Views: 0 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2021-12-13 Origin: Site
Black Friday with a difference
As soon as the dust has settled, the Black Friday results have been revealed.According to Adobe Analytics’ data survey of major retail websites in the United States, this year’s Black Friday online sales were$8.9 billion, fell for the first time in years.This figure is not only slightly lower than last year's US$9 billion, but also lower than the agency's forecast some time ago.
Based on various analyses, SHOPLINE found that the decline in online sales during Black Friday was mainly due to the following three reasons:
01 The activity front is lengthened
Affected by the supply chain and logistics, many merchants have launched 'Black Friday Same Price' pre-sale activities in advance.The timeline of the big sale has been extended from Black Friday to the entire November, in order to stagger consumers' purchasing time and ensure the continuous supply of goods.
For consumers, as long as the price is favorable enough, they will place an order on any day of the 'Black Friday Season'. Many people have spent most of their budget before Black Friday, which also leads to sales on the Black Friday day. The amount is further diluted.
02 Not enough activity
Selling more does not mean selling well, preferential discounts brought skyrocketing sales, but did not bring the expected profit growth. Coupled with the shortage crisis and rising costs, there is very little room for discounts this year.Many merchants, including Coach and Macy's, have made inventory reduction the focus of this year's Black Friday, and the discounts offered are not as strong as in previous years.
Consumers also found that this year’s Black Friday discounts were average, especially the discounts on some 3C products were far less favorable than last year.Data from Salesforce.com also proves this: the average discount for Thanksgiving in the United States this year is 27%, a 7% decrease from 2020.
On the one hand, many people's incomes have dropped and they have become more sensitive to prices. On the other hand, merchants have begun to control discounts. Under the dual influence, this year's Black Friday results are much lower than last year.
03 Offline passenger flow has recovered
Different from the online Black Friday carnival spurred by the epidemic last year,Offline traffic has picked up this year.Data from Sensormatic Solutions shows that on November 26 this year, offline customer traffic in retail stores increased by 47.5% compared with the same period last year. Although it has not returned to pre-epidemic levels, the increase in offline customer traffic also has an impact on online had a certain impact.
But cross-border sellers don’t have to worry too much. According to Adobe’s Digital Economy Index, online sales in November and December are expected to reach a record high of $207 billion, an increase of 10% over last year.Judging from the overall data, Black Friday’s dominance as the largest shopping festival in North America is still difficult to shake.
UK far exceeds expectations, independent stations perform well
From a regional perspective, unlike the unexpected Black Friday online results in the United States, this year’s Black Friday performance in the UK was very gratifying.In Reuters' latest article 'The UK is expected to set a Black Friday sales record', the reporter pointed out: Although the UK's domestic supply chain faces huge challenges, since the start of Black Friday, UK transaction volume has increased by nearly a quarter compared with last year. Its Black Friday sales look set to hit a record high.
Analysts from GlobalData predict that total sales in the UK from Black Friday to Cyber Monday will be 9.15 billion pounds, an increase of 15.1% from 7.95 billion pounds in 2020, and an increase of 6.8% from 8.57 billion pounds in 2019.
Judging from the channels, there is still a lot of good news.In terms of independent websites, Shopify released Black Friday sales data showing that the platform’s sales on Black Friday were nearly$2.9 billion, a year-on-year increase from 2020twenty one%。
More and more consumers are gradually leaving shopping platforms, and shopping and consumption on brand-owned independent websites is becoming a new trend.
After all, in terms of experience and service, the advantages of independent websites are too obvious: clear and detailed product introductions, quick-response customer service, convenient logistics and return and exchange systems... these are special services that many e-commerce platforms cannot provide. , making more consumers become loyal users of the brand’s independent stations, and the influence of the independent station brand continues to expand.
Some are happy and some are sad
Originally, due to the explosive growth of cross-border e-commerce during last year's Black Friday, many domestic cross-border sellers had high expectations for this year's Black Friday. Many merchants had prepared their inventory in advance and were gearing up for the big deal. field.
But the unexpected happened.
First, Amazon, which affected many domestic sellersStore closures, regardless of whether the sales volume is high or low, it is possible to be affected by 'small cards', resulting in account closures, store removals, and many powerful sellers not even having the right to participate in Black Friday.
Coincidentally, recently many best sellers on Amazon suddenly found that their stores were banned due to trademark issues.Malicious complaint, was delisted on the eve of Black Friday. Not only was the originally expected Black Friday sales hit, but it also suffered huge losses due to the early distribution of goods.
Success is also a platform, failure is also a platform.Sellers often have no way to seek recourse when encountering such matters. Many sellers even report that they don’t even have an entrance to appeal, and can only watch their years of hard work being ruined.
And those Chinese sellers who are lucky enough to survive the wave of store closures and malicious trademark complaints are facing more severe challenges before they can recover.
According to foreign media reports, climate justice activists blocked more than a dozen Amazon distribution centers in the UK during Black Friday.The normal turnover of warehouse logistics is hindered.To make matters worse, many Amazon worker strikes have occurred in Germany, France, Italy and other places. Many sellers' products are unable to be put on the shelves on time due to lack of manpower, or their warehouses cannot be shipped normally, greatly reducing the effectiveness of the sales.
On one side is Amazon, whose operating environment is no longer what it used to be, and is heavily involved in internal affairs. On the other side are independent websites whose performance continues to climb to new heights.We believe that as consumers increasingly accept independent websites with good experience and good services, independent websites will surely grow into online channels that are not inferior to established e-commerce platforms in the future.There will also be more brands stepping out of e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and building their own independent brand sites.
On the other hand, the newly launched online ordering + offline pickup and live streaming shopping last year have become the most 'in' shopping trend this year. Many retail stores have gained profits in this Black Friday through these new experiences. Good results. While these new shopping methods bring more sales to sellers, they will also further weaken the customer flow of e-commerce platforms.
Anyway, this year’s Black Friday sale has come to an end, and everyone has worked hard.The reason why we analyze various data changes for Black Friday every year is ultimately to grasp the new traffic password in the new year. After all, where the customers are, we have to go.
So looking back on this year’s Black Friday, I saw the platforms facing internal and external troubles and the emerging independent websites; I saw the changes made by those established retail stores in the face of changes in the situation and external challenges.We also suggest that in the upcoming 2022, you can take a look at what these old retail stores are doing, and boldly try new business forms such as independent stations, online and offline integration, and live streaming to find opportunities for your own brands. The first stage of growth.
