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With the unofficial kick-off of the Christmas shopping season due to start on the 24th November, Amazon is, predictably, a step ahead. The retail giant opens its Black Friday Deals Store on November 17 running through to November 26.
Amazon has consistently been building on its position of ownership of Black Friday since the event landed in the UK. It’s also seen as the one to beat, with retailers actively devising their strategies to that end.
Going off-line
This year sees Amazon taking its Christmas strategy in the UK off-line, opening its first pop-up shop, with the aim to drive sales for its 10-day Black Friday event. Based in central London, the pop-up will essentially act as a showroom, where customers can browse Black Friday sales items as well as Amazon Prime offers. Workshops and tutorials will also be offered around its big ticket electrical goods, like Amazon Echoes.
“We’re making Black Friday more fun than ever by holding our first-ever Home of Black Friday pop-up in central London,” Amazon UK country manager Doug Gurr said.
Getting behind the scenes
Leaving no stone unturned, earlier this week, Amazon released a sneak peek of its plans for Black Friday across 30 categories. It’s also revealed a series of behind the scenes photographs of staff at its 16 UK warehouses preparing for what could be its biggest Christmas to date. This is despite the furore around its Christmas advert which implied Father Christmas doesn’t exist which caused an angry viewer response.
A disappointing Black Friday?
So will this be the year Amazon owns Christmas? New figures from Retail Economics suggest that retailers have overestimated consumer appetite for Black Friday this year. While nearly half the retailers surveyed predict a higher Black Friday demand than last year, only 19% of consumers were looking to make the most of Black Friday events, down from 21% last year. FSP, as always, will monitor consumer trends and report back on Black Friday’s place as it becomes further entrenched in the retail calendar.
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