Retailers Using Their Sites to Drive Brick-and-Mortar Black Friday Sales
Wal-Mart and Best Buy have both announced that they will be announcing special Black Friday deals at their websites. The important thing is that these deals will not be announced anywhere else. You can see Best Buy’s extra deals on their site but Wal-Mart won’t be posting their deals until tomorrow, this according to the 30-second spot I saw on tv last night. Best Buy has also announced they will be creating parking spots in front of stores designated for those shoppers who place their order online and want to pick up the item at their nearest store.
I’m not sure what the thinking is behind these moves. The deals are only available for purchase at the retailers’ stores, but they are obviously trying to drive traffic to their websites. Perhaps the thinking is that once a customer is on the website they will buy something online AND go visit the store to purchase these killer deals? I’m not too sure, do you all have any thoughts on the marketing plan behind these website only deals?
Posted by Chris | November 22, 2006
Kevin Hillstrom November 26th, 2006
The Best Buy parking spot deal is interesting, isn’t it? When it comes down to it, there aren’t a whole lot of things outside of lowest price and great service that a consumer might find useful. A reserved parking spot is an interesting thing for a retailer to experiment with.
Now, can you imagine trying to coordinate that strategy across hundreds of stores?
Chris November 27th, 2006
Kevin, I agree with your point about prices and service. Once Best Buy had cornered the lowest prices they realized they needed to offer some new service deals and I think the reserved parking is a smart idea. (coordinating it all is another thing, what a hassle)
I also took a look at your blog and was particularly interested in your post on the lack of a human touch in ecommerce. One of our clients, KnockKnock.biz has spent a lot of time going through the copy of their site and providing a playful experience. Give em a look.
Kevin Hillstrom November 28th, 2006
Your right, Chris, that is a site that is different than all the others. Good reference!