How COVID-19 Is Changing Black Friday

When the notion of Black Friday came into being in the 1950s, as is thought, no one thought that several decades down the line, a virus called COVID-19 would change the game. And not for the better, from a retailer's perspective. This year, the shopping extravaganza is going to be quite different, with a need for social distancing and retailers worrying about how to recover their losses from the pandemic. 

Meanwhile, you won't be enjoying Black Friday as it was before if you're a consumer. As well as donning decent clothes to go shopping, now you've got to pop on a face covering. You might also have to queue before you can enter the shop, but really, the pandemic has done away with crowds of any sort.

As is the tradition, Black Friday, will take place on the day after US Thanksgiving Day and fall on 27 November this year. The question is: how is it going to look? If you're a retailer, how can you prepare? Below is a general idea.

Consumers will have to call ahead

Customers will have to call ahead to see if the store is actually even open on the day itself.

That's because it may not be if you're living in the US (and maybe even in the UK). Some retailers have announced they won't be opening on Thanksgiving Day to kick off the Black Friday sales, which start at midnight on Black Friday. Others, such as Walmart, have announced they won't be opening at all on Thanksgiving Day. Workers can go home to enjoy the holiday.

If shops do open on Black Friday, expect them to be taking safety measures to protect their customers. They may only let a certain number of people in the store at a time. That's good news if you're at the front of the queue, but not-so-good news if you're at the back of it.

The need for social distancing means some stores will open pop-up stores to cope with the restrictions and the demand. Others are extending their opening hours so they can spread out the shoppers more and meet the demand more easily.

Retailers are spreading out sales 

Admittedly, Black Friday has been declining in recent years. Retailers have downplayed this sales extravaganza further, due to the coronavirus. Some stores have started their sales as early as October, rather than induce the frenzy we've come to witness on previous Black Fridays when it was about being first. Amazon, Target and Home Depot have all begun their sales earlier than usual.

Some retailers even began their deep discounts in the summer, whereas others have decided to extend their discount period right the way through November. This is partly to diminish the panic of consumers to grab the deep discounts while they can. The other part, of course, is to steal market share from competitors who have delayed the start of their discount period. 

Retailers are pushing online sales more

Naturally, many businesses worked more on their online service to cope with the new demand for goods and services in the online sphere of their businesses. As a result of the coronavirus, consumers have been shopping differently and businesses have tried to respond to that. 

The well-known retailer Walmart, for instance, will not only be offering its discounts in the stores, but also online. Like several other retailers, it will be spreading them out further across the season, too. The retailer has also redirected its focus towards products that have witnessed high demand during the pandemic.

Retailers who provide an online service are all too aware of the urgency the pandemic has created. That's why businesses such as Bedstar provide next day delivery on some of their products, so that customers can receive them and use them sooner. It may be essential for them. 

Some retailers may scale back the discounts (and the frenzy)

The lockdown has hit many businesses hard. Some retailers aren't exactly looking forward to Black Friday. They may not be able to afford discounting the products as much as they might have done in more prosperous times. They may give smaller discounts, give deep discounts on fewer items or, in the worst case scenario, not give discounts on any products at all. 

Of course, there is the question of social distancing, too. Some retailers won't want to encourage the crowds that lead to the pandemonium we see at some stores on Black Fridays. This isn't the time for crowded stores (as much as retailers would like them to be.) and it could even be a PR disaster for them.

How can retailers prepare?

If you're a retailer yourself, how can you prepare for Black Friday? Here are some suggestions:

Get ready to scale

If there's one thing you can expect on Black Friday, it's a spike in online traffic. You can't predict exactly what that spike will be, but it's coming, so employ scalable technology to cope with the demand. That means scaling up to an e-commerce platform that can handle sudden surges in traffic. When doing so, consider the security implications of such an upgrade, which means looking at firewalls, antiviruses and security certificates.

Price alerts

Encourage customers to sign up for price alerts. That could be for all products through to price alerts on specific brands, categories or products based on their interests. You could even create a landing page with all the discounts that will feature on Black Friday and add a link and a price alert to each one. You could deliver the alerts via text message or, if they use your app, by push notifications.

Prepare for delivery

Get ready for the Black Friday weekend by speaking to couriers, who will deliver at the weekend. This will help you and the customer out. Create product bundles and keep replicating them in the run-up to the Black Friday weekend. Just as importantly, pack items now so all you have to do is put the label on 

Black Friday is coming, but it won't be the same this year. COVID-19 has seen to that. Retailers will be acting to prevent the stampedes and, as has been the story throughout 2020, tread that difficult tightrope between keeping their customers safe and staying profitable. Let's see how it all pans out.