Brand experts predict course of Black Friday 2020

With Black Friday just around the corner, it’s certain to look a little different this year. But what should retailers bear in mind when tempting customers in a coronavirus pandemic world?

We asked a selection of retail experts for their predictions on this year’s event and what actions brands must take to ensure they cut through the competition and succeed in what may well be one of the most competitive Black Friday’s to date.  

Kam Phullar, Lead Strategist, Feed Agency

“Safety will continue to be front of mind for consumers this Black Friday, avoiding physical contact and crowded locations will be essential especially for vulnerable customers. But brands have a huge opportunity to ramp up their digital offering, and if retailers get it right, 2020 could be the biggest online Black Friday yet.

Retailers must continue to blur the line between in-store and on-site experience. With the strain on footfall, they must consider introducing tech like AR to allow customers to ‘try before they buy’ or virtual shopping assistants to replicate an in-person customer experience online. 

Fulfilment options like Click and Collect will create convenience and safe collection options, but increased comms like instant chats can mitigate against chaos if things do go wrong online and if customers need advice to get a sale over the line.

Those customers still visiting the high street are likely to have done their research online, so brands must ensure their online offering translates in store. Creating familiarity will help customers experience a seamless transaction from online to perhaps scannable QR codes to identify collection packages, offering an ideal opportunity to increase brand loyalty.

In these uncertain times, the end of the year will present a much-needed seasonal break to shake off 2020. This means Black Friday has the potential to give brands a much-needed boost, giving way to early value bargain hunting and impulse purchasers. Ultimately though, this moment will be a peak in what will may be a slow recovery for retailers.”

Richard Robinson, Managing Director, Econsultancy

“All the predictions for Black Friday 2020 point to it being another blockbuster year for sales, and while I’m unconvinced we’ll see 2019’s record of £8 billion beaten, I am convinced we’ll witness online spending smash every known metric.

People have spent the year hunkered down as e-commerce apprentices, learning, training, perfecting, the art of elite online hunter-gathering and this Black Friday will be the moment they put their new-found skills to the final test. 

The brands and businesses who win will be the ones who spent lockdown analysing and dissecting all of their data to perfect one clear view of the online purchasing personas of their customers. 

Right now, they’re in the final stages of readying seamless omnichannel campaigns supported by outstanding customer experience and a deep understanding that disintermediated, frictionless, paths to online purchase will win the day.

People may claim to love the feel of Black Friday, the experience you only get in-person and on the high street, but 2020 has seen us come too far to step-back and switch off the new normal of sniffing out the juiciest of bargains.”

Sam Stone, Creative Director, Coley Porter Bell

“Black Friday 2020 will be a lesson in turning change into opportunity. Customers have gone through a mindset shift since lockdown and marketers must communicate in meaningful ways with products that add value to people’s lives during the recession. 

This Black Friday will be a predominantly online affair – so as well as the products they offer, retailers and brands must consider how their ‘in store’ retail experience can be brought to life via the letterbox. 

They’ll need to inject some theatre at the doorstep and tap into the art of the reveal, as they translate their experience of engaging and delighting customers in stores, to in homes.

But intensifying the brand experience at home doesn’t have to mean profligacy. Stripping out superfluous packaging or redesigning packaging so it can be reused rather than just recycled will appeal to the growing number of waste watchers since lockdown. 

Rather than chasing the lowest prices, now is the time for brands to fully understand their consumers, meet their demands and cut through the hordes of online shoppers on Black Friday 2020.”

Nic Pietersma, Business Director, Ebiquity

“Before Covid we were already seeing Black Friday starting to level out and retailers trying to manage the margin giveaway more carefully. This year we’d expect to see much more variation in strategy - some retailers may choose to have a light touch event, while others will be trying to recover ground on their targets and will be much more aggressive.

It will depend on the specific circumstances as to which approach retailers take. Stock position will play a role as some retailers will have excess stock from earlier in the year which they will be looking to shift. Others will have already trimmed both their orders and marketing budget and will participate less aggressively, if at all.

We also don’t know what lockdown measures might be in place come November and that will have a significant impact on which approach retailers decide to take. All bets are off when it comes to Black Friday 2020.”