Black Friday, the Grinch that stole Christmas: represents more than 50% of the sales

Not even Santa Claus. These Christmas gifts will not arrive in December. In 2019, Black Friday is the calendar date that will generate the most purchases for the Christmas campaign, according to a study by consultant McKinsey.

Black Friday tops the list of the days that will generate more sales in three of the major world powers of fashion: the United States, United Kingdom and Germany. Only in the United States, the numbers of this discount day, that will take place on November 29, will reach 60% of the total sales made during Christmas season. But not only does Black Friday steal sales from Christmas: 50% of Americans will buy on Cyber ​​Monday and 36% on Cyber ​​Week.

Also, in the United Kingdom, Black Friday generates sales that rise to 51%. In Great Britain, pre-Christmas sales represent 32%. In Germany, consumers seem less inclined to participate in any shopping occasion accompanied by discounts: 42% of respondents say they will not buy during the dates indicated and 40% say they will do so during Black Friday.

If Christmas season usually represents 30% of sales throughout the year, by Christmas 2019, McKinsey report predicts a greater impact: almost a third of the people surveyed expect to spend more than last year being millennials and Gen Z, the ones that make the most purchases.

 Christmas campaign generates 30% of the total sales volume

Last year Christmas sales in the United States reached a volume of 850 billion dollars. For 2019, the National Retail Federation (NRF) estimates a rise between 4.5% and 5%.

The main consumer concern is not knowing what gift to buy. Today, 47% of respondents have not decided on the gift for this Christmas. An uncertainty linked to not having a fixed budget to allocate gifts. This is a trend that extends throughout the world. In Canada, the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom, more than 10% of the people surveyed have not yet thought about the money they will allocate from their pocket to buy gifts during the coming weeks.

Offline or online? Physical stores continue to be the favorite. Perhaps because of having the excuse of going out and walking, face-to-face purchases are still superior to those of ecommerce. However, online sales are increasingly present, and companies focus their efforts on strengthening online commerce during this Christmas.

In 2018, Christmas sales in the United States reached 850 billion dollars

And what does the customer value most when buying? Most agree on the opportunity to find attractive offers as the choice to justify the acquisitions during these weeks. With Christmas coming up on the calendar, consumers not only plan a specific budget, but also research online what to buy and where to do it.

By target, women continue to drive spending, but they are also the most planned. Men increasingly occupy a larger volume and become an important focus for the campaigns. While women focus on children’s gifts, men prioritize buying for themselves and for their partner.

Thus, the behavior when buying is increasingly specific and the ability to focus the campaign on this trend has become a decisive factor in predicting the success of the multibrand. According to McKinsey, customization can increase total sales by 15% to 20%.

The consultant McKinsey is not the only one that analyzes sales during this time of the year. Others like Bain&Co point out that a third of consumers will start shopping at the end of November, at the same time of Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday. Only 22.7% of consumers will wait up to two weeks before Christmas to make their holiday purchases. According to this consultant, more than 42.3% of Americans will make purchases online. For this Christmas, the NRF estimates that each American will spend, on average, 1,047 dollars, compared to 1,007 dollars last year.