I hate shopping malls. For some reason crowds of oblivious people, screaming children, pushy salesfolk, and Kenny G’s Greatest Hits coupled with the smell of bad Chinese food and Auntie Annies has never put me in the mood to spend my money. Over the years of working from home and learning to strategically avoid crowded situations altogether (while growing a perhaps unhealthy affinity for sweatpants and quiet time), my dislike for these sort of shopping situations has only grown. So it should come as no surprise that I’ve always avoided the Black Friday crowds like the plague. Peel my well-fed, groggy butt from my bed at midnight to fight with mobs of psychotic deal seekers in hopes of scoring something for 80% off? No thank you.
But I do love a good deal. And shopping. And there’s not much I’d rather do after a 4,000 calorie meal than recline on my couch in my elastic waist pants and shop for Christmas gifts. So you can imagine how thrilled I was this year when some of my favorite online shopping sites advertised their own special online Black Friday deals, for mobile! No need to wait till Cyber Monday to start crossing off my Christmas list. Better yet, no need even to open my laptop! Easy, fast, and 60% off, right from my iPhone. Shopping perfection.
So of course, given my occupation in (and mild obsession with) online marketing, I couldn’t take advantage of this brilliant new way to shop without some serious reflection on the whole process. The retailers that I shopped, right from the convenience of my smartphone, directed me there through compelling Facebook reminders or ads, seamlessly linked to their advertised sales, on a more-than-friendly mobile platform which allowed not only for fast and smooth purchasing, but dynamic views of the products and confidence-boosting return policies. These are companies that are doing a really phenomenal job with meshing social media behavior with easy, intuitive customer service.
So where does that leave the retailers who are slow to integrate social media with their shopping experience? Of course there are plenty of folks who will line the streets, even (yuck) camp out, to take advantage of the in-store sales…but what about the rest of us who are just as eager to start our holiday shopping, but not so eager to fight with crowds?
It is no longer enough for retailers to have a Facebook page, or a mobile site, if the two aren’t integrated to capitalize on the millions of people who are ready to buy if given an easy opportunity and a well-placed incentive.
As a retailer, you need to be where your consumers are. And many of us are updating our Facebook status, on our smartphones, from the comfort of home, just waiting for the perfect opportunity to buy.