The dust has settled from Black Friday, and the results are as interesting as you’d expect at this time of year. The big holiday push kicked into high gear over the course of last week, and all of the retail hoopla translated into more marketing mania than ever before.

Based on the analysis of 170 clients across all industries between 2006 – 2009, Experian CheetahMail has made the following determinations about the week of Black Friday:

• Email volumes increased by 24 percent for the week of Thanksgiving 2009  as compared to the same week in 2008.
• The trend of emailing more leading up to Black Friday continued in 2009 just as it had in 2008. However, the volume totals for several of these days — the Sunday, Monday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving, along with Thanksgiving Day — were much higher in 2009 than last year.
• 50 percent of emails were sent prior to 8 am each day. Of the dates examined during this time period, Black Friday had the most even distribution of send time between midnight and noon.
• Black Friday itself saw almost identical email volumes as last year, dropping roughly 1% from 2008.

Meanwhile at Experian Hitwise, our source for consumer and competitive insight, we’ve seen how specialty websites focusing solely on Black Friday sales have played a significant role in driving traffic to retail sites. Comparing the week before Thanksgiving in 2009 vs. 2008, Hitwise saw the following:

• Visits to these specialty Black Friday sites are up 4 percent compared with the same week in 2008.
• Referral traffic from these specialty sites is up 14 percent compared to the same week of 2008, making them an increasingly important aspect of holiday retail promotions.
• Wal-Mart received the greatest share of referred traffic from Black Friday websites for last week with 13 percent, followed by Target and Best Buy with 4.12 percent and 4.04 percent, respectively.

And over at PriceGrabber.com, our sister company for comparison shopping, we saw the specific products that consumers were seeking on the day of Black Friday, as well as some indicators of the nation’s economic mood:

• The most sought-after products on Black Friday 2009 included Wii™ Console, nuvi® 265WT GPS and Apple iPod® touch 8GB.
• The down economy is forcing consumers to make do with what they have. With people holding on to critical items they already own such as cars, they’re researching ways to extend the life of what they are driving now. Searches for tires are up tremendously (118%) this year.
• Practical spending for the home saw a jump this year. Large home appliances such as freezers (104%), washers (50%), dryers (33%), refrigerators (30%), cooktops & ranges (23%) and dishwashers (21%) are seeing increases in traffic as consumers are researching aging appliances now that they are home more.

Tags: Black Friday, black friday email, cyber monday, experian hitwise, hitwise, holiday sales, holidays, pricegrabber, retail

Trackback URI | Comments RSS