Why the in-store experience still matters on Black Friday
This is where physical retail delivers the difference. A bricks-and-mortar store can offer what a screen cannot: the experience of being there. Discovering something you weren’t looking for, testing and trialling a product in person to understand its value first-hand and taking it home right there and then. In a world competing for every scroll, click, and conversion, physical retail offers something digital cannot fully replicate: a reason to stop, engage.
From Black Friday to Black Week
The clues are already there. Black Friday is no longer confined to a single Friday. As Justin Thomas, KZN Divisional Manager at Tiger Brands, puts it, “Black Friday has now become Black Week”, and the shift is changing how people shop.
From the UK perspective, Black Friday is becoming less about a high-impulse shopping event and more about people “intentionally and strategically saving up and shopping for Christmas”, says Jess Kaye, Director at Chilli, part of IMA, the Smollan Agency.
As the promotional period stretches, so do retailers’ opportunities and risks. Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the festive season are increasingly connected, creating a longer window to compete for attention, spending and loyalty.
It’s hard to stand out when everyone is competing on price
Black Friday has always been strongly tied to discounts. The bigger the percentage, the louder the message, the stronger the perceived deal.
But that model has a problem. When every retailer is offering a deal, the deal itself becomes harder to differentiate. The challenge, then, is not simply finding the right percentage off. It is creating a proposition that feels genuinely worthwhile to the shopper and commercially worthwhile for the brand.
Which brings us to a more interesting question:
What if value is not always about taking something away from the price? What if it is about adding something to the experience?
Jess explained that repeated discounting can damage margins. Instead of relying solely on price reductions, brands and retailers can create value and build loyalty through events and experiences. Personalisation can add to that value too, especially when it comes through human interaction rather than just data.
Which leads me back to an insight from Ally Lan, GIG Retail, a Smollan Company, which she states: “As physical footfall reduces, the question isn’t online versus in-store. It’s how we use personalisation to make every in-store interaction more relevant to the shopper.”
How brand activations create value beyond discounting
So how does this come to life in store? It could mean an exclusive bundle you can’t find online. A product demonstration that turns browsing into discovery. A tasting, event or activation that gives shoppers a reason to spend time and interact with a brand.
Retailers are increasingly focused on enhancing the in-store experience, with more and more leaning into brand activations as a leading conversion driver. “Instead of simply stacking a product high and putting a sign above it, retailers can use the physical environment to create something that stops shoppers in their tracks”, explained Jess.
Black Friday (or Black Week!) gives retailers more to work with
Justin went on to raise an important question: “What attracts those customers into the store for those seven days?”
The opportunity is not to run the same discount for seven days. It is to give shoppers different reasons to engage throughout the week.
Retailers “ultimately move shoppers through discovery, exclusivity, experience, loyalty, and promotion, with the offer changing according to the shopper, category, and occasion”, notes Johan van der Westhuizen, Inland North Divisional Manager, at Tiger Brands.
The shopper may see the product on social media, research it through a search engine or AI tool, compare prices online and then walk into a store to make the final decision.
So while digital can create shoppers and help them research, physical retail can turn that interest into a final sale.
So, what does it mean to win Black Friday?
Perhaps winning Black Friday was never simply about the day’s offering or having the biggest discount.
It’s more about earning credibility from shoppers in a crowded season, creating memorable experiences, and giving them a reason to choose your brand beyond the discount.
But as the digital environment becomes more crowded, physical retail has an opportunity to offer something different: a place to discover, experience and interact with the product and the brand.
The retailers that recognise this will not abandon the discount. They will simply stop treating it as the whole proposition.
As Jess Kaye, Director at Chilli, part of IMA, the Smollan Agency, perfectly summarises: “The biggest value might not be the price you take away. It might be the experience you add.”
