[INFOGRAPHIC] Black Friday – How to Prepare for the Customer Invasion

This Black Friday, we expect to see 41% of shoppers taking advantage of one-of-a-kind Black Friday deals.

Since 2005, it has been the busiest shopping day of the year. The term ‘Black Friday’ was coined in the 60s, and it marked the beginning of the bustling holiday shopping season. It owes its popularity to retailers who realized they could attract crowds on discount prices, consequently stealing the thunder from the last-minute Christmas sales.

Black Friday is also the longest day of the year for retailers. Once it was common for them to open their stores at 6.00 am; then the late 2000s came and many enthusiastic shoppers started camping in front of Target, Macy’s Kohl’s and other, what motivated retailers to open their front door as early as 5.00, or even 4.00 am.

Then, in 2011, for the first time ever, several retailers opened at midnight.

On average, we see more than 133 million people shopping on Black Friday, each of them spending at least $150. Up until now, 23% of holiday shoppers were campers, however, it is possible that this particular species is likely to die out in several years.

How come?

In just one decade, we have witnessed an unexpected growth in spending: in 2005, people spent a total of $26 billion in the U.S., and last year the numbers went as high as $67.6 billion. But even though sales in general are rising, the ones at physical stores have decreased by 1.5% since 2014, as customers have migrated to the online world.

[su_box title=”Up until now, 23% of holiday shoppers were campers, however, it is possible that this particular species is likely to die out in several years.” class=”trap small right”][/su_box]

Taking all of this into consideration, this year we expect to see e-commerce sales jump by more than 10%; more than $3 billion will be spend online and $600 million via mobile devices.

Even those who will stay loyal to the ‘traditional’ in-store shopping report they will use their mobile devices while they are at the store, and as much as 90% will research products they intend on purchasing online before shopping in-store.

If your e-commerce website isn’t mobile optimized, it’s high time you made this a priority, since more and more shoppers take advantage of their portable devices to compare prices, get digital discounts, check availability of the product, view rating and many more.

For busy marketers, we have collected all 2016 Black Friday predictions, together with valuable advice on how to prepare yourself for the busy online and mobile world of shopping.