Newegg And A Month Of Black Fridays

While Christmas shopping and falling in love are not compared all that often, they do have one notable thing in common: The first place where it happens tends to be the place that makes the biggest impression.

According to data out from InfoScout this week, about 75 percent of consumers visit a lot of different places to shop during the holiday season, and while lots of them get spend, the one that gets the first spend tends to also get the most. And not by a small margin. First retailer baskets tend to about 18 percent bigger than their counterparts at stores visited online or in-person later in the cycle.

The reasons why are a bit complex, and we’ll get more into them later in the week with the launch of the PYMNTS/InfoScout Holiday Trends Tracker, but the pressure on the retailer — whether it is operating on Main Street, in a mall, on its website or as part of a marketplace — is pretty obvious: get on out there and in front of customers as fast as possible.

Which is likely why, in recent memory, the retail world seems to have decided that one day of Black Friday madness — or perhaps two to three if one counts Super Saturday and Cyber Monday as one giant shopping holiday — is just not enough. We don’t need a day of Black Friday — or even just a weekend.

No, this is an event that has basically risen up to overtake November entirely. As of yesterday (Nov. 1), Amazon officially opened the door to the Black Friday shop, and let the deals begin. Granted, things over on Amazon are starting a bit slow. Currently, the electronics savings are more on wires and Amazon products than on the TVs and speaker equipment that tend to become the more normal bait as the real Black Friday draws closer.

But Amazon’s schtick during the holidays involves a lot of keeping customers guessing. The eTailer tends to toy with the prices in and around the holiday season, such they they go up a bit toward the end of October, only to go on “sale” for the season. Also being surprised by whatever spectacular deal of the day pops up in the lightning round for Prime shoppers is sort of part of the fun.

But the team over at Newegg is taking a slightly different approach to the long run-up to Black Friday. The tech-focused retailer will be doing its own black November this year — complete with discounts and promotions.

“Black November gives our customers the flexibility to shop great deals when and where it’s most convenient. For the entire month of November, all of Newegg’s platforms — web, mobile site and iOS/Android apps — will offer aggressive price cuts on gifts for everyone on their list,” said Merle McIntosh, Newegg SVP of sales and marketing.

“Newegg is the best place to get tech, and that holds especially true this holiday season.”

For big buys, like high-end electronics, going after that early spend is actually particularly important, given how consumers buy gifts. According to InfoScout’s data, consumers tend to grab up high-price-tag gift items first since those are the gifts normally reserved for family, close friends and other high-priority gift recipients. Those selling electronics are not well-served waiting to the end of the month, since odds are good those presents could already be bought, wrapped and hidden in a crawl space.

And Newegg is a bit more forthcoming than Amazon on what is going on sale and when. Not to the point of actually just telling consumers which of its amazing deals will happen then, but it is giving something akin to a roadmap through the season.

The event will kick off with what the marketplace is calling “deep discounts on hundreds of items” across all of Newegg’s product categories. The event will go on from Nov. 1–7. From Nov. 8–14, there will be a gaming sale, focusing on gaming notebooks, components and accessories. Nov. 15–21 is what Newegg calls “Pre-Black Friday” sale, which will offer a “broad sampling” of Black November deals and discounts.

Then, the action kicks up with the real Black Friday sale when Newegg says it will offer “hundreds of deals” unlocked every two days. You can expect to see the biggest discounts on Nov. 25 and 26.

Nov. 27–30 is reserved for Cyber Monday, which — huge shock — will feature “hundreds of deals.”

Then, there are the “bonus rounds,” or extra Black Fridays. On Nov. 11, and then again on the following Friday, Newegg has announced it will open dozens of early Black Friday deals. Discounts will be deep, and quantities limited.

So, will Newegg get its Christmas wish and get the drop on all those early shoppers still ready to burn up some plastic?

Hard to say, but you can’t say it didn’t get up early to make an effort.