Black Friday is getting Amazonified
Michael Spencer
A.I. Writer, researcher and curator - full-time Newsletter publication manager.
Some things never change, the super bowl of shopping is still here, kinda.
It's past midnight on Black Friday, the internet is broken and we just passed 1000 likes on our new Facebook page. However, it seems like with each passing year, online retailers get a greater share of the traffic.
- 55% of consumers said they would buy at Amazon this holiday year.
Amazon Now Owns Majority Share of Intent to Purchase
Holiday shoppers online, are highly motivated by price. While trust and service rule, customer reviews are key. The most trustworthy reviews are usually where the sample size is bigger, like Amazon.
So What Do Holiday Consumers Value Most?
#ProfessionalSWE
In fact, Black Friday is a fading phenomena in the physical sense, with fewer Americans shopping in stores. Many stores were closed for Thanksgiving. But how will small business Saturday, Cyber Monday and Green Monday fare. One thing is sure:
- Black Friday online sales will surge, in some estimates by at least 14%.
Think about it though, this doesn't mean we're necessarily just more habituated to ecommerce, it could just mean we are also more broke and discount-conditioned than the U.S. economy would like to let on. It likely also means, that we're becoming progressively "Amazonified". It's convenience, service, speed and perks. It's customer loyalty, tailored to the modern consumer.
Just 23% of U.S. adults are planning to shop in stores on Black Friday, according to a recent Bankrate report.
Amazon and Walmart are making Black Friday a week long discount sales event.
Products like Amazon Echo and Google Home, are gradually changing how we shop. Shopping from home is becoming more convenient. For many retailers, Black Friday weekend generates 15% of November-December sales, so there’s no denying its importance.
In fact, 53% of Americans say they won’t shop over Thanksgiving, Black Friday, or Cyber Monday.
The urgency of going to stores is over for most of us, we'll never want to line up with the crowds at 6am, we'll just stay up until 1am instead.
The National Retail Federation (NRF) is expecting sales to be up 3.6% in what would be one of the industry’s best Christmas periods in recent years.
Amazonification Hits Prime Time
Sure that sounds great, but who stands to get the lion's share of the retail profits. Amazon Prime and now smart speakers are turning Amazon into a shopping addiction ecosystem.
That's why we are saying we are being "Amazonified" in the phygital (physical + digital) sense, where Amazon will become even stronger with grocery stores and pop-up stores in Malls soon in 2017.
#FutureRunDown
Amazon has done a lot of things right, two or three of the major ones are these are:
- Amazon prices the most-popular products most competitively, it's game it can afford to win.
- Amazon has made it's ecosystem so valuable that Millennials are growing up shopping on Amazon Prime have come to expect Prime's perks as the new normal.
- Events such as Prime Day. It helped sign up 19 million new Prime members in the past year, according to Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, or CIRP. There are now around 65 million Prime Members.
Walmart's half a trillion dollars in annual sales still dwarf Amazon's roughly $110 billion -- not to mention Amazon's still-paltry profits.
As Walmart struggles to become more e-commerce native, it's already too far behind Amazon's subscription and diversification model. It's unclear if Jet's algorithm can enable them to compete where it matters most.
Amazon Owns Web & Mobile Shopping Search
In just a few short years we are seeing Amazon become synonymous with E-commerce. Few e-retailers can afford to stay pure play in 2016. Look at how dominant they are?
In just a few short years, Amazon is showing a trajectory that means it's becoming the Google of products. Put another way, it's taken 25% of the share of everyone else in just the last 3 years!
- 55% of all shopping web searches start at Amazon. To be Amazonified, means ignoring Google when it comes to product search or e-commerce. What is this number among Millennials and GenZ likely? Probably around 75%.
Amazon and Alibaba Show How It's Done
So yes Black Friday is changing, and Alibaba's Singles Day growth points to mobile commerce being more seamless than ever. To understand how Amazon Echo, the smart speaker that runs Alexa (Amazon's AI) will grow Amazon Prime even more, read this article.
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What do you think? Are we being Amazonified, and how will you shop this holiday season?
Author of one of a kind evocative creative fiction for those who enjoy thoughtful, edgy stories that provoke reflection upon our shared human condition.
8yThanks for the article. Yes, Amazon is a great service and I’ve enjoyed it many times. Black Friday (physical) can take a hike with its invented, inflated urgency that has caused people to get shoved, trampled, beaten, etc. in the insane rush to save a few $ on junk they don’t need. At least people don’t get hurt shopping on the internet – I hope… Still, as an U.S. ex-pat, sometimes I wish it were easier to get certain things. I’ve had to give up on Amazon in recent years as I keep running into “this item is not available for shipping to your country” or (when available) prohibitive shipping costs. Most things I buy locally, but there’s some things that aren’t easy to find and Amazon would be great – except it isn’t – for me.