Found Alive: Black Friday

I’ve seen many posts about how Black Friday is becoming obsolete with the rise of ecommerce. However, if you’d been with me on the streets of Soho in New York City this past Friday, you may have left with quite a different feeling:

There you would have found wall to wall—or should I say corner to corner?—foot traffic, especially in the blocks along Broadway south of Houston. Crowds were so dense, it was often difficult to move. While it may have helped that the weather was sunny, cool and dry, there was also plenty of incentive to shop and shop hard.

Although Black Friday sales are starting earlier each year and lasting longer, it seems there are plenty of consumers who want to shop in person on the day and a closer look revealed an interesting pattern: all traffic was not created equally.

The winners seemed to fall into one of two categories: “more for your money” or “more money for your cool”.?

Uniqlo definitely?is among the former. It was one of a few retailers with a traffic control challenge that included a line stretching a half block-- likely because the brand’s already affordable clothing and accessories were further reduced. Fortunately for those waiting, the store is optimized to move buyers through quickly: if you are paying with a credit card, you dump all of your selections into a bin, an RFID reader summarizes your purchase and you scan or swipe your card and off you go.

Instead of a 20 foot bank of cashiers, there was one associate supervising this streamlined self-checkout which moved quickly and efficiently. (I can’t wait for my local Whole Foods to adopt this technology…imagine an entire bag of groceries scanned with almost no effort on my part!)

There was another line on Broadway and that was for the Nike store—no surprise there as lines are common throughout the year.?

But around the corner on Spring Street? Lines for BIRKENSTOCK . The brand, who recently completed an IPO, seems to have cemented its footing (pun intended) among the cool kids.?

Waiting to buy sandals in the dead of winter is an act that could only be described as the ultimate cool endorsement.

Another example of “more for your money” was the Japanese vintage retailer 2nd Street drawing a crowd at their location on Howard Street in Soho. Consumers found it hard to resist the allure of unique finds and a discount.?

In the category of “hoping for a line” was jeweler Tiffany & Co.

While it was hard to see the pavement on many other blocks, the Tiffany & Co storefront was occupied by a lone security guard who was, no doubt, having an easy day. The lack of discounting combined with high price points and an intimidating shopping experience (small rooms, lots of security and hovering sales people) resulted in a clear "vote by foot" as consumers kept it moving down the block.

I believe that the holiday gift giving period will remain a retail high water mark for the near future. And while much of our shopping has shifted online, the get-it-now allure of in person shopping is still desired by many consumers (see my recent article, Only Bad Retail is Dead), especially on the high streets of major cities. Who wins and who loses continues to come down to perceived value and ideal experiences. Where will your brand be found?

I write about retail, strategic brand management and corporate life. Follow me on LinkedIn and sign up for my exclusive quarterly newsletter by visiting my website, Elmira Street. Thanks for reading.