BLACK FRIDAY
Back in Black The highly anticipated season for tech enthusiasts – Black Friday and Cyber Monday – is fast approaching. In recent years, Black Friday has evolved beyond a single-day event; it now extends across the entire week and, in many cases, spans the entire month of November.
While Black Friday is an American invention, tied in with the Thanksgiving holiday, it is now a firm fixture of the UK calendar too, offering plenty of bargains to customers. Although it is now not just a day, but often much longer than that. “Once it became established in the UK, Black Friday soon became the unofficial day-one of the big push for year-end tech product sales,” says Ross Turner, retail and peripherals director, UK, at TD SYNNEX. “While there may be some really special deals over the initial weekend, once the offers start, they tend to continue right through to Christmas and beyond. The level of activity just stays high from that point onwards and gradually builds as we move through December.” Big sellers In the channel, there are likely to be deals on a range of tech products. “There will be some great deals on AI laptops and a lot of activity around PC and VR gaming,” says Ross. “There are some new and nice-looking smartphones on the market from the leading manufacturers and some excellent tablet devices as well. Audio products – headphones and speakers – are also going to be popular gift choices.” Mike Barron, managing director at SYNAXON UK, adds that he expects Black Friday to generate activity. “We’ve already seen a lot of interest in AI-ready laptops and that’s going to pick up even more, especially if – as expected – some of the tier one vendors put some good offers out there. “We’d also expect to see a boost in sales of other products – desktop PCs and workstations, large format screens, keyboard and mice combos, headsets and speakers, storage devices and backup power supplies, for example.” Reseller advice Niko Moustoukas, director at Limely, says that its ecommerce clients focus on offering exclusive, value-driven deals. “Instead of just
Ross Turner retail and peripherals director, UK
throwing out random discounts, they highlight products that reflect their brand's identity, aiming to foster longer-term engagement rather than quick, one-off purchases,” he says. “Given how critical Black Friday is, prep work starts months in advance, fine-tuning the user experience and removing any potential hurdles to ensure a smooth, conversion- focused process for customers.” Resellers can make the most of this period by creating a sense of urgency, highlighting exclusivity and reinforcing trust, Niko adds. “Promoting the uniqueness of Black Friday deals, integrating trust signals like star ratings and verified reviews, and offering exclusive bundles can all help drive significant success during this peak sales season,” he says. Mike says SYNAXON will encourage its partners to make their customers aware of what’s available. “We’ll be doing that for our B2B partners as well as retailers,” he says. “While Black Friday tends to be seen as consumer-focused, a lot of smaller businesses will also be keen to take advantage of any good deals on offer. It will be a good opportunity for all partners to boost their sales ahead of the year end.” Ross adds that TD SYNNEX has been working with vendors for months to make sure that partners can take optimum advantage. “What retailers and webstores need to emphasise is that there’s a choice and price to suit every buyer, and also if you want the best quality, paying a little extra will be well worth it.”
uk.tdsynnex.com
Niko Moustoukas director
limely.co.uk
Mike Barron managing director
synaxon-services.com
436
Powered by FlippingBook