Get your brand ready for Black Friday

One of the biggest shopping days of the year is just around the corner and brands are gearing up for the upcoming retail phenomenon that is Black Friday. The last Friday of November has become a worldwide sales event, and it doesn’t stop there, Cyber Monday sales are also a valuable part of the shopping frenzy. Consumers are increasingly interested in holiday shopping on Cyber Monday, more so than Black Friday itself, as indicated by Deloitte’s 2021 Holiday Retail Survey, and numerous brands are now discounting collections throughout the entire week. With holiday shopping forecast to increase by 7-9%, what can fashion retailers expect this year from Black Friday? Will we see a return of pre-pandemic discounts, or is Black Friday a thing of the past?

Want to take advantage of your competitors’ data and optimize your own brand’s assortment, pricing, and discount strategies? Get an inside look into the real-time data you can get anytime, anywhere with Retviews, the automated benchmarking solution for fashion retailers. Leading brands are optimizing their collections and making better, data-based retail decisions with Retviews by Lectra, and you can too. Dive into our latest article and see how your brand can monitor its competitors and hit the market with the right product, for the right price at the right time, with Retviews.

Decreased Discounts in 2021

Throughout 2020, amid the global pandemic and safety measures in place worldwide, retailers were discounting higher volumes, a lot more frequently, and getting rid of stock that had piled up during lockdowns and store closures. Looking at the fall season alone, ranging from September to mid-November, discounts in 2020, mass market brands discounted large amounts of their collections in a non-sale season, indicating a longer discount period preceding Black Friday Week. Although not as successful as the previous year, Black Friday remained prominent in 2020, with some areas even postponing the discount event to coincide with re-opening of stores, instigating another sales peak the following week.

Retviews data allows you to monitor competitor’s data, get an in-depth look into their strategies, and enhance your own performance. Regarding mass market brands, there is a clear difference between discounted items throughout the fall season of 2021 in comparison with 2020. This year witnessed a significantly lower level of discounts between September and mid-November, within leading mass market brands as well as on average in the mass market. Retviews data indicates that this can also be seen throughout the year's big summer sales in July, where 2021 levels were once again lower than the previous year. This poses the question of whether pre-pandemic discounts are making a comeback this year?

No longer getting rid of leftover inventory, lower discounts throughout the year could indicate that brands are gearing up for high levels of discounts this Black Friday. Furthermore, studies show that more consumers are intending to do their holiday shopping during Black Friday and Cyber Monday this year and have an increased holiday shopping budget , corroborating brands’ low fall discounts in preparation for a big Black Friday event.

The same phenomenon can be observed within the premium market, many of whose leading brands discounted less this year throughout the fall season - indicating that discounts are not extended this year and a potentially bigger Black Friday event is in store. On average, the premium market as a whole is discounting 22% less this fall as opposed to last. Will this be reflected in this week’s Black Friday event?

Facing Supply Chain Issues

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have an impact on fashion retail, with supply chain issues hitting retailers in numerous sectors. An increase in textile prices, supply chain disruptions with manufacturers and suppliers in South-East Asia, including factory closures and production delays recently occurred. Globally hitting retail, pandemic-driven supply chain issues coupled with an expected spending increase during Black Friday and the holiday season overall, are provoking an inevitable increase in prices.

Using Retviews data and looking at the state of average prices within the mass market as a whole, in 2021 there is an evident average price increase of 3% throughout the fall season ranging from September to mid-November, when compared to the same period in 2020. Although increased discounts are expected, following high demand ; higher prices are also in the cards for many brands, on Black Friday. Will brands be able to get Black Friday to its full potential this year or will supply chain disruptions put a damper on the famed discount event?

Retviews, the automated benchmarking solution for fashion, allows you to monitor your competitor’s pricing and discount strategies in real-time and make confident, data-based decisions. See for yourself how your competitors are tackling discounts and the price inflation this year. Get ahead of your competition and optimize your own strategy with Retviews.

No Extended Discounts This Year ?

Keeping supply chain disruptions in mind, consumers expect to be shopping for the holidays earlier this year, with 44% of consumers saying they will start holiday shopping before November. Is this reflected in mass market brands’ discount strategy in early November? How does their discount strategy fare in comparison with 2020?

Retviews data, showcasing the evolution of total discounted items in mass market collections in early November, for 2020 and 2021, indicates a clear difference in the amount of discounts between the two years. Within the overall mass market, 2021 is showcasing a lower level of discounts as opposed to 2020. Not only are discounts lower in number but are also decreasing throughout the entire first part of the month. The shrinking number of discounts is also shown in two of the leading mass market brands, Zara, and H&M.

Taking a closer look at the two mass market giants, both are in line with the mass market trend of decreasing discounts in early November 2021. Where Zara’s early November discounts were at an increase in 2020, they are stagnating and slowly decreasing this year. Within H&M, there is a clear decline in discounts, this early November. The supply chain disruption could be a contributing factor in the lower levels of discounts before the Black Friday shopping event, with early holiday shoppers paying higher prices.

The State of Black Friday in 2021

Black Friday is here to stay, and despite numerous brands being against the shopping event, consumers are intending to take advantage of the discount event and are doing a lot more holiday shopping this year, and are planning on shopping earlier. With low markdowns throughout the year, brands are expected to offer a large number of discounts throughout the “Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday” events. However, supply chain disruptions and price increases could be a major struggle for fashion retailers this season. How will leading retailers take on the discount event this week?

Do you want to access this kind of real-time data on your competitors anytime, anywhere? Leading fashion retailers are using Retviews, the automated benchmarking solution for fashion to monitor their competitors’ assortment, pricing, and discount strategy, optimize their own collections and maximize margins. Get your own real-time competition analysis, with the right strategy and make better retail decisions with Retviews by Lectra.