It’s beginning to look a lot like…Christmas (sales), with every ‘early access’ email I see.

And it’s not just an anecdotal feeling we get, ‘Christmas’ or ‘Holiday’ Creep is in full effect, only this year feels earlier still with retailers competing for reduced budgets. 

Australians are set to budget almost 20% less this holiday period than a year ago, driven by the continued cost of living crisis. There’s a finite budget, and retailers have gone out as early as September to ensure they maximise their slice of the limited holiday sales pie.

A changing of the seasons

While still relatively new to these shores, arriving in 2016(ish), Black Friday feels as though it’s gone through the full hype cycle, from novelty, through backlash, to established fixture. A litter of other sales events from Amazon’s October Prime Day, through to November’s Click Frenzy means it’s a congested period.

But this year, despite consumer confidence remaining steady, economic challenges and reduced disposable income with 76% of us are cutting back this year, it’s forced smaller retailers to go early to cut through the noise of November. Blissful Little Home is one newsletter I subscribe to and getting out early with ‘Order now to avoid delay’ is a message many are looking to convey. 

How retailers are adapting

For the retailers we speak with, the whole sales period from October through to Australia Day is starting to be treated as one, with waves of deals available spread across the months. ARA notes that for discretionary retailers, this period accounts for two thirds of annual profits. 

Pre-BF

Visibility is key for retailers at any time. During expected sales seasons, where brand loyalty is ditched for bigger savings, it’s important to be front of mind. 

This year, JB Hi-Fi has had a ticker counting down to its sales period. Ahead of Black Friday it has encouraged shoppers to sign up to its ‘Perks’ program to get ‘early access’ to its best deals. So priming customers for when the deals are coming, while enlisting new customers to its loyalty program. 

Others like lululemon use socials to draw attention to upcoming exclusive sales. The period is used to sign people up and expand customer databases ahead of the hard sell season. A way of promoting early what’s coming up in the way of offers, building anticipation. 

Sales period

Plan early and be fluid enough to bring campaigns forward if the market conditions are right. It’s about adapting to your customers and their current environment. 

Also have your marketing materials dynamic enough for changes dependent on your competitors and how the sales season is progressing. Have targets and KPIs set, and processes in place to adapt if required. 

Post sales

As mentioned in pre-sales, since data and consumer insights are increasingly crucial, you might want to expand on how collecting and analysing data post-campaign can lead to more personalised future sales approaches. 

Analysing what went right, timing of campaigns, and the insights into abandon carts etc begins now. This is part of the reason we start end of year Holiday planning in January, the postmortem can begin once results have been collated. 

This is also a time to convert new customers to your brand into brand advocates. Offer compelling deals to sign up to your newsletter/loyalty program, depending on where they sit in your funnel. 

Automated technology now allows for greater personalisation to be able to tailor your engagements with new and potential customers in a more meaningful way. 

Start now

Data is key in knowing how to improve your offering. So start collating now in preparations for next year. Observe what worked and anything that didn’t. Did you leave communications about your sales too late? Did your discounts attract enough attention? Consumers have become more discerning in shopping around for deals, and expect big discounts, this past BF sales saw many offer 20-50%.

If it wasn’t already official from last year, new data reveals Black Friday sales have overtaken their Boxing Day counterparts in interest levels of Aussie shoppers. 

No matter the economic climate of next year, retailers that adequately plan for the whole season, catering to the nuances of each sales period, will be the ones that will win out.

Rachael Hockaday is managing director of marketing specialists, Haeday.