Andrew
Cresencia Marjorie Chiremba
“What do Black Friday shoppers and the Thanksgiving turkey have in common? They know what it’s like to be jammed into a small place and stuffed” – Humoropedia
“Black Friday” has come and gone, with a few companies in Zimbabwe hyping the event.
This is one shopping culture that both local service providers and consumers haven’t fully grasped, as it is viewed as a foreign shopping fad.
In other countries, consumers actually get injured in melees associated with Black Friday.
Price reductions are always a joy for price-sensitive consumers.
The day has so much craze that some companies often forget their customer-centric values.
In my opinion, not all businesses gain from the sale, and here is why:
Riotous crowd
In an environment where consumers are price sensitive, any discount will most definitely get an overwhelming response.
Businesses often fail to control the huge turn-out.
This year, in some countries the discounts have been spread over the course of the week to manage crowds.
However, for some businesses it is the same old story as stocks are usually limited.
So, in order to control crowds, businesses are forced to invest in extra security and effort.
Lack of tight security may result in pilferage, or, in worst cases, stampedes that may result in loss of life.
Bad press from this cannot be good for the company and may drive customers away for good.
Unprofitable
Just because your competitors have reduced prices does not mean you should follow suit.
Many companies want to live up to customers’ expectations of selling products and services at massively discounted prices, even when their financial muscle is not strong enough to allow it.
Discounting is not a problem if the company can afford to cut prices and still remain profitable.
The costs for promoting Black Friday can typically include advertising costs, security, over-time and hiring of casual staff, among others.
When added up, these costs eat into the firm’s bottom line and this may leave the company in the red.
No red carpet for faithful customers
All the effort that a company would have put to better their customer experience is usually ignored on Black Friday.
The faithful customers are the ones that stand by a company during both rainy and sunny days, but the same customers may never get to enjoy the discounts offered on this day.
Instead, the red carpet is rolled out for one-time shoppers who are only there for a day’s craze.
Once they get the best bargain, these once-off customers will not set foot in the shop until the next Black Friday.
This may make loyal customers feel side-lined.
In all fairness, they should be given first preference before bargain hunters.
Brand Denting
No sane business would want to damage the brand it has built over years to one day’s shopping; worse still, by not-so-loyal customers.
If customers get injured during a Black Friday sale, chances are they will not return. A disappointed customer will, in turn, hate anything associated with that organisation.
Thus, bad customer experiences always spell disaster for brands.
This is the reason why most companies are no longer participating in this annual big sale day.
The company’s brand might be damaged through poor service from staff, who may be suffering from burn-outs due to the extra work required to meet the temporary demand.
*Cresencia Marjorie Chiremba is a marketing enthusiast with a strong passion for customer service. For comments, suggestions and training, she can be reached on [email protected] or on 0712 979 461, 0719 978 335
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