Black Friday has always represented the threshold at which customers are willing to make concessions on overall experience to get a great price. For decades, customers were willing to put up with shockingly long lines, pre-dawn shopping excursions, and unpleasant crowds. The exclusivity of the day converted these undesirable experiences into excitement, and the low prices made it all worth it. These days, many of the lowest prices exist online, notable sales are held for almost every federal holiday, and many businesses no longer have physical stores at all. And yet, despite e-commerce rising to the primary mode of shopping for Americans, Black Friday lives on.
Economists and sociologists likely have different theories on how and why the value of convenience rose so rapidly. What today’s customers seem to value goes beyond mere convenience and speed, it is the frictionless nature of experiences that is so attractive in our chaotic and crowded market. The most premium experiences require very little: time, mental energy, and physical effort. Even those who are not considered wealthy and may save much needed funds by choosing a less convenient route to a purchase find themselves dazzled by just how simple and easy these transactions can be. In order to make sense of customers’ changing priorities, we need to examine why the balance between experience and price has swung so significantly towards experience, despite prices being so important to customers.
Competing on convenience
It is no secret that Amazon has reshaped the idea of convenience in shopping experiences. Our Consumer Preferences Market Study found that 63% of customers now evaluate all businesses with Amazon’s ease in mind, effectively shifting the standard across industries. Organizations with a less streamlined supply chain simply can’t compete with Amazon’s speed, but rather than focus on matching their time-to-ship, these smaller organizations can seek out creative ways to make experiences easier and more pleasant. Reformation, a pricey, on-trend retail brand, debuted technology that enhances the fitting room experience to rave reviews. The fitting room exemplifies a prime opportunity for reduction of friction; savvy Reformation executives recognized the vulnerability and insecurity that can plague shoppers when trying on clothes and reacted accordingly.
Still, even the best in-store experience-enhancers may not be enough for those who simply prefer to shop from their home. According to one study, 54% of shoppers are opting out of Black Friday because they don’t want to contend with crowds at all. Businesses need to recognize that this may not be merely the aftermath of the pandemic, and if things continue to trend this way, investments in e-commerce should outpace those in brick and mortar selling.
The buying and selling of ideas
As we consider the ways in which higher prices are justified even amidst economic downturn, the culprit may be the redefining of “product.” The selling of brand experiences heightens the perceived value beyond that of ordinary goods and services, particularly for younger and more naive customers.
Following the trend of retail fashion, top brands like Zara and Aritzia quickly create trendy products using cheap, synthetic materials like polyester and viscose. Influencer marketing and social media advertising have elevated these brands to the top tier, allowing them to charge premium prices, while the quality of their products remains on-par with traditional fast fashion brands like Forever 21. The influencers and microcelebrities hawking their products have created the illusion of luxury that surrounds these brands, propelling the products into a totally different market, and inspiring customers to pay top dollar for their take on “luxury.”
The evolution of what it means to be a luxury good, from the traditional tenets of well-made products backed by a reputable brand, to any product that signifies prestige, speaks volumes about modern customers’ priorities. In many ways, in-person shopping itself does not convey prestige; while all of the top influencers, models, and fashion icons will be unboxing products and PR in their homes, we are unlikely to see many of these individuals braving the cold and the crowds of Black Friday.
Shopping is becoming a lost art
As advertising takes on new and innovative forms, customers are overloaded with information. In the past, the shopping experience began well before the actual transaction, with research, comparisons, and conversation all having important roles in the process of selecting the perfect product. The worsening quality of mass-produced products has led to such low prices that make these practices obsolete in a lot of cases. And when research is needed for a major purchase, like a car or a home, the market is flooded with apps and resources that make the process a breeze.
Ultimately, shopping is far from what it used to be. These meaningful experiences of learning about materials and durability, conversations with friends and family about their products, and even the upkeep of many things have been lost to time. Now rendered unnecessary, the process of exerting any amount of effort to see out the lowest price has lost its luster when your internet browser can do pretty much all of that for you, without prompting, simultaneously.
The future of Black Friday
Consumerism as a culture has raised the significance of the things one buys while the quality of goods has remained stagnant or decreased. The push towards dynamic brand experiences are organizations’ way of accommodating for this downward turn, and is supported by the near-constant advertising customers have to endure. It seems the excitement and exclusivity of Black Friday pricing is a thing of the past, but that doesn’t mean Black Friday has to be. In-person experiences will always hold value, and even if Black Friday continues on as a consumerist cultural tradition, a dedicated contingent of shoppers will continue to show up and wait in line. If nothing else, businesses should recognize the closing window of Black Friday opportunities and delight their customers by offering real exclusivity for these in-person shoppers–even if their bottom line takes a hit, the memorability of the experience may convert into more lifetime value than expected.
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