https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/11/27/black-friday-holiday-shopping/
The article summarizes how the pandemic has changed Black Friday from lining up outside in the cold on Thanksgiving night to mainly online. Stores like Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Target, and Macy's that typically have huge crowds waiting for the doors to open are relatively empty this Friday morning. Buy online, pick up in store is more popular than ever before. But many stores have invested in their eCommerce technology and sites to capitalize off of the virus restrictions.
With more stores optimizing their online channel, customers are receiving incredibly large numbers of email ads. Even Thanksgiving evening, I received hundreds of emails from stores having sales on Black Friday, or that had started holiday sales even earlier. Stores must be creative in their digital marketing - they must be able to stand out amongst the droves of emails consumers have been receiving all week. I've seen some stores have sign-ups for early access, or open sales early for their most loyal customers. Many brands are utilizing their Instagram to build hype around drops of new products or promotions. Even companies that do not typically have sales (like Everlane) are discounting products this year.
Despite the struggle of many department stores and brands that have gone out of business this year, smaller DTC brands are doing well - and proving themselves fierce competition. There are so many lists of black owned brands and other local, smaller brands to support this year. These smaller, DTC brands are often better at social media than the large brands because they are nimble, and can adapt quickly to always stay culturally relevant. These small brands are constantly interacting with their followers, and able to gauge what to restock, or discount in their limited inventory. Hopefully Black Friday will help many of the up and coming brands stay afloat throughout the continuing pandemic.
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