If the death of Boxing Day has yet to ring, the traditional post-Christmas sales day has been strained by the pandemic and changes in consumer behavior. For three years, Black Friday and Cyber Monday have stolen the show.
Shorter queues, sanitary measures, in-store and online purchases that take place over two days with extended opening hours… The days when consumers were trampled on to get their hands on extraordinary sales seem to be over.
“Customer habits are different, and that’s good for us,” said Martin Boucher, CEO of the Boucher Sports Group, which has 29 franchises of the Sports Experts, Atmosphere and Entrepôt du Hockey brands, on the phone.
“It’s much more constant than going through periods when it was total madness, when it was difficult to move around the store. ”
The fact of extending the opening hours and doing the after Christmas sales on December 26 and 27 allowed the various stores of the Group to make good sales, but not up to those of 2019. Martin Boucher, which has been in the business for 35 years, now scores better on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Black Friday is made stronger than the Boxing Day. For three or four years, the days of this weekend have really been stronger in our businesses than what we are doing there now, even without COVID.
Martin Boucher, CEO of the Boucher Sports Group
“It’s been three years since Black Friday supplanted Boxing Day », Affirms Francis Mailly, director of government relations for the Retail Council of Canada.
A quarter of Quebeckers participate in the post-Christmas sales, while more than 40% look for deals on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
“But it is not specific to the pandemic, we observed this phenomenon before”, explains Francis Mailly.
For others or for oneself
Black Friday allows consumers to get discounts on Christmas gifts from family and friends, while post-Christmas sales are more for self-indulgence, various retail experts observe.
“It’s two types of behavior,” says Thierry Lopez, director of marketing and business in Quebec for Best Buy. Despite a “rapid increase in sales around Black Friday and Cyber Monday,” he says the electronics retailer still takes post-Christmas sales seriously by offering real coupons.
“Consumers have received gift cards or want something specific and tell themselves that there are sales, that product lines are changing and now is the time to save,” he explains.
Hybrid mode shopping
In addition to health measures and the effect of Black Friday, the disappearance of monster traffic in stores is also caused by the boom in online shopping.
PHOTO DAVID BOILY, THE PRESS
Jean-Guy Côté, Director General of the Quebec Retail Council
It is certain that online commerce has exploded with the pandemic. Although the pace of growth has returned to its previous six months, online shopping is here to stay.
Jean-Guy Côté, Director General of the Quebec Retail Council
“It is not because the stores have reopened that people have returned to the store and have stopped buying online,” remarks Thierry Lopez, who underlines another phenomenon. At Best Buy, 93% of people who shop in-store have looked at the company’s site and compared prices with other stores.
The time spent in the store has therefore decreased. Just like in the boutiques of the Boucher Sports Group. “People did their shopping before going to the store. They know what they want and leave after spotting it. It’s a trend that has taken hold, ”says Martin Boucher.
“Our members tell us that the ones who are doing really well are the ones who can be both good online and good in store. If we focus on one or the other, we miss the boat, ”concludes the Director General of the Conseil québécois du commerce de commerce.