Authored by Phil Cohen
Black Friday: An Overview for Small Business Owners
Black Friday has become infamous in the twenty-first century for the bargain-crazed consumers that pack American shopping centers annually on the Friday following Thanksgiving. Each year, millions of Americans (over 70 million, to be precise) flock to the stores to buy over 50 million dollars’ worth of holiday gifts and products. Check out these fast facts for Black Friday:
- Black Friday, as we know it, began in Philadelphia in 1961. The term was first coined by the Philadelphia city policemen, who used it to describe the chaotic rush of suburban shoppers that would come holiday shopping after watching the Army-Navy football game each year.
- 74.2 million Americans shop on Black Friday– if they were to form a country, it would be the 20th most populous on Earth.
- 35 million Americans shopped on Thanksgiving Day in 2015. Black Friday has extended its reach to Thanksgiving Thursday.
- $4.45 billion were spent online during Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday.
- The average Black Friday shopper spent $299.60 last year, down from $423.00 in 2012.
- On Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday more than $50 billion is spent by American shoppers, a sum comparable to the GDP of Costa Rica.
Though Black Friday has seen a bit of a decline in recent years, it is still the country’s most popular day for shopping. So what can your small business do to take advantage of the Black Friday weekend?
Small Business Strategies for the Black Friday Weekend
Don’t Feel Pressured to open on Thanksgiving Day—there is no need for you to open your shop on Thanksgiving Day in order to compete with Walmart or Costco. Remember, in order to survive as a small business, you must embrace your role as such. Your business prides itself on its intimacy with your community and embracing family values. What family wants their relatives to work on Thanksgiving? Stay home, see family, have an extra serving of desert and watch some football—your neighbors and your customers will respect you for it.
Consider Cross-Promotion—international franchises do it all of the time. Cross-promoting, when done effectively, can be extremely lucrative for small business owners. If there is another local business in your area that could profit from a temporary partnership, team up with them and offer a special Black Friday weekend joint sale. Perhaps teamwork will help both of your businesses compete against the strikingly low prices that franchise retailers will offer.
Use Small Business Saturday to your Advantage—there is a special day of the year dedicated to supporting small businesses. Use it! Small Business Saturday is a great opportunity for you to offer promotional sales and to brush up on your management skills with the Small Business Administration’s free, week-long webinars and events.
Check out the Infographic above, and make sure that your small business profits from the Black Friday Weekend. Looking for other ways to ensure that your small business turns a profit? Get in touch with a representative from Factor Finders and take a look at the benefits of invoice factoring. Factor Finders works with companies from all industries to get the cash flow that they need to thrive and expand.