This month we’re asking retailers: Is Black Friday an important sales period for your business and will you be running any promotions?
Land of Beds
Black Friday has evolved into a broader sales period, with customers now searching for deals throughout most of November. This extended event serves multiple strategic purposes for us. It’s the perfect time to introduce new product lines and significantly boost both in-store traffic and online engagement. Importantly, it also presents a valuable opportunity to strengthen our relationships with retail partners. We’ll be rolling out deals across all major brands to meet shopper demand. By aligning our promotional strategies with consumer behaviour, we’re positioning ourselves to maximise the potential of this key sales period.
Hatters Furniture
Black Friday promotions aren’t something we run with. The reasons for this are that we don’t sell online, we focus on giving our customers the best instore buying experience possible, not gimmicky promotions.
Home World – Mattress & Bed Centres
Regarding Black Friday and any other sales period that the industry follows. We made a decision about six years ago to offer our best prices all year round. We do however, reduce some clearance lines that are slow to go, to help clear them. This does help to create a “Sale” image, when we do in fact notice an increase in footfall due to the marketing of the industry creating a “sale period”.
The Bed Post
Black Friday hit these shores a number of years ago with a BANG and suggested ‘Great bargains to be had’. There are numerous events held throughout a retailer’s year suggesting huge savings. I think todays ‘Savvy’ shoppers are coming to terms with the fact that this might just be another gimmick to attract customers to their business. I also think that this promotion is better suited to certain product types and maybe better as an online promotion.
Dreamland
While Black Friday has historically represented a pivotal moment in our retail calendar, its significance has somewhat diminished in the context of an increasingly competitive market. Unlike in previous years, where the event marked a critical sales peak, the industry’s competitiveness now extends across the entire calendar year. Consequently, the promotional landscape has evolved, resulting in a less pronounced impact during Black Friday itself. We do anticipate increased footfall during this period, although the average transaction value tends to be lower than at other times.
In past years, suppliers often aligned their most aggressive discounting strategies with key sales events like Black Friday. However, the shift toward continuous competitiveness has led to a reduction in the exclusivity and attractiveness of such promotions. Suppliers now provide competitive pricing year-round, diminishing the traditional appeal of Black Friday offers.
Nevertheless, the event continues to play a strategic role in Dreamland’s sales cycle. Following the National Bed Federation show, approximately 40% of our product range is set to be replaced, and we view Black Friday as a critical opportunity to clear these older models. This ensures that our store is well-prepared for the incoming stock and aligns with our operational efficiency goals. Although the relative importance of Black Friday has evolved, participation remains essential as each sale contributes significantly, especially given the potential for higher-value transactions during clearance promotions of higher ticket models.
MattressOnline
Historically a quieter time in the furniture industry, Black Friday brings an element of consumer demand forward which in turn can help smooth out capacity issues for our suppliers. We work closely with our manufacturing partners to ensure that we can offer further discounts to the consumer during this event each year.
