Month: November 2010

Black Friday Sales & Online Shopping – Marketing Blog

Last weekend was United State’s thanksgiving and the yearly ritual was for everyone to line up and shop on the Friday.  Black Friday is the name which the Philadelphia Police Department has given to the Friday following Thanksgiving Day because of all the traffic jams and over-crowded sidewalks that always occur on that day.

People have started to line up on the Thursday night for stores to open up on midnight because the products are sold on a first come first serve basis.

This year’s black Friday was not as exceptional as black Fridays’ that occurred in the mid-2000s.  It is hard to say that Black Friday was not a success because sales have risen from last year, but have not risen enough only by a 0.3 percent increase.  The small increase in sales is due to the fact that there was a heavy discount in stores at the beginning of November to provoke economic spending.  As a result, people to have less affordable cash to do shopping their shopping.

Another factor that has affected this year’s Black Friday sales is the recent online shopping trend.  This has become one of the greatest shopping trends in the world today.  Retail markets in the world, have taken this to account and have started online shopping services.  On black Friday, online merchants saw a 16 percent revenue spike, and on Thanksgiving Day, there was a solid increase of 33 percent of online spending spike.

Moreover, PayPal reported an increase of about 27 percent in payment volume on Black Friday compared with last year.  The eBay Inc, did not release its sales revenue for that weekend yet, but it can be imagined that sales has also increased.

Wow! The new apple advertisement for its new macbook air is unbelievable.  After watching it, I really wanted to get one.  The new macbook air comes in two different forms.  One is the regular 13” model which it had before and the new one is the 11” model.  The 11” is unbelievably light, weighing only 2.3 pounds but only has a 1.6 GHz.  The 13” model has made its improvements.  It now comes with two USB ports which is absolutely stunning for such a thin laptop which only weighs 2.9 pounds.

Check out the video everybody!! This gadget is ridiculously magnificent.

It is crucial to know consumers’ price sensitivities when setting up the price of one particular product. Price is the consumers’ perceived cost, such as money and cost. Marketing strategies should be made according to the price sensitivity and products perceived differences.

The model above is helpful when you choose the marketing strategy.

• A commodity strategy : Efforts should be exerted to increase the firm’s market share thereby lowering marginal costs.
• A transitional strategy : Emphasize the quality of your product, but be ready to respond to competitor product improvements that attract customers
• A hybrid strategy : You should avoid price wars and talk quality.
• A specialty strategy : You should initiate or continue efforts to differentiate your offering.