As predictable as dark nights and constant rain, there is one question that always comes up in our office this time of year. Are we doing Black Friday and Cyber Monday this year?
I am sure that I don’t need to tell you that Friday 25th November and Monday 28th November are Black Friday and Cyber Monday. If your inbox is anything like mine, it is inundated with emails telling you about offers on donut makers, toasters and TVs that are all on offer. In fact, the marketing has been so successful that according to Kantar Retail, only 17% of UK consumers don’t know about Black Friday.
These two sales days are US exports and really started to take hold in the UK when Amazon started to offer Black Friday discounts in 2010. As major retailers followed suit, it has taken hold. It is estimated that this Black Friday could be Britain’s first £1billion shopping day.
The pressure to be involved is huge, but here at Lease Loop we are going to resist and we wanted to let you know why.
When the company was established, there were a number of core principles that helped to define us: Integrity, honesty, a focus on service, and a willingness to reward those customers who repeatedly buy from us.
The last one was born out of personal experience
Having been with a major high street bank for most of my life it used to frustrate me that as a loyal customer I did not benefit from the free or discounted options that were being given to new customers. At Lease Loop, we wanted to ensure that our very best deals were given to our most loyal customers.
For example, last Friday we had a customer place their third order with us for a special build MacBook Pro. Traditionally such a machine would take 10-14 business days to be delivered but the customer would ideally like the new Mac to go with them to a US business trip on the 29th. To achieve this we have purchased the Mac via a different channel and, if needs be, will deliver it in person to ensure that the customer has the Mac for their business trip.
The cost to us of doing that is far greater than any discount we may provide on Black Friday, but by focusing on service we feel that we are rewarding the customer for their loyalty to us.
Finally, as a customer it would frustrate me if I had made a purchase only to find out days later that I could have got it for cheaper. We really admire Amazon for the amount of promotion that they do to make customers aware of Black Friday and the deals that are on offer. They do it weeks in advance, and rather than just announcing it a day or two before, their customers are well briefed and know to wait to get the best deals. If we were to suddenly announce a Black Friday deal, the lack of transparency would go against our values of integrity and honesty.
We won’t lie. Going against the tide is a little scary. After all, there is great comfort from following the pack. However, for us it is important to respect and stick to our values.