Black Friday: Sales fall for the second time in a row

According to our projections, yesterday's Black Friday generated sales of CHF 450 million in Swiss non-food retail within 24 hours. This is around CHF 10 million less than in the previous year. While brick-and-mortar retail recorded a noticeable decline, online sales stagnated. The two-year downward trend thus continues.

A key reason for the decline in sales is the now common practice of many retailers to extend their promotions over several days or even weeks instead of concentrating on the 24 hours of Black Friday. In addition, the ongoing economic uncertainty and the strong Swiss franc, which makes imports cheaper, have dampened sales.

Retail expert Julian Zrotz from blackfridaydeals.ch says: "The decline in sales in the 24 hours of Black Friday shows the ongoing structural change in the market. The previous massive sales peak is flattening out somewhat in favor of a broader distribution of purchases over the entire Black Friday week and the rest of November."

We predict that this trend will continue in the coming year and that almost all retailers will extend Black Friday to several days or even weeks. The classic 24 hours of Black Friday will therefore continue to lose relevance. Due to the ongoing pressure on margins and the significantly earlier and more strategic planning of promotions, we hardly expect discount campaigns that are unprofitable for retailers, as was often the case a few years ago. Instead, retailers will increasingly focus on expanding their loyalty programs and personalized offers for shopping events.

Monday is Cyber Monday: online retail sales fall to 75 million francs

Cyber Monday concludes the three big shopping days. Unlike Black Friday, the focus on this day is primarily on electronic items and online retail. However, the attractiveness of the offers is comparable. Numerous retailers extend their existing Black Friday discounts, while other providers add to their promotions or even launch completely new promotions.

We are forecasting a slight decline in sales in non-food online retail for Cyber Monday. This is expected to amount to CHF 75 million, which corresponds to a drop of around CHF 5 million compared to the previous year. The main reason for this development is the shift in sales away from individual shopping days to the surrounding days and weeks. This trend is exacerbated by the ongoing economic uncertainties. Sales of non-essential products, such as consumer electronics, are particularly affected by this decline.

The proximity of shopping days to Christmas has little impact. A representative DemoSCOPE survey conducted on behalf of blackfridaydeals.ch shows that just under half of Swiss people think that the shopping days are too close to Christmas and therefore commercialize the Advent season unnecessarily. A third, on the other hand, find this proximity practical. For many consumers, the campaign days offer the opportunity to buy gifts at particularly low prices. Retailers, in turn, make targeted use of the increased demand and focus on typical gift items.

How to stand out from the crowd of Black Friday promotions is a challenge every year. Wingo has already proven in the past that Black Friday doesn't have to be Friday with its "Black November" campaign. In 2024, the color will also be changed. Because "Red is the new Black".

The offers are correspondingly attractive: From discounted mobile subscriptions and the Internet subscription Start to the Internet TV Bundle Plus, Wingo is offering some very attractive deals in November.

As always, the offers are presented in a charming and entertaining way by Wingo testimonials Charles Nguela and Alexandre Kominek. They are prominently supported in the creative realization by a third testimonial: a zebra, whose black stripes turn into red stripes in the spirit of Red November. The backdrop, equipment and suits of the protagonists also change color - which is also intended to encourage the target group to switch mobile or Internet providers.

TV commercials, DOOH, various static and moving social media formats, display ads as well as a radio and a cinema spot were produced. All in color, of course.

Client: Wingo. Media: Mediaschneider and Wingo. Film production: zweihund GmbH. Photo production: Sebahat Film+Foto GmbH, Dan Cermak. Image processing: Lorenz Wahl and Ansichtsache AG. Responsible at Neu Creative Agency GmbH: Adrian Staehelin, Nicole Vizcardo, Adriana Stepanov, Ibtissam Aiterrami, Nico Ammann, Andrea Braschler.

No new shopping record on Black Friday 2023: For the first time since 2019, Swiss retailers recorded lower sales with credit, debit and mobile payments compared to the previous year.

Customers spent around two percent less money than in 2022, according to an analysis by the news agency AWP based on data from Monitoring Consumption Switzerland.

New record for mobile payments

Nevertheless, the discount battle was once again extremely lucrative for Swiss retailers this year. The numerous price reductions and advertising measures ensured that more than twice as much money was spent on Black Friday than on an average Friday in 2023.

Mobile payments even reached a record high on Friday. On no other day since data collection began at the start of 2019 have the Swiss spent more money via Twint, Apple Pay and co.

Overall, around 15 percent of all cashless payments on this year's Black Friday were made using smartphone payment apps. In 2022, the proportion was 11 percent.

Local shopping on the rise

Customers also increasingly took out their credit cards in stores again. 87% of all credit card payments on Black Friday were made at the point of sale and only 13% online. In 2022, the proportion of e-commerce payments was still 17%.

