Should I offer a Black Friday discount?

Over the past few years, more and more retailers have been taking part in Black Friday – on November 26th – by offering a dizzying amount of promotions. The floristry industry, on the other hand, doesn't see the same amount of major discounting. Here at Floom, we actually make a point of avoiding discounts on Black Friday. Here's why:

Do people shop flowers on Black Friday weekend?

The interest in Black Friday begins a week before the event, with searches and interest from consumers reflecting this. It might seem like those within the florist industry should be tapping into this opportunity and try to capitalise on extra sales. But our research shows that the floral market remains relatively unchanged.

In fact, the amount of users searching for 'Black Friday flowers' (0.45%) is lower than 'Christmas flowers' (0.75%) during this time, making it a better idea to focus on your holiday offerings.

Is it still worth marketing for?

The time of the year in which we see gifting as a prominent good bought by consumers is traditionally the holiday season around Christmas, while during the Black Friday period, it is often the least purchased gift over this period. This means that you must not only compete for transactions between competitors, but you are also competing during a time when flowers receive less demand than usual. 

If you're investing a lot of time and money on paid advertising, or planning to over this period, keep in mind that CPC is often increased over the period as many retailers either begin to promote via this channel during Black Friday, or spend more aggressively to stay top of the market. This means to stay competitive, businesses will have to raise their CPC over this time, for little reward owing to consumer disinterest within the gifting category.

Elsewhere, the businesses users discount their products has grown substantially over the last few years of Black Friday, with the majority of retailers discounting 50-59% as detailed by the green bar below. Most retailers find it impractical to make such a big discount on products without sales becoming loss-making, particularly if these customers do not return at a later date.

With the lack of interest in the florist and wider gifting industry, coupled with the volume of retailers and degree to which most retails discount by, it likely makes sense to stay away from launching Black Friday campaigns. The sales made from a regular Friday will most likely be preferable compared to a few loss making sales, while the time and effort put into email campaigns, website changes and paid advertising could be spent focusing on Thanksgiving and the holiday season in which we will see a better return of investment.