No longer focusing on "Black Friday", have consumers and sellers become Buddhists?

Consumers and sellers are planning to start this year's holiday shopping season early .

According to a survey by digital experience management software company Sitecore, 34% of consumers intend to start holiday shopping before Labor Day, and 53% of marketers plan to start campaigns earlier this year. 53% of businesses are also adding more domestic or local suppliers to ease supply chain challenges.

Since the second half of last year, the global supply chain has started to have problems intermittently, with port congestion, container shortages, canal blockages, and soaring freight rates. Both sellers and consumers have been tortured, fearing that something will go wrong at a critical moment. It has become a natural choice for buyers to shop in advance, sellers to prepare goods in advance, and to find more and closer suppliers.

The survey also found that only 60% of brands plan to hold Black Friday promotions, down 17% from last year. 85% of marketers are using the epidemic to "reset" Black Friday sales methods - 80% of people believe that Black Friday is outdated and has a negative association with consumer culture: when consumers think that there will only be promotions on "Black Friday", they will reduce spending at other times, affecting the brand's sales throughout the year.

The survey also found that marketers will adopt new methods to improve customer engagement this holiday season. Almost all (91%) said they may enhance VR/AI products by the end of the year, such as virtual try-on and visualization of home products; 74% of companies plan to launch subscription content plans to improve customer engagement; 51% of marketers are offering consumers discounts or additional services in exchange for their data.

Almost all marketers are optimistic about revenue growth this holiday season. But at the same time, more are keeping an eye on factors that could affect sales, such as changing pandemic conditions and regulations.

“As attitudes change toward big events like Black Friday, the industry needs to act quickly now to connect with its most loyal customers as they plan to start their holiday shopping earlier in the year,” said Paige O’Neil, Chief Marketing Officer at Sitecore. “For many, this holiday season will be a make-or-break moment — so planning ahead is critical.”

Although consumers and sellers have said that they will no longer go on Black Friday like they did before , sellers are using various methods to win over consumers outside of Black Friday, and the competition has become more intense. If sellers want to turn things around during the holiday shopping season, they need to prepare more seriously.

Black Friday

Holiday Shopping Season

Supply Chain