Black Friday 2024: how retail can prepare

Just a few months from Black Friday 29 November & retail expectations for the date are high. The estimated sales reach is R$ 7.6 billion, 10% higher than last year, according to Haus research, released in August. Black Friday is one of the busiest and most awaited dates of the calendar, both by retailers and consumers. Such a busy season needs months of preparation for it to be a success. It is what explains Helcio Lenz, president of Latin America of the K.

Despite the intention of consumption for 2024 55% of Brazilians have already revealed that they intend to buy and 43% intend to spend more than last year, according to a survey by Dito and Opinion Box, also released in August 55% of Brazilians have revealed that they intend to buy and 23% intend to spend more than last year, since the revenue fell 15.1%, when compared to the same period of 2022 22.

While consumers are already starting their shopping lists, retailers are preparing (or at least should) to fulfill all orders with excellence, whether in physical or online commerce.“A Black Friday is undoubtedly one of the busiest dates in the industry. Expectations are always high, people wait for November to check the offers and buy different products from different stores.If the business is not properly prepared to offer a good shopping experience for the consumer, the consequences can be felt not only during this period, but also may mark it negatively for the rest of the year”, warns Lenz.

Whether beginners or veterans of countless Black Fridays, every retailer can benefit from the expert's valuable tips, which can help the trade get through the date successfully.See:

• It all starts with the distribution center: it does not matter if the warehouse is small, or if it covers thousands of meters. An intelligent organization of the products is the first step for the flow of orders to work more quickly and efficiently. To do this, it is recommended to use warehouse management software (WMS), which helps in controlling the inventory and, with the capture of data, can suggest the best ways of distributing products in the distribution center. The WMS can identify which products will come out more on Black Friday and suggest that they stay in front of the warehouse, to be dispatched faster, for example.
• Omnichannel is here to stay: strategy already well known in retail, large companies in the sector have already shown the results of omnichannel for business growth. Integrating the different channels, such as physical store, virtual, website, application and communication channels puts the customer as the center of the operation, giving different possibilities and options for a purchase to be made. Technologies such as an Order Management System (WHO) can be allied to the implementation of this strategy, as they integrate the entire process, from purchase to delivery, offering the best experience for the customer.
• Robots to operate together with humans: another relatively new technology on the market, and which, undoubtedly, should be on the radar of operations, is the implementation of robots in the warehouse. Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMR) can assist employees within the distribution center, as they carry out the movement of pallets (shelves that store products) to humans, allowing people to be relocated to nobler tasks, while robots do all the displacement and heavy work. With this, orders can leave the warehouse faster, and with less margin of error.
• Agility in order delivery: According to research by Dito and Opinion Box, on last year's Black Friday, the and e-commerce It was the channel for which the most people bought (43% of the interviewees opted for virtual stores). Online shopping, intensified after the pandemic, came to stay. The consumer wants to receive the order in a few days, even hours. In the race of deliveries, the one who takes the order to the person as soon as possible wins, without damage to the packaging or shipping of the wrong product, so that the shopping experience is a success from start to finish. Thus, in addition to organizing the stock of the distribution center, so that the shipment is fast, the carrier processes must also be aligned, so that agility happens end to end in the chain.
• Know the consumer profile: understanding who the consumer is, consumer habits, what he expects from stores and the date in general, is essential to strategize and ensure that planning for Black Friday is as assertive as possible. For this, it is necessary to do market research, map competitors and understand how they are doing this and look for ways to win the public, through effective communication and in different channels (marketing planning comes here).

“It is not just isolated factors that leverage a business, it is a set of actions, research and investments that make it grow. Speaking specifically of Black Friday, it is important that each retailer understands well the business itself, what is working and what is not; what priorities to solve; what investments to make, in addition to being aware of market movements and trends. The industry and consumers are eagerly awaiting sales this year”, completes Lenz.