Black Friday is just around the corner, but most small businesses don’t try to compete with the big box stores for consumer attention that day. They instead promote Small Business Saturday. While that’s understandable, and certainly not a bad idea, I think there is room for some small business attention on the Friday after Thanksgiving as well.
Open House
You don’t have to present your Black Friday event as competition for the big boys. Instead promote it as a quiet alternative. If you are a gift shop, Black Friday is the perfect opportunity for you to hold an annual “open house”. You open your doors, premiere your Christmas themed items and have snacks and other things out for customers to sample.
Do you sell gourmet dips or other foods? Use them! Place them out and let your customers sample them, thus promoting those items which should result in higher sales and allowing your weary customers an opportunity to find some refreshment. After the hustle and bustle of the Black Friday sales, the relaxed environment in your store is just what the doctor ordered!
Organize
Since it will be almost impossible to match the deals of the big box stores yourself, you might want to talk to a few of the other small businesses around town and see if you can’t come up with some collaborative deals.
For example, say you are a gift shop and you team up with a local bakery. The two of you determine a collective dollar amount that will result in a discount at the store of the customer’s choice. Perhaps they spend $50 at your shop, they can take the receipt to the bakery for 15% off their purchase. Perhaps they spend $50 in the bakery and want a 10% discount off an item in your shop. Or, perhaps they spend $50 in your shop and want to use the 10% off in your shop. It’s all positive business for both locations!
Black Friday doesn’t have to be downtime. Use the day’s inherent qualities to make it work for you. You know that customers will be frazzled, so give them a place to relax. You know you can’t offer competitive deals by yourself, but joining forces with other small businesses could be the difference between twiddling your thumbs all day and having to change the register tape multiple times.
The marketing for Black Friday has already been done, all you have to do is use it!
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