The traditional retail shopping calendar is dead. This episode reveals how major sales events like Black Friday and Prime Day have been elongated into weeks or months, driven by both brands eager for customer acquisition and consumers conditioned to await deals. Learn how to adapt your strategy to this "always-on" sales environment to capture year-round spending and avoid consumer fatigue.
Key takeaways
Brands must shift from a 'peak season' mindset to an 'always-on' promotional strategy, understanding that consumers are now trained to expect and wait for extended sales periods.
Utilize elongated sales periods not just for revenue, but as key customer acquisition opportunities, focusing on converting new customers into loyal, year-round spenders.
Align promotional strategies with consumer pay cycles. Extending sales over a longer duration can increase overall spending by capturing consumers at different points in their financial cycles.
Proactively plan for and manage inventory and marketing campaigns across extended promotional windows, understanding that urgency may be diluted but overall spending potential can increase.
Don't fear consumer fatigue from extended sales; instead, use the longer windows to deepen customer relationships and secure sustained spending throughout the year by focusing on lifetime value.
The shopping calendar isn't what it used to be. Prime Day has become Prime Week, Black Friday has become Black Friday Month, back-to-school shopping now starts in June, and holiday shopping is starting in October. As brands and retailers compete for an edge during these lucrative periods, the traditional shopping calendar is getting elongated and spread out. According to Kelly Pedersen, global retail lead at the professional services firm PwC, these shifts are being driven by both businesses and consumers. On the Glossy Podcast this week, Pederson shared that PwC's research on back-to-school shopping shows that the average family is spending around $920 during the back-to-school period. Those customers are continuing to spend around $630 a month on their kids throughout the school year. "It starts with the brands," he said. "The retailers always want to capture consumers during these moments, and they want to be first. It's not just about revenue during those windows, but [it's also about] customer acquisition, capturing those customers and using that momentum to carry spend on throughout the entire year." Pederson said today's consumers are being trained to expect holiday sales and back-to-school sales earlier, meaning they're waiting to spend until those periods start. That further incentivizes brands to elongate the period as much as possible. The natural question becomes whether a longer shopping event leads to consumer fatigue and risks robbing those periods of their urgency. But Pederson said he doesn't think that is the case. "Theoretically, it could actually increase overall spending because people get paid in cycles," he said. "They're going to spend a certain percentage of their paycheck on holiday shopping. But if you elongate that period, you have more opportunities to pick up on that cash flow from the consumer." Ultimately, Pederson recommends that brands think about these shopping periods — like holiday, back-to-school and Mother's Day — a
What does this episode say about retail & omnichannel?
Brands must shift from a 'peak season' mindset to an 'always-on' promotional strategy, understanding that consumers are now trained to expect and wait for extended sales periods.
What does this episode say about customer retention?
Utilize elongated sales periods not just for revenue, but as key customer acquisition opportunities, focusing on converting new customers into loyal, year-round spenders.
What does this episode say about brand & content?
Align promotional strategies with consumer pay cycles. Extending sales over a longer duration can increase overall spending by capturing consumers at different points in their financial cycles.
What does this episode say about paid acquisition?
Proactively plan for and manage inventory and marketing campaigns across extended promotional windows, understanding that urgency may be diluted but overall spending potential can increase.
What does this episode say about retail & omnichannel?
Don't fear consumer fatigue from extended sales; instead, use the longer windows to deepen customer relationships and secure sustained spending throughout the year by focusing on lifetime value.
