[ad_1]
The coronavirus pandemic has prompted retailers to change their approach to the holiday shopping season, opening the promotional window for Black Friday deals much earlier than in previous years. And some in the retail industry believe adaptations may become standard practice in the future.
“We are seeing a fundamental shift in the promotional schedule,” Steve Sadove, former chairman and CEO of Saks, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Friday. “I think the retailers have done a brilliant job extending the season, and that will play out early next year,” he added.
In an environment where the pandemic has driven more and more consumers to online channels, the earlier start of the holidays should prove beneficial in avoiding significant shipping delays for orders placed after the first two weeks of December, Sadove also said.
The idea of extending Black Friday is not new to retailers, according to former Walmart U.S. President and CEO Bill Simon. “They’ve been trying to do this for years and haven’t had any success, and this just might be the year they get there,” Simon said in an interview with “Squawk Box” alongside Sadove.
For big box retailers, especially his former company, Walmart and Target, Simon said willingness to embrace an extended Black Friday period likely hinged on their ability to be successful in e-commerce while relying less on their stores. physical.
“They’re moving from a channel of domination to one where they’re far behind Amazon,” Simon said. “They’re going to have to catch up very quickly, or they’re going to try to change the schedule to be more physical and more Black Friday because they won’t like the outcome.”
Sadove, who led Saks from 2007 to 2013, said he thought it would be “a combination of the two” in the years to come. One of the reasons for this, he said, is the strong sales that have been recorded so far this fall.
“I think everyone is taking advantage of the early burst. You’ve seen this big increase in volume year over year and it continues and I think it’s going to lead to bigger numbers for the holiday season,” he said. he declares. “I think retailers are going to try to go both ways, continuing with the first promotions. And then with a big explosion in the Black Friday-Cyber Monday period.”
Regardless of the path forward for Black Friday deals, Simon said he was concerned about the sustainability of these being heavily targeted towards e-commerce, as retailers need people to buy products that don’t. are not just for sale. Online shoppers may just be prime deals, he said.
“If you just sell the deals you’re going to lose money. It’s just not organized that way. You have to sell the wrapping paper and the Christmas lights and the candy canes and whatever. go with or you, ” said Simon, who oversaw Walmart US from 2010 to 2014.
Sadove said this challenge could be mitigated by online shopping picked up from physical outlets. “This is where you get some of the improvement in the margin,” he said. “Shopping online, especially with low-end prices, is very difficult. When you get online shopping, in-store pickup – and the big boxes did well – it really wins.”
Follow CNBC’s Black Friday updates here.
[ad_2]
Source link