Black Friday Online Traffic Up 10% In 2008

Nielsen Online reports that traffic from home and work to the Holiday eShopping Index increased 10 percent year over year on Black Friday, growing from 28.8 million unique visitors in 2007 to 31.7 million unique visitors in 2008 across more than 120 representative online retailers.

“Even with the weakening economy, an unstable stock market and a rising unemployment rate, Black Friday traffic to online retail sites grew at a double digit rate this year,” said Ken Cassar, vice president, industry insights, Nielsen Online.

Black Friday Online Conversations and Consumer Perceptions

• Not surprisingly, shopping incentives were a key part of Black Friday discussions. The terms “deals,” “sales,” and “doorbusters,” referring to deep discounts intended to get shoppers in the door, were all closely associated with Black Friday.
• Specific retailers were also mentioned in relation to Black Friday, including Sears, CVS, Wal-Mart, JCPenney, Staples and Circuit City, among others.
• Consumers discussed specific products and gift ideas, including high definition televisions, video games, laptops and toys.

See Nielsen Online’s Black Friday BAM here.
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Top 10 Retailer Mistakes On Black Friday

Black Friday, the Friday following Thanksgiving is traditionally the busiest shopping day of the year. Many retailers use this time to offer “door-buster” deals - ridiculously low prices on key items that entice eager shoppers to line up outside hours before the store opens. Nielsen has prepared a Top 10 list of common mistakes made by retailers who are trying to play and win in the competitive world of Black Friday.

Mistake #1: Sticking to traditional categories
Who says supermarkets can’t sell video games or that electronics stores can’t sell soda and snacks? Many smart retailers are breaking free of traditional channel definitions that may limit the merchandise categories where they compete. If you have a cash register, you can sell it.

Mistake #2: Not having a retailing objective
Determine your Black Friday retailing objective(s) in advance. Do your door-buster ads attract new shoppers? Do they generate profits? Do they drive traffic for purchases of non-deal items?

Mistake #3: Not measuring your objectives
If you have measurable objectives, you need to measure them. Was Black Friday profitable for your stores? Did you attract new shoppers who return to shop in the following weeks? Did heavy traffic drive sales of non-deal items?

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Nielsen Online Looks At Black Friday And Online Deals

By Emily Heitkamp, Nielsen Online

When details of the global financial crisis overtook the headlines in mid-September, consumers and brands began assessing their position in the economy and strategizing for the downturn. Retailers have reacted by announcing plans to offer deep discounts for the holidays, from high-end to mass-merchandise. Some have rolled out deals in advance of Black Friday. With reports of more and better deals from retailers and a bleak economic outlook for consumers, it would be natural to assume that consumers are hungry to take advantage of opportunities to save money. But will consumers tighten their belts so much that even deep discounts won’t get them spending?

Continue reading at Connecting The Dots… Nielsen Online’s Analyst Blog.