However, the Black Friday effect was not just limited to Friday: customers' desire to buy was practically unbroken on the following Saturday too. Overall, Swiss retailers recorded an increase in sales of around 20% last week compared to the week before.

Black Friday as an important sales booster

Black Friday is a discount day that originated in America and has long since established itself in Switzerland. It is celebrated on the Friday after the US Thanksgiving holiday and is now the most important sales booster for Swiss retailers alongside the Easter and Christmas sales.

The data from Monitoring Consumption Switzerland includes cashless payments that are processed via the network of the financial services provider Worldline in Switzerland. They are made available to the public for research purposes. Cash payments are not included in the statistics. For data protection reasons, no absolute figures are shown. (AWP/Simon Wolanin)

Black Friday has returned to the growth zone this year. Around CHF 490 million was generated in the Swiss non-food retail sector within 24 hours. This is CHF 10 million more than in the previous year. CHF 115 million was generated in the online channel. This is shown by an analysis by blackfridaydeals.ch. According to this, the majority of sales from the non-food retail sector, CHF 375 million, were generated in bricks-and-mortar retail. The remaining CHF 115 million came from online retail.

Around the same amount sold as last year

Both channels grew by CHF 5 million compared to the previous year. Adjusted for inflation, approximately the same amount was sold as in the previous year. The average shopping basket in online retail amounted to a good CHF 250 this Black Friday. That is CHF 15 more than in the previous year. This indicates that more expensive products were specifically purchased. The increase in the average shopping basket was to be expected, according to the experts at Blackfridaydeals.ch, as many consumers postponed purchases until Black Friday due to the higher prices and the generally gloomy consumer mood.

High-priced items such as new cell phones, computers, televisions and furniture were particularly popular. Cheaper products, which tend to be bought spontaneously, were less in demand this year. The conversion rate, i.e. the proportion of online store visitors who actually make a purchase, fell from 5.5% to 5.1% this year. This also indicates that although many customers were interested in the promotions, they mainly limited themselves to pre-planned purchases.

Anna Müller, Project Manager MACH Consumer and Maria-Isabel Koch, Project Manager MACH Values, presented an interesting Black Friday case where they used data to develop a comprehensive campaign. The potential analysis started with MACH Consumer, which made it possible to easily analyze characteristics and behaviors. During the target group analysis, they discovered that the focus was primarily on a younger audience under the age of 40 with great interest and price sensitivity.

The target group was found to be hedonistic, consumerist, well-informed about products and tech-savvy. The media strategy focused on personalized approaches, with online and stationary retail playing an important role in the electronics sector. The use of social media, video streaming, television streaming and out-of-home media was emphasized to reach a mobile target group. Print titles and local radio stations were also relevant despite the online affinity of the target group.

The advertising campaign was to contain playful elements that would appeal to the target group, which had a high affinity for games of chance. The presentation of discount codes in scratch cards and the integration of wheel of fortune apps were possible approaches. The data provided insights into the target group's behavior and enabled a targeted approach.

Werbewoche editor Beat Hürlimann concluded by asking whether the existing tools were being used sufficiently. Maria-Isabelle Koch emphasized that access to the information provided is high, but that there is always potential for further use, especially by advertising clients who may not yet have recognized the full potential of the power studies.

A representative survey of more than 1,000 respondents from German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland commissioned by Blackfridaydeals.ch shows: Only 19 percent of Swiss people think that there are higher discounts on a wider range of products on Black Friday than during other discount campaigns during the year. A further quarter of the people surveyed by Demoscope stated that although the discounts are not higher, they do apply to a wider range of products. The rest, i.e. a majority of Swiss people, do not perceive any difference between Black Friday and other discount campaigns.

Nevertheless, the company expects November 24 to be the day with the highest sales for the retail sector in 2023. Overall, Blackfridaydeals.ch forecasts retail sales of CHF 490 million in the non-food sector on Black Friday. According to the press release, online retail is likely to account for around CHF 115 million of this. This corresponds to an increase of CHF 5 million each in online and offline retail. The increase in sales is roughly in line with inflation.

Abolish Black Friday

Black Friday leads to a lot of overtime for employees in the retail trade and shipping companies. The survey shows that Swiss men and women in particular sympathize with the employees. A third of respondents think that Overtime should be prevented by extending Black Friday over a longer period or by retailers hiring more temporary staff. Another third of respondents believe that Black Friday should be abolished altogether due to the strain it puts on employees. The final third, on the other hand, see no problem with the numerous overtime hours and therefore see no reason to show solidarity. The German-speaking Swiss, men, working people and people from higher-income households in particular believe that overtime is also normal in other jobs and therefore see no need for action

The campaign will be played out as a TV commercial, on YouTube and on all digital and social media channels. The main measures are flanked by a performance strand in the form of banner and display ads as well as out-of-home advertising media.

