Newly launched e-commerce platform, Masoko, offered 99 per cent off on selected items.
Retailers globally this month offered promotional deals and discounts on various products in commemoration of Black Friday, which is regarded as the busiest annual shopping day, with consumers expected to spend more this year.
In Kenya for instance, the newly launched ecommerce platform, Masoko, offered 99 per cent off on selected items on Black Friday. In its flash sale, a motorcycle with the brand Bajaj Boxer was sold for one shilling from Sh102, 990 while in the UK, Game Retail Limited, was selling popular video game console Xbox One S 1TB Hot Wheels Bundle with a two month TV subscription at £229.99, saving consumers £80.
In this, retailers that manage to capture the consumers’ attention due to their discounts could see a positive impact on its sales as this influences store choice especially as the holiday season approaches.
Black Friday which comes a month before Christmas, serves as a way for retailers to kick off the holiday season shopping and influence customer purchase. Consumers start shopping earlier thus they end up purchasing more during the season.
According to 2015 data by KPMG on how Black Friday discounts affected Christmas Shopping in the UK, it found that with so much volume changing hands at discounted prices on a single day at the end of November, it undoubtedly had an impact on the more traditional sales periods creating two shopping peaks.
“Using data from the BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor, it is clear that, in preceding years, shopping steadily intensified in the lead up to Christmas Day. However, in 2014 a huge percentage of non-food sales were brought forward to Black Friday, creating two shopping peaks rather than one,” reported David McCorquodale, UK Head of Retail at KPMG.
“Consumers are not necessarily spending more; they are just spending earlier and more than ever hooked on a diet of discounts. Looking at the data, the effects of Black Friday in 2014 resulted in much weaker pre-Christmas and Boxing Day sales and, not only that, retailers actually saw a distinct lull in spending during early December as consumers waited for the next round of bargains to hit the shelves.”
“Consumers will definitely conduct their own research from the start of the season to when they go shopping in order to get the best value for their money. The retailer with the best prices on most popular items such electronics, household products, mobile phones and children toys among others will enjoy the most purchases,” said Stella Kimani, a brand strategist.
Indeed, in a study conducted by US research company Purchased and published by marketing intelligence service, WARC, retailers who can capture Black Friday shoppers’ early stand to generate one third more sales than their competitors.
“We found that the first store to capture shopper traffic was able to generate an average of $121 in sales, 31.5 per cent more than the second choice of store, which checked in with only $92 while Black Friday shoppers tended to do their homework – scouting sales and planning in advance – their actual shopping patterns often failed to reflect this,” reported Purchased.
“Almost 60 per cent of the shoppers who planned to shop at store A first ended up shopping at store B or just another store. And 32 per cent of the switchers said they changed their minds simply because shopping at one store was more convenient even though store A might have been their first choice and another 31 per cent stepped away from their original plan because they were influenced by a shopping partner.”
For Kenyan retailers seeking to gain a competitive advantage in the market, and increase sales during the holiday season, early discounts on popular products could be key.
- African Laughter
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