We‘re closed on Black Friday, and we think that‘s a good thing.

In the Retail World, REI has done the unthinkable... They #Disrupted the #Black Friday.

Black Friday week has started and I would like to share this example with all of you as an idea to think outside the box or go new routes. We all tend to follow the crowd, it is the "easy" or "obvious" way. When everyone does it, I or we as a company do it as well. We can't be wrong. We all do this every day, me included in many situations. Why ?

"It takes nothing to join the crowd. It takes everything to stand alone."

Five years ago, REI's chief customer officer Ben Steele joined colleagues at a table, discussing Black Friday campaign ideas, when a novel idea arose:  'We could never do it, but what if we close on Black Friday?'" 

The United States based Sporting goods and apparel retailer Recreational Equipment Inc., or REI, is again in the 5th year closing its 157 stores on Black Friday and not processing payments on its eCommerce site. Instead of shopping or working, REI will pay its 13.000 employees to spend time outside #optoutside. One idea of this "campaign" is to encourage consumers to “think about their consumption habits.”

“While the rest of the world is fighting it out in the aisles, we hope to see you in the great outdoors.” – REI

For REI the Big Risk paid off. You never know what is going to happen when you disrupt yourself. In my mind, one of the key success criteria was the intention of the campaign. The idea was initially to get the employees outside and follow their passion to do what they love to do. Being outside. That's it - and this idea of being good has been seen by others to get the campaign going.

REI: A different kind of company.

However, you can imagine what people said in 2015, when they first heard about the campaign. "People thought they were crazy" or "Why the hell would you give up one of the busiest shopping days of the year ?"

I asked the question: "Would you close on Black Friday ?" to a number of Entrepreneurs, CEOs and Sales Executives.

What do you think they replied ?

I am not telling you the answers right now. I would like to get your feedback and thoughts about this topic. Please let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

1. What do you think about Black Friday / Sales in general ?
2. What is your opinion about REI's decision ?

Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving and is routinely one of the largest U.S. shopping days, both in stores and online. Adobe Digital Inc. estimates that the single day in 2018 brought in $6.2 billion in online sales in the U.S.. In Germany the estimate is around EUR2.5 billion, which is as well a significant number in revenues.

You can find more information about the REI campaign below or on their website.