my products?
If you have the right Black Friday Goggles, you will have excellent Cyber Monday Vision and the ability to make important and agile decisions based on meaningful insights throughout the 4th Quarter retail bonanza. You may not always have the best line of sight, but the right tools will give you the intel and advantage you need to progress your brand in the desired trajectory.
Zumint has some awesome Black Friday Goggles, come see a demo with live data on your brand. We’ll illuminate things you may not have seen.
