Retailers Want You in Stores on Black Friday | Global News Avenue

Don’t let locked display cases and finicky self-checkout stations fool you. Retailers really want you to come to their stores this holiday season.

That number will double on Black Friday, with brands hoping for a spike in foot traffic the day after Thanksgiving. Experts say companies would rather call customers at the checkout than online, where widespread promotions and shipping costs eat into profits, while companies have a better chance of getting people to buy more in real-world stores. Lots of stuff.

This year many retailers are trying to take advantage of in-store specials. Target(TGT) will release a book about Taylor Swift’s “Eras” tour, as well as vinyl and CD versions of her last album, in stores and then online One day later. Cole’s (korea association of science and technology) will Host a raffle Prize includes a Florida vacation. JCPenney (JCP) will distribution Snowball.

Their goal is the same: to get you in the door.

“Frankly, many (retailers) prefer it — even if there’s a labor shortage in stores, even if the minimum wage is raised,” said Kelly Pedersen, U.S. retail leader at consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. “It’s A more profitable way to do business.”

Holiday spending expected to increase

Consumer spending during this year’s holiday season is expected to rise 3% compared with last year, according to the consultancy. This is a relatively modest growth rate Bain & Company saidInflation in recent years is still weighing on many Americans. (Online spending is expected to grow 7% to 9%, According to Deloitte’s estimates.)

Still, Black Friday can cause a stir. Bain predicts that Americans will spend a record $75 billion in stores and online from the day after Thanksgiving through Cyber ​​Monday.

Store traffic during Black Friday was about three times greater than on a typical day during the holiday, said Joe Shasteen, global director of advanced analytics at RetailNext, which tracks store traffic and provides recommendations to retailers, although many of those visitors were just browsers. Sales peak on the Saturday before Christmas Eve.

“Black Friday is still king from a traffic perspective,” Shastin said.

Why retailers love having you in their stores

The company is eager to attract workers on the shop floor. Industry consultants say in-store purchases are less likely to be returned than digital transactions. Their profit margins are also higher. Shipping costs are lower, Pedersen said, and prices tend to be cheaper online because e-commerce is a more competitive market with lots of promotions.

Retailers want in-store shoppers to leave satisfied. On a conference call Wednesday, Target executives said the company sometimes offers items that can’t be shipped the same day to increase the chance that customers in stores will walk out with something they want.

Brick-and-mortar stores train employees to upsell customers, such as recommending items that might pair with items they’ve already chosen. Shastin said the stores were set up to encourage splurging and impulse buying. Making the most of a brand’s aesthetic is harder, he says, online, where the fabrics can’t be touched, the lotions can’t be smelled and the products are displayed in small thumbnails.

“If someone walks into a store, there’s a captive audience,” Pedersen said.