Responsible at Sunrise/Yallo: Stefan Fuchs (Executive Director Flanker Brands), André Hodel (Senior Director Customer Growth & Brand), Maike Büchler (Senior Marketing & Communications Manager), Mariangela Coco (Senior Director Online Marketing), Chiara Seregni (Senior Digital Marketing Manager), Alexia Romney (Web and Multimedia Designer). Responsible at Sir Mary: Adrian Merz (Executive Creative Director), Leandro Disler (Art Director), Jodok Meier (Copywriter), Gaston Filippo (Senior Art Director), Johnny Grubenmann (Senior Copywriter), Torben Cording (Senior Art Director), Florian Birkner (Senior Copywriter), Nadine Treml (Senior Account Manager), Daniel Zuberbühler (Managing Partner). Responsible at Doity: Sascha Pollack (Executive Producer), Björn Dunne (Post Supervisor), Artur Fast (Illustration), Sebastian Tomczak (Animation), Staub Audio (Sound Design). Responsible at Webrepublic: Julia Treudler (Head of Account Management), Julia Lauper (Account Manager), Jill Rodenrijs (Senior Consultant Social Media), Yuriy Ostrovskyi (Campaign Manager Programmatic), Niamh Manning (Consultant SEA). Responsible at Mediatonic: Cédric Zwicky (Media Consultant).

According to a survey conducted by GfK on behalf of Blackfriday.ch, customers are more likely to hold back this year. In 2022, 48% of respondents spent an average of 289 francs on Black Friday. This year, only 41% of survey participants intend to spend money on the discount day and are planning an average budget of CHF 261.

According to the shopping platform, clothing, PCs or laptops and household appliances such as vacuum cleaners are very popular. According to the survey, consoles and video games as well as TV sets and toys are less likely to be purchased. In previous years, these categories were more popular, according to the report.

Retailers risk credibility

According to a survey by Demoscope, the retail trade is also facing further challenges. According to the survey, around two thirds of consumers believe that retailers are losing credibility due to high discounts.

Excessive discounts lead potential customers to assume that the regular prices are too high. Retailers are therefore forced to perform a balancing act, according to the survey published on Thursday by the shopping portal Blackfridaydeals.ch.

During the summer and winter sales, it is clearer what the discounts are for. With Black Friday, however, the discounts are sometimes less easy to understand: "Retailers are therefore increasingly responsible for communicating a plausible reason for the high discounts to consumers," says Julian Zrotz from Blackfridaydeals.ch.

Origin of Black Friday

Black Friday has its origins - like so many things - in the USA. There, the bargain day takes place on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Many Americans tend to start their Christmas shopping on the long weekend after the holiday.

In the USA, people wait outside the closed doors on Friday night to be the first to benefit from the limited discounts. However, Black Friday has not always been the best-selling day of the year in the USA. It only took its first place on the podium in 2005.

In Switzerland, the bargain day only became better known and more important for retailers ten years later. In 2015, Manor was the first major retailer to offer its customers its first discount campaigns on Black Friday. (Simon Stahl/AWP/swi)

Exact Two years after "Stop Black Friday" Solidar Suisse is launching a new campaign to mark the Day of Overconsumption and International Worker Exploitation. The background to the campaign is the current Solidar Suisse report on working conditions in Asia's electronics mega-factories. The Tages-Anzeiger reported.

How can the general public be made aware of this serious issue? This year, Solidar Suisse and Spina's Civil Voices are focusing on a charm offensive instead of a declaration of war. To this end, they are bringing comedian Dominic Deville in front of the camera.

In the long spot and three shorter clips, Deville welcomes Switzerland to the "***ck Friday Show". In the improvised studio, he presents meaningful and fun alternatives to the day of overconsumption. The message: anything is smarter than participating in Black Friday. A trip to the countryside, for example (Blöök Friday), going offline (Blackout Friday) or slowing down on Friday (Schnägg Friday).

The commercials are complemented by social media ads, an e-mail journey and the Landing page. Solidar Suisse offers the public a concrete opportunity to take action: sign the "***ck Friday" petition. It starts with the electronics retailers, but ultimately aims for transparency and fairness in the entire supply chain. After less than a week, several thousand signatures have already been collected.

