Written by Ten Bear Group
January 3, 2021
Every year, as the leaves fall, we are pushed images from America – excited, irrational chaos as giddy locals seeking their treats clamber over each other in a mad rush. Not halloween – Black Friday.
But what happens when Black Friday goes online?
Instead of shaming images, displaying the naked power of consumerism, we are left with something most people find far less salacious: Data
That’s right ladies and gents, we’re going to get down with the digits and have a look at what this year’s rather unusual Black Friday meant for consumer behaviour and corporate outcomes. So strap in, or strap on – whichever one is being delivered by Prime.
“Buy Now, Pay Later” makes getting into debt frictionless!
Sezzle, Quadpay, Klarna and Amazon’s own offering came into their own this year as Black Friday bills were split into multiple monthly black Friday payments.
This raft of new fintech lenders are heavily advertising currently in an effort to make consumers more comfortable with the mysterious services that pop up at check out.
Explodingtopics.com had several of the providers in their top e-commerce trends this month:
Shopify merchants sold $2.4bn on this Black Friday, up 75% from 2019.
Shopify merchants sold $2.4bn on this Black Friday, up 75% from 2019, positioning themselves as the alternative to Amazon for selling online, they are much more open about the numbers behind the scenes, and their awesome global visualisation of global orders is about as close to the photos of yesteryear’s manic crowds as we’re going to get in 2020:
It was an especially black (note the lowercase) Friday for one retailer in particular, as news broke over the weekend that Arcadia group, who own Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Burtons were days away from collapse.
Arcadia have found themselves out gunned by digital first retailers such as ASOS and Boohoo over the past 10 years and it seems their position as the one time darling of the high street has come back to haunt them with the fixed costs that go along with physical operations.
I was hoping to end this dance through some data on a positive note, something along the lines of “Hey, we couldn’t kill or injure each other since we were all online”. That didn’t turn out to be the case.
Since 2006 there have been 11 deaths as a result of Black Friday and sadly 2020 was no different:
“a gunman shot and killed two teens at a Northern California mall in the midst of Black Friday, sending shoppers running for safety” – Seattle Times
It’ such a phenomenon there is a “Black Friday Death Count” website, dedicated to tracking them.
Related Articles
5 Ways Social Listening Can Shape Your Marketing Strategy
As the digital population continues to grow, so does the amount of opportunity online. We’ve never before been able to find out so much about what people are saying, doing, thinking and feeling. Consequently, brands have the chance to get to know their target audience...
What We Learned About The CBD Market From Social Listening
Valued at $4.9BN in 2021, the CBD market is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. It is forecasted to reach $47.22BN by 2028, driven by increasing demand for health and wellness products. This comes as more people recognise cannabidiol as legal and...
TikTok Insights: Why Every Social Media Marketing Strategy Should Include Short-Form Video
In the 4 years since TikTok launched, the platform has accumulated over a billion users. That’s half of what Instagram has in just a third of the time. It’s getting bigger, too. According to TikTok Insights, 81% of Millennials plan to use it the same amount or more in...
Stay Up to Date With The Latest News & Updates
Be the first to know every time we publish a new blog or report.
©TENBEARGROUP 2022 I SOCIAL LISTENING AGENCY
SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE I SOCIAL ANALYTICS
REGISTERED IN ENGLAND AND WALES
+44 (0) 330 223 1634
HELLO@TENBEARGROUP.COM
PRIVACY POLICY I COOKIES POLICY