Before Black Friday: Inbox Observations & Takeaways for 2012

Everyone with an email account knows that Black Friday and Cyber Monday are important days for retailers.  In recent years, we’ve started to see the deepest discounts and special offers make their appearance earlier - as on Thanksgiving Day - with businesses eager to get a leg up on competitors and potentially get first crack at consumers’ holiday spend.

I wanted to take a closer look at this pre-Thanksgiving period within my own inbox to see if retailers were kick-starting deals even earlier this year, find out how they communicated with subscribers and discover what stood out in the inbox.

Here’s what I uncovered, and potential takeaways for your future planning:

Black Friday or Cyber Monday Deals debuted even earlier this year.

Some businesses started their special Black Friday promos as early as Sunday, 11/20. Some rotated deals by product (Amazon) while others offered the same deal straight through Cyber Monday.

Examples:

• 11/20 - Ann Taylor - 40% Off Everything Exclusive Holiday Preview Starts Now!‏
• 11/20 - Loft - Holiday Kick Off! 40% Off EVERYTHING (online only)‏
• 11/21 – Modern Nursery - Cyber Monday Sale: 10% Off and Free Shipping* through November 30
• 11/21 – Amazon - Kristen Gregory: Black Friday Deals Start Now!

Marketing Takeaways:

Plan ahead and keep an eye on your competitors. You may want to ensure that you are engaging subscribers prior to Black Friday. Starting deals sooner could potentially help your messages stand out in a (somewhat) less hectic time in the inbox as well as possibly distribute traffic to your site over time, which could mitigate site problems.

Some pre-Black Friday offers were more compelling than those on Cyber Monday.

This surprised me. For example, Old Navy sent a message on 11/21 for 35% off Old Navy, Gap and Piperlime. The subsequent Cyber Monday deal was only 30%.

Examples:

• 11/21 - Old Navy - Cyber Monday Comes Early - 35% Off 3 Brands
• 11/28 - Old Navy Cyber Event - It's Cyber Monday! Don't Miss Out + FREE Shipping Every Day

Marketing Takeaway: This is an interesting tactic worth considering, although I wonder if subscribers were disappointed by the actual Cyber Monday offer if they had held out, thinking the best offer of the season was coming. Perhaps being clear about your best offers/one-time deals etc could mitigate some of that and drive more people to take advantage. For example, “Early bird offer – best of the season – we promise!”

Some companies chose to preview upcoming deals.

This is a great tactic to help subscribers to plan their shopping and get them excited about coming specials. The challenge with this tactic, however, is potentially training them to not buy now, but wait and buy later. We may expect that direct sales those days may be lower than after typical campaigns.

Examples:

• 11/21 – Target - Preview Target 2-Day Sale Black Friday Deals Now.
• 11/21 – Walgreens - Get a Sneak Peek at Our 3-Day Black Friday Sale‏
• 11/23 - Urban Outfitters - The Black Friday Sale: 50% Off Sale In Stores
• 11/23 – Kohl’s - Preview 500 Early Birds Online + Take an Extra 15% Off Today!

Marketing Takeaway: If you’d like to drive sales directly from the preview message, think about offering an exclusive deal that won’t be available on the big deal day. Perhaps that’s a specific deal on a particular product.  If you choose to run a preview message without a direct sales call-to-action, consider using the prep angle and encourage people to fill their shopping carts in anticipation of tomorrow’s big day.

Lots of signficant deals began on 11/23 – the day before Thanksgiving - but not all were clear.

Some companies did a great job of making it clear in the subject line that the deals were starting now – others still referenced Black Friday, making it seem like the deals wouldn’t start until then…a big missed opportunity.

Examples:

• 11/21 – Target - Preview Target 2-Day Sale Black Friday Deals Now.
• 11/23 - Yahoo! Shopping Black Friday - Shop now for great deals on laptops, TVs, cell phones, and more!
• 11/23 – Fresh Pair – Exclusive Black Friday Preview Sale Starts Now | 20+ brands up to 30% off
• 11/23 – Gap - BLACK FRIDAY! Starts Today + FREE Shipping Every Day‏
• 11/23 – West Elm Black Friday starts now – everything’s on sale‏
• 11/23 – Oriental Trading - Black Friday deals + FREE shipping, no minimum!‏

Marketing Takeaway: If you’re going to start your big deals earlier than expected, be as clear as possible. “Cyber Monday deals start now!”

A couple of retailers sent simple html-text messages.

This could be a good tactic if you’re strapped for time or want to stand out in the inbox by looking different.

Examples:

• 11/18 – Old Navy - Deals TOO GOOD to wait for Black Friday!‏
• 11/23 – World Market - Thanksgiving Blowout Starts Now! Buy One Get One FREE - All Folding Chairs & Chair Pads!‏

Marketing Takeaway: Consider testing out this kind of format to see how it performs for your business.

Some companies smartly included nearby store locations in their emails for the biggest shopping days of the year.

Express also included information on which stores would be open on Thanksgiving and updated store hours for Black Friday to best enable subscribers to take advantage of deals in person.

Examples:

• 11/23 –United Colors of Benetton: Save BIG on BLACK FRIDAY!
• 11/23 – Express – 40% Off Everything Starts Tonight!
• 11/23 – Urban Outfitters - The Black Friday Sale: 50% Off Sale In Stores (Urban Outfitters also used animation in this message – helping to draw more attention!)

Marketing Takeway: Make it easy for people to not only locate your store using dynamic content based on zip code or state, but also let them know if your store is open earlier or later than usual during the holidays to set proper expectations and enable more sales! This could be especially important if your site encounters any problems during the peak season!

What other interesting observations did you make on Thanksgiving week in terms of big deal communications? What made you buy? Did you purchase anything prior to Black Friday?

Kristen Gregory
Manager, Strategic Services