Responsible at Solidar Suisse: Benjamin Gross (Head of Marketing and Communication), Susanne Rudolf (Campaigns), Sylvie Kipfer (Communication and Media French-speaking Switzerland), Melanie Wirz (Communication and Media German-speaking Switzerland), Pascal Krucker (Digital Fundraising), Christian von Allmen (Digital Fundraising). Responsible at Spina's Civil Voices: Nicolas Stark, Beat Egger (creation), Lorenz Spinas (CD), Janine Frei (consulting), Gaby Füchslin and Lorenz Spinas (strategy), Eric Schwegler (SoMe application). Film production: Markus Etter (producer, director, editor), Jean-Christophe Dupasquier (DoP), Srdjan Kovacevic (camera assistant/sound/lighting), Kathrin Tollas (styling/make-up). Sound: Hastings Zurich.

A recent, representative survey on shopping plans on Black Friday, conducted on behalf of Salesforce in Switzerland, shows: Above all, Generation Z is particularly keen to shop. A third of 15 to 29-year-olds are planning to do more shopping this year than last year and see Black Friday as a correspondingly attractive occasion. French-speaking Swiss, on the other hand, are more hesitant to use the discount campaign, which originated in the USA, for purchases than the comparable group of German-speaking Swiss.

Shortly before the start of the Christmas shopping season, the desire to shop in Switzerland tends to be on the back burner and the results from the latest Salesforce survey confirm the general tenor of the economy. 39 percent of respondents say they intend to buy fewer products than last year. People with lower household incomes in particular are consuming significantly less. When asked how their general purchasing behavior compares to last year, the youngest age group (15 to 29-year-olds) bucked the trend and showed an increased propensity to buy. One in three (34%) of the younger generation is even planning to shop more or much more this year, and one in four would also like to make greater use of Black Friday.

Black Friday well known, but only moderately used

97 percent of all respondents are familiar with Black Friday. Last year, however, only around one in five of those surveyed took advantage of Black Friday offers, with people with higher incomes and in the 30 to 44 age group making more purchases in comparison. However, the trend shows that those who generally consume more this year also plan to make more purchases on Black Friday. Nevertheless, half of the people surveyed are not planning to buy anything on Black Friday this year either. The most common reason given for no or less consumption is that they don't need anything at the moment (59%) or that they want to consume less (28%). Reduced consumption tends to be more pronounced in French-speaking Switzerland (39%) than in German-speaking Switzerland (24%).

Furthermore, Black Friday offers are seen as having little authenticity: A third of respondents who do not want to make greater use of Black Friday meet them with skepticism (33%). 19 percent of respondents say they want to consume less for environmental reasons (climate protection). Inflation is cited by 12% as a reason why they do not want to take advantage of more Black Friday offers this year. In addition, end-of-season sales, such as those after Christmas, are clearly more popular for the Swiss than Black Friday.

The Christmas season is approaching and with it the so-called "shopping days". The most prominent of these is Black Friday. Together with the market research institute GfK Discount corner, Switzerland's most widely used and best-known cashback platform, researched the behavior of consumers in German-speaking Switzerland. The results are highly encouraging for e-commerce platform operators.

Remarkably, 96 percent of the online population in German-speaking Switzerland is familiar with Black Friday. The study shows that an overwhelming majority, namely 91 percent, of the German-speaking Swiss online population was satisfied with their past Black Friday purchases. This underscores the importance of high-quality offers and attractive discounts for consumers.

In addition, the German-speaking Swiss online population indicates that they not only want to keep their spending on Black Friday this year, but even increase it. A proud 86% of respondents plan to spend the same or even more than last year, with the oldest demographic in particular showing an increased propensity to spend compared to last year. On average, each consumer plans to spend a remarkable CHF 238 on this year's Black Friday.

Meanwhile, the study shows that an offer with a price reduction of 50 percent or more is particularly attractive to 37 percent of the German-speaking Swiss online population, while 23 percent are hoping for even higher discounts. The electronic product category is the clear favorite for Black Friday shopping. An interesting gender difference is also evident in the use of Black Friday for Christmas shopping. According to the study, women are more likely to use the day for their Christmas shopping than men.

"The results confirm the importance of high-quality offers for consumers of all ages. At Rabattcorner, this year's Shopping Days special will be expanded accordingly. We additionally offer additional cashback on Black Friday offers at over 790 stores," says Denise Eggenberger, CEO of Rabattcorner AG.

On the specially created microsite, Goldbach and the media brands and publishers it markets in Switzerland and Austria are presenting offers with discounts of up to 85 percent. There is a choice of more than 60 media and advertising deals for TV, audio, print, online and content & sponsoring, each of which will be released for booking on specific days during Black Friday Week.

Selected by genus and region

The deals can be selected by media genre and region or filtered specifically for SME offers. These are deals that are specifically tailored to small and medium-sized enterprises with their price framework and regional reference.

Goldbach Black Friday Week starts on Monday, November 20, 2023 at 8:00 a.m. and lasts until Friday, November 24, 2023.