an unmistakable union for brands that will stand out on Black Friday – Varejo SA
One of the most important dates for retail sales in the second half of the year is approaching: Black Friday – or Best Friday as many have started to call the date – which in Brazil began to take place not only on the last Friday of November, but throughout the month. Many brands take advantage of 30 days for promotions and give special discounts. Others focus their efforts on dating week.
In order to make the date more beautiful and increase sales, one of the tips is to carefully plan actions. And two sales channels are gaining relevant space: physical stores and live shopping, a live virtual sales modality that is conquering an increasing number of consumers who like to shop online, but their priority is a more humanized service.
According to Monique Lima, CEO of Mimo Live Sales, a company that has consolidated live trade in Latin America, the date is a “full plate” for retailers to explore this sales channel not only to offer products at discounted prices – which is one of the biggest consumer searches date — but also strengthen your relationship with them. “Through live shopping, the brand is able to reach many consumers at the same time. And it is a great opportunity to strengthen the relationship with them by interacting live through chat, clarifying doubts, in requests for trial rooms, among many other possibilities”.
According to the projection of the Brazilian Association of Electronic Commerce (ABComm), Best Friday should move around R＄ 6 billion this year in Brazilian e-commerce, an environment in which live commerce has been inserted. Monique says this is one of the most sought-after compounds from life-creating brands. “Lives have already entered the calendar of a large part of retail, but on this specific date we realized that brands want to use the anticipation of Christmas shopping for their sales and offer quality content to consumers, who want unique experiences more and more every day.”
Power of activations in physical stores
Another channel of great importance for retail sales during Best Friday is physical stores. Camila Salek, CEO of Vimer Retail Experience and retail specialist, emphasizes the importance of working on activations on this date. “Physical stores are the heart that connects brands and consumers. A key touch point to be activated and strategically prepared to attract and engage consumers during one of the major semester seasons”.
As for the experience, which should be at the heart of the activations, Camila points out that, despite the fact that technology is increasingly present in people’s lives, it is not always necessary to combine one with the other. “Technology is a great and increasingly available ally for retail, including in terms of collecting data from physical stores to generate insights. Live shopping is a great example and we have several ways to work with this format, extending retail experiences. But it’s worth remembering, when we talk about applying a digital mindset, we can understand that interactive in-store activations are not solely dependent on technology investments.”
Thinking about services can be the starting point for their creation, according to the expert. “They can appear in the consumer journey in different ways to enhance the experience. Multi-channel must also be taken into account, with logistics content as well as complementary offers. Don’t forget to think that a service is also a service”.
Having well-trained teams also helps ensure the success of the date. “The store must provide tools for working in the field, practicing active listening, empathy, offering a personalized service to build a relationship with the consumer. The sales team is people who care about people”.
Another favorable point for this date is the holding of the World Cup with a date very close to the best Friday and the market is excited about the good performance of the sector this year. The Brazilian Retail Association (ABV) predicts that the sector will close the second half with a 12% increase in sales compared to the same period in 2021.
“For the first time, we will have the World Cup combined with the warm seasonality of the end of the year in retail. It is a very suitable context for approaching consumer engagement with good benefits. Exploring different formats and activation narratives that include live commerce can be an excellent strategy,” concludes the expert.
