Groupon deal addicts could prove damaging to Black Friday (survey)
Now that Halloween is behind us, you might have already noticed plenty of holiday shopping advertisements. That also means that Black Friday is almost upon us, but not all shoppers are waiting until the day after Thanksgiving to get their discounted goods.
A new report from Retrevo, self-touted as "one of the largest consumer electronics review and shopping sites in the world,"posits that retailers will face a new challenge this Black Friday: daily deal addicts -- specifically those attached to Groupon.
Basically, the problem for retailers who put a lot of focus on and expect big returns from Black Friday sales are being beaten time-wise and (and possibly outdone) by daily deal sites because addicts of these businesses can get their fix whenever they want -- not just one day or weekend out of the year close to the holidays.
Manish Rathi, Retrevo.com’s co-founder and vice president of marketing, explained in the report:
It’s hard for today’s retailers to make their Black Friday deals stand out when shoppers have been getting significant discounts throughout the year. This group of consumers isn't easy to please, and they’re willing to hold on to their money until the right deal comes along. We are concerned about the average retailer's ability to provide high caliber deals this Black Friday and even the rest of the year to satisfy this emerging subculture of deal addicts.
Although many deals from Groupon and similar competitors typically focus on discounts at restaurants and bars, there is room for opportunity when it comes to other goods if the deal providers realize the interest seen in the graph below:
Retrevo also found that nearly three quarters of last year’s Black Friday shoppers are also avid daily deal hunters while the same percentage (70 percent) of subscribers on deal sites shopped on Black Friday.
Thus, what are Black Friday retailers advised to do? Try harder and cut prices lower. It sounds like Black Friday could be very painful for retailers this year, but there could be plenty more steals and deals for consumers at the same time.
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