Black Friday to Cyber Monday – the UK’s biggest shopping weekend

Black Friday is fast approaching – if you missed the memo, it’s on November 27th this year. In the UK this retail phenomenon has taken off extremely quickly, having only been introduced by Amazon as an experiment in 2010. By 2014, it had become a frenzy of heavy discounts, clothes flying off hangers, shop fittings and retail displays being trashed by crazed shoppers, and slightly discounted TVs being pulled at each end like Christmas crackers. 2015 looks set to offer some great deals – only time will tell if the hysteria of last year will return too.

But what about the rest of the UK’s biggest shopping weekend? Most of us know Cyber Monday is also becoming more prominent every year when thousands of online-exclusive discounts are launched at the perfect time for Christmas gift shopping. Clothing rails and traditional retail displays are ignored (and possibly still being rebuilt after Friday’s chaos) in favour of online stores, and much of the shopping happens while people are working, desperately snatching bargains whenever they get a break to check their phones.

It doesn’t end here, though: did you know these two events now bookend a weekend of big promotions for each day? Small Business Saturday AND Sofa Sunday both fall on this weekend too, despite being slightly less chaotic. The former was created in the US by American Express and has recently started to have a bigger presence in the UK. Small Business Saturday encourages consumers to give their local retailers a look-in, while Sofa Sunday is more demand-driven. It’s simply the last date for guaranteed Christmas delivery with many big furniture retailers, so people have placed orders in their thousands on this date for years thanks to the panic-inducing ad campaigns we’re all used to seeing.

So how, as a smaller retailer, can you prepare for this massive weekend? It might be a good idea to focus on Small Business Saturday and take advantage of the goodwill towards local businesses, but it seems increasingly likely that come Black Friday, anywhere without a big sale shouldn’t expect a lot of sales. Big retailers seem to be forcing out their smaller counterparts even more with this trend, but there should still be enough business to go around if you can nail down your strategy as soon as possible.

Whatever you need to complete your vision for the big weekend, Valentino’s Displays can supply it. From heavy-duty clothes rails, cabinets and showcases to mannequins and dummies, we stock everything you need to make your displays stand out at affordable prices. Take a look at what we have to offer and place your order today to get your stock ready for Black Friday and beyond!