The holiday season is on the horizon, along with the biggest shopping day of the year. Black Friday deals attract hundreds of millions of United States shoppers annually—and for good reason.
From a company standpoint, Black Friday is an ideal day to take advantage of shopping and planning ahead. You can never be too prepared, and starting sooner rather than later not only saves you money, but it also saves you time and effort later. Whether you’re preparing for next year’s tradeshow events or knocking out your corporate holiday or end-of-the-year gifts, Black Friday offers the best deals on items that you need and want.
Approaching Black Friday with a strategy will help you and your employees source the best deals on coveted items… and be equipped with shopper survival tips to get through the day!
Turn the overwhelming day into a productive and exhilarating tale of conquest with this guide:
Create a solid action plan
Never come unprepared. Start your Black Friday shopping with a detailed and effective plan of attack. Study the special Black Friday hours for each store that you’re planning to visit and draft an itinerary so you can prioritize each stop. Plan out the logistics to give yourself enough time to travel to each store, accounting for traffic, busy parking lots, and loading and unloading items.
Know which products are at the top your priority list. Almost every year, Black Friday discounts extend to the following popular items:
- HDTVs
- Video game consoles
- Household appliances
- Smartphones and smartwatches
- Computers, tablets, and laptops
- Mattresses and furniture
- Towels, sheets, or home supplies
Rank stores in terms of deals on the items you want the most, and build the schedule for the day accordingly.
Oh, and pro tip: Don’t forget to leave time for bathroom breaks!
Scour mobile apps and websites beforehand
Use every resource at your disposal to get accurate, up-to-date pricing, advertised discounts, and promo codes before the day arrives. Start with the official catalogs and listings for each major retailer that offers Black Friday sales. The fine print will include how long the offer is valid, along with any per customer or item limits.
Mobile apps and browser widgets today can do a lot of the legwork for you. Utilize technology to scour the internet for the best deals and price matches. Oftentimes, apps will offer you mobile push alerts to keep you informed about any new deals.
A bonus about today’s digital landscape is that many companies extend their deals to be available online. In fact, online holiday shopping without having to leave the house has become so popular that “Cyber Monday” grew significantly in popularity during the last decade. In 2020 alone, shoppers spent $10.8 billion on Cyber Monday, marking an ecommerce spending record.
So, while you’re crafting a route for your Black Friday shopping trip, supplement it by snagging great items from the comfort of your own home. At Myron, our online store features a wide variety of promotional products that are made to order. Our flexible delivery options include UPS Ground, UPS 2nd Day Air, and UPS Next Day Air so you can get the items you need delivered directly to your doorstep.
Set a budget and stick to it
Shoppers spend an average of $430 on Black Friday shopping trips. Though a few hundred bucks may seem like a lot at first, the shopping trip becomes highly cost-effective when you consider the amount of merchandise you can buy and the savings that you rack up.
That being said, the excitement of the day can be a lot to take in. Feeling overwhelmed by all of the deals may cause you to spend far more money than you intended to. Solidifying a budget ahead of time is an excellent defense against tempting deals that you didn’t plan for.
Plan your budget in advance and stick to it, no matter what impeccable deals you come across. You will thank yourself later!
Get an early start
Since its origins in Philadelphia in the 1950s, the shopping holiday has come a long way from being a well-kept local secret today. Many stores now advertise and offer sales that begin well before the Friday after Thanksgiving. If you travel across cities and towns in the United States, you’ll see people camping outside of retail stores right after Thanksgiving dinner!
The competition is fierce and an ironclad plan of action for the big day will set you up for success. This doesn’t mean you need to pull out your camping equipment, but do expect to rise early.
Your itinerary will allow you to coordinate stores, the times you plan to visit, and which items you intend to purchase at each location. Consider working in teams with colleagues to divide responsibilities for more efficiency. Spreading your time and efforts out can help everyone involved come away with the desired items that fit your price ranges.
Learn about price matching and other store policies
Expert shoppers understand the art of researching store policies, including return and exchange policies. Additionally, many of your favorite stores have customer-friendly price matching policies that they don’t openly advertise. These policies often require a store to match or beat a competitor’s price any time that you can produce a competitor’s current and valid advertisement or price listing.
Consider gift cards, coupons, and rewards points, finding creative ways to stack them so you can maximize savings.
If you’re curious about this avenue, read the correlating store’s entire policy and adjoining clauses, as some stores won’t necessarily honor gift cards, coupons, or online/in-store price listings on Black Friday or other special holidays. Doing your store-specific research will prevent you from wasting time or energy.
Eat, hydrate, and dress comfortably
Whether you’re braving the Black Friday campgrounds or simply waking up bright and early, take care of yourself by getting a good night of sleep before your Black Friday shopping trip.
Eat a nourishing breakfast and pack snacks to keep your energy levels high. Bring along water bottles for everyone on the team to help with focus and hydration.
Wear comfortable clothing and bring a jacket or coat so that you can layer up if you need to. Choose shoes that provide plenty of support for all of the day’s steps.
Black Friday tips that make a difference
Each year, Black Friday kicks the holiday season into high gear. It’s a cultural tradition and a way for companies to bring their books into the black in the fourth quarter. With a sound strategy for conquering the best in-person and online deals, you can achieve your most effective Black Friday shopping trip yet.
Looking for business-specific products that you can order in bulk? For the latest deals on customizable promotional items, visit our website.