Black Friday Has Lost Its Special Sauce

Less Wow, More Like Any Other Shopping Day

Shopping on Black Friday was once the event of the year for shopperheads and casual shoppers alike. It's since been as bland as skim milk thanks to a combination of ecommerce, additional seasonal sales pushes and most of all, Thanksgiving Day shopping itself. Black Friday circulars are released digitally weeks before the actual events (and most items are available prior) and aggregated online by sites such as TheBlackFriday.com. As usual, I decided to take a look for myself in what has now become a tradition for my daughter and me.

Mary Catherine brought along a friend, so I was graced with the fascinating insight of teenage shopping behavior to complement the retail learnings. These ladies shop very different from traditional shoppers, taking their cues from other teens versus brand marketing pushes. I was amazed at their depth of product knowledge combined with their methodical approach to shopping. Makeup is their passion and it is fueled by a constant supply of how to and inspirational content, primarily on You Tube. They were well informed and also knew pricing cold so they could tell the difference in a real deal and an inflated markdown. They spent over an hour at Sephora during our first stop at Crabtree Valley Mall. I had given Mary Catherine free reign on our trip planning and she collaborated with her friend to hit their retailers of interest, namely Sephora, Bath & Body Works and Target, with a refreshment stop at Starbucks of course.

Most of their shopping is done online and a surprising amount (to me anyway) of their apparel is unbranded from Amazon. This is a pretty big departure from the way I shopped at their age and I'm continually fascinated by it. Back at Sephora, they compared their thoughts on items, asked smart questions of the staff and then selected items that were particularly good deals. Sephora had a hot deal on an Urban Decay Pallette, The price was decent but a quick check gave many similar options for similar 'sale' prices online although completely sold out via the brand's own website.

This is the first challenge for tentpole sale days like Black Friday, no need to go to a store, sleep in and save anyway.

Overall, 6am shopper traffic at the mall was light. Several stores including Apple weren't open and many had been open the night before, undoubtedly reducing the Black Friday crowds. Sephora had decent traffic, but it didn't seem any different than a typical day. Bath & Body Works was a different story, it was slammed. Its Black Friday offering was Buy 3, Get 3 Free for everything in the store. Bath & Body Works ALWAYS seems to have a promotion but this one obviously resonated with shoppers who were queued all the way through the store at one point. The brand is super gifty and no doubt its margin structure can handle the pricing. It had 40% off everything on Cyber Monday with free shipping over $40, not quite as good as Black Friday but effortless.

The girls opted for a Starbucks break after Sephora and Bath & Body works. They don't order off the menu of course. Mango Dragonfruit Refreshers, ordered from their apps for pickup because, "who waits in line dad?". I do, it's where I can look at the menu...Onward!

At this point, they were ready to leave the Mall. A quick trip to Belk's cosmetics dept. They both briefly walkinto into the decompression zone, made some comments about how Clinique made them break out and left. On the way to the car they briefly stepped in Hollister and Altar'd State. Both stores had deals and yet drew zero interest save a full price fuzzy top at Altar'd State that both surmised they could get cheaper if they waited. Smart shoppers indeed, play games with them at your own risk of brand trust. While 50% deals seemed to be the theme of the day, there was little belief that this was a true deal. Playing games of the past with the informed shoppers of the future is a dangerous game.

We left the mall and went to Super Target in Cary, the newest and biggest in our area. Target was fully decked and in full holiday mode. There were few shoppers when we arrived around 9am but the store displayed signs of being heavily shopped. There were many boxes in the aisles for restocking and some skus were depleted. As usual, Target had some unique displays like the 23 & Me endcap which are hallmarks of its shopping experience. Santa also had an innovative elf on the Shelf display that must have created some inspired parent conversations. Our only purchase was some wrapping paper after a generous walk through the store. While there were some decent deals and shopping inspiration, all could be had online as delivery signage encouraged.

While Black Friday is certainly still interesting, there is nothing about the day that remains special. It's deals can be found not only throughout the season but inevitably throughout the year. As I write this post, literally a stream of Cyber Monday emails is streaming across my screen. When everything is a deal, nothing is. Shoppers are changing faster than retailers. Only those that can adapt quickly will survive.