Influencer Impact on Holiday Retail
From Member James Myrick, SVP, Performance Marketing, BEN
How do you think stores/brands will entice consumers on Black Friday this year?
Influencer marketing will play a bigger role for stores and brands across verticals than ever before. With limitations on in-person filming for TV ad spots and a lack of large scale, in-person sales, brands are getting creative with their social media strategies, including the range of influencers they’re working with. Black Friday isn’t relegated to one day this year — instead, retailers are offering multiple sales throughout the season and individual brands are taking discounts into their own hands. Through influencer campaigns, brands and stores can extend their Black Friday sales by offering discount codes to viewers, showcasing new, exciting products in photos and videos, and enabling instant, in-app shopping.
How can stores/brands put more emphasis on Cyber Monday this year given the COVID-19 restrictions?
Similar to this year’s new Black Friday strategy, rather than focusing on a one-day-only blowout sale event for Cyber Monday, stores and brands will pivot to multiple days of sales spread out over a longer period of time. Consumer shopping behaviors have slowly been changing over time, as evidenced by the creation of Cyber Monday in the first place, but the pandemic has accelerated those faster than anyone anticipated. This year, Black Friday and Cyber Monday will meld into one long shopping and deals season, and it’s possible that they will never go back to two distinct sales events.
How can stores/brands make shopping online more easy, accessible and user friendly for holiday shopping this year?
The success of this year’s holiday shopping season is going to be entirely dependent upon how brands leverage digital advertising and digital experiences to draw in shoppers. Influencer marketing is clear front-runner for helping brands connect with shoppers in a more authentic way while showcasing upcoming deals and promotions. We’re also seeing a surge in unboxing videos. With fewer opportunities to interact with products physically before purchasing, influencer integrations offer a way for shoppers to see products in action before making their purchase decisions.
What kind of deals/offerings do you imagine larger corporations like Amazon and Walmart will have in store for this year?
Overall, we’re going to see more deals on electronics and home goods as quarantine continues. Amazon and Walmart are generally quite secretive about what their deals are going to look like around the holidays, but I imagine it will be extra competitive this year.