Aussies expected to spend $500 million on Black Friday, Cyber Monday

Internet Retailing

22nd Nov 2017

Australians spent an estimated $150 million over Singles’ Day weekend and $210 million during Click Frenzy on 14 November, according to data compiled by Cashrewards, Australia’s biggest online retail community.

These sales figures signal even greater spending ahead in the next two big shopping days, Black Friday on 24 November and Cyber Monday on 27 November.

Cashrewards estimates that Australians will part with more than $500 million online over these next big sale days – and stand to save between 30 per cent and 70 per cent on usual retail prices.

That includes an increasing number of shoppers taking advantage of the heavy discounting to get ahead and make huge savings on their Christmas shopping.

Retailers and brands including Amazon, Apple, eBay, Lenovo, Microsoft, Virgin Australia, Emirates, David Jones, Cotton On, New Balance, Nike and Adidas plan to participate in Black Friday, according to Cashrewards, with many continuing their discounts through to Cyber Monday.

Euromonitor’s apparel and footwear analyst, Peder Kraugerud, said the holidays steep discounts have had less impact on apparel and footwear than consumer goods industries with comparatively higher unit prices, such as consumer electronics and appliances. But that hasn’t stopped fashion brands from fully embracing the sales opportunity.

“Although it begs the question if the industry is neglecting the impact of a prolonged shopping holiday with deep discounts on consumer shopping behaviour ultimately risking undermining their own value growth. While some altogether reject the premise of the shopping holiday season,” he said.

But Euromonitor’s senior retailing analyst, Tim Barrett, said retailers are better off prolonging their exposure to consumers, since they can gather more data points to prepare for the coming months.

“In an age where everyone is too busy and all our actions are data points to learn from, retailers that release holiday sales information earlier than their competitors increase their exposure to customers and in doing so, gain more time to gather information on how to best prepare for the coming months,” he said.

“Generating demand for the ‘hottest’ toys of the season is both an art and a science, and by releasing this information to the public sooner, retailers and their supplier partners get more data upon which to limit customer frustration from crucial out-of-stocks.”

Barrett also said that retailers are extending timelines to give shoppers more time to consider their purchases.

“It appears as though Black Friday shopping will continued to extend itself as shoppers opt for increased convenience. Not only do they want to order when they want, but also where they want. The continued draw of e-commerce along with anticipated delivery times will make retailers with larger sales periods more enticing,” he said.