Why Black Friday is a week long!
Last year Black Friday created a home delivery bottleneck and saw some companies run out of stock. Delivery experts Fastlane International says spreading deals over the week will bust the Black Friday log jam.
Last year bargain-conscious Black Friday shoppers spent $1.33bn in the US and £810m online in the UK alone. However, actually delivering the orders proved a tough challenge for some major retailers and small traders. Now international delivery experts Fastlane International say the move by many retailers to make Black Friday a week-long event this year may seem odd, but will help bust the Black Friday jam.
Says Fastlane’s Head of Public Relations, David Jinks MILT: ‘ Last year companies such as Amazon, Ao.com, River Island, Currys-PC World, Shop Direct and Debenhams all admitted to disruption to their delivery networks in fulfilling the record amount of orders. Systems are inevitable strained by such a huge artificial spike in demand at the beginning of the Christmas sales period.’
David explains: ‘No retailer, large or small wants to suffer the same logistics issues again. Of course Asda has opted out of Black Friday completely this year. However companies such as Amazon, Currys, Boots and eBay have found another way to beat the bottleneck. They are already underway with their Black Friday offers this year! Argos actually launched its Black Friday deals on Saturday, and demand was so strong its site crashed for a short while, so there is a consumer appetite for a longer sales period.’
Asks David: ‘Do retailers want to suffer the same experience this year? Not in a month of Sundays – or at least a week of Black Fridays. The backlog had a big impact on some retailers. Last year Reuters revealed Marks & Spencer’s was unable to cope with a surge of orders around its Black Friday promotion, and had to cancel its next day delivery service for a period of time. Black Friday created problems with demand on its website and teething troubles with its new distribution centre at Castle Donnington in central England. And it was by no means alone in struggling to keep up with Black Friday demand.’
Concludes David: ‘IMRG research indicates 31% of us like the idea of Black Friday sales, and 1 in 5 of us shopped on the day last year, with that expected to rise to 30% this year. But having all these products moving at the same time caused warehousing, web and final delivery issues last year, as well as creating needless congestion with that amount of home deliveries packed into a few days. It might indeed seem strange that Black Friday lasts a week, but if it helps break the log jam, it makes sense in the end. As low cost international delivery experts serving both everyday people and businesses, we are pleased to see retailers have listened to their delivery partners and distribution centre staff.’
For full details of which retailers have started their sales early, who is holding on until Friday, and who has abandoned the day completely this year, see: https://www.wedelivertheworld.co.uk/blog/general-news/black-friday-everything-you-need-to-know/
For more information please contact David Jinks, Head of PR, on david@flci.co.uk or by phone on 0208 7584962 (07772 055748 out of office hours)
Leading online courier Fastlane International ® strategically partners with the world's leading, logistics companies, including DHL, UPS and DPD to provide a flexible, cost-effective range of parcel delivery services to over 220 countries worldwide. Huge bulk purchasing power allows Fastlane® to offer highly competitive pricing with no compromise in service quality.
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