From the second I launched The Flourish Market—a boutique that focuses on promoting clothes, equipment, and items which have a much bigger goal—I knew that we would want to consider our vacation promotions in another way.
On condition that a lot of the 200+ manufacturers we associate with are B-corps or honest commerce corporations, our margins are already tighter than the common retailer. I felt the most important low cost we may afford to supply vacation consumers can be 20 %—which isn’t very thrilling when the massive field shops and even smaller boutiques would offer 40-60 % (or extra) off.
I’ve at all times been a giant believer that when you’ll be able to’t compete, you get artistic. So I considered what we needed to supply. I considered what aligned with our firm mission. I considered what can be thrilling to our prospects. And I got here up with the thought for Gray Friday.
The gist of Gray Friday is that this: The week earlier than Black Friday, we’ve our massive promotion weekend when, as a substitute of providing reductions, we provide 40-60 % of the shopper’s buy again in free items. At completely different tiers of spending—$40, $75, $150, $250, and $500—prospects get a unique present, plus all of the items from the lower cost tiers.
I had this concept mere months earlier than my first vacation season as a store proprietor, and I made a decision to launch it on a whim. It was a convincing success, and we’ve finished it yearly since then—and yearly, even throughout COVID, we’ve grown our complete income that weekend by 40-50 %.
I like inspiring enterprise homeowners to zig when different individuals are zagging. Whereas I’m not saying it’s important to do that precise promotion, I need to share why it really works for us and our prospects in hopes of encouraging others to suppose in another way about vacation offers this yr, or for years to return.
We found out easy methods to create extra worth with much less
One thing that always surprises folks about Gray Friday is that it prices us the identical from a enterprise perspective as providing a 20 % low cost—however creates way more worth for the shopper.
Let’s say a buyer is spending $150 that weekend. If we did a 20 % low cost, we’d lose $30 as a enterprise, and the shopper most likely wouldn’t really feel like they bought an particularly nice deal. However, if I take that very same $30 and consider it as my finances without spending a dime items, it may well go shockingly far. As an example, final yr prospects spending $150 bought a free bracelet, a pair of artisan earrings, and a comfortable winter scarf. As a result of we’re shopping for these items in bulk from our artisan companions and our buying timing typically aligns with promotions they’re doing, we’re in a position to get an amazing value, which permits us to supply a lot.
The precise worth of those merchandise is increased than the $30 a buyer would possibly save with a 20 % low cost—if prospects have been shopping for these merchandise off our cabinets, they’d value $80 or extra. However, maybe extra importantly, the perceived worth is increased. Our prospects get so excited by the truth that, whereas they’re doing their vacation procuring, they get further items for folks on their record or to maintain for themselves as a deal with.
We get prospects earlier than they’ve blown their vacation finances
One other key think about Gray Friday’s success is that we maintain it the Friday earlier than the most important vacation procuring weekend.
I at all times thought it was bizarre that Small Enterprise Saturday is the day after Black Friday. My considering is that, in case you actually need folks to help small companies, you should get in entrance of them earlier than they spend all their cash on the main retailers. In truth, quite a few prospects thank me yearly for operating such an amazing promotion early, earlier than they’re tempted to make use of their buying energy on much less significant items from bigger companies.
This has the facet profit of constructing the vacation season way more nice for my workforce. We’re nonetheless open on Black Friday and Small Enterprise Saturday however, as a result of we’ve already completed our main weekend, we don’t open early, and I don’t want all fingers on deck. We break up up work Thanksgiving week so that every one of my staff get some significant time with their households.
In fact we get individuals who come into the shop Black Friday weekend and are confused by the truth that we aren’t providing a particular. We by no means apologize, and as a substitute use this as a second to share what we stand for, explaining that we are able to’t compete with the massive field shops and that we hope they appear round at our artisan merchandise and discover items for the folks on their record anyway. Plus, we are able to at all times encourage them to join our electronic mail record so that they’re notified about Gray Friday subsequent yr.
We construct a variety of pleasure round it, and at all times ship
So how do we promote Gray Friday to develop our gross sales every year? In fact we do all of the basic advertising techniques. We tease that our massive promotion is developing on social media and do a giant reveal of the free items. We electronic mail our record very first thing that Friday to allow them to know the doorways are open, and ship them a final name electronic mail on Sunday (one thing I missed within the early years and now drives about 20 % of our gross sales for the weekend). And we construct a variety of pleasure within the retailer to attract in downtown foot site visitors, taking part in vacation music and providing free drinks for consumers.
However the greatest cause our numbers develop a lot yr after yr is that we actually ship on the shopper expertise. I’ve observed two massive drivers for our gross sales progress. The primary is that current prospects spend extra. If a brand new buyer has by no means skilled Gray Friday, they usually spend round $75 as a result of they nearly can’t imagine it’s true. As soon as they notice that we actually aren’t messing round with the free items, they plan their vacation procuring round it the subsequent yr, and spend triple or quadruple what they did earlier than. The second progress driver is new buyer acquisition via phrase of mouth. Gray Friday is nearly like the very best saved procuring secret that individuals love sharing with their pals and family.
We attempt to hold this buyer pleasure going by making our items even higher yr after yr. As an example, final yr we created a customized product with one among our companions in order that one of many items was one thing you actually couldn’t get anyplace else.
In the end, like so many issues in our enterprise, this vacation promotion was by no means nearly rising the underside line. Our coronary heart behind Gray Friday is to have the ability to ship an exhilarating expertise to our prospects whereas sending our artisan companions a heck of a variety of work.
As a substitute of simply providing a reduction and taking a monetary loss as a enterprise, we’re in a position to cross that cash alongside to assist different companies succeed. With the ability to place orders for a whole bunch or 1000’s of items is life-changing for a lot of of our companions. And we at all times ensure that to share that influence with our prospects—together with the influence on our personal small enterprise—in order that they’ll really feel much more excited concerning the purchases they made.
After sharing all these particulars on Gray Friday, my recommendation to different enterprise homeowners could sound odd: In the case of creating your finest vacation promotion, don’t go searching at what others are doing. As a substitute, take into consideration what can be thrilling to your particular prospects and what you could have the ability to ship this vacation season, then discover the overlap.
The reality is, you’ll get some gross sales in case you do a normal low cost for Black Friday or Small Enterprise Saturday. Nonetheless, you can be doing triple or quadruple that quantity in case you get artistic in delivering one thing that creates much more worth in your prospects.
