Black Friday is coming up and so is Cyber Monday. Some retailers count on robust sales on those days to offset slumping retail sales or to simply move merchandise. With today’s multiple marketing options, including digital marketing, it is not necessary to wait for those celebrated shopping days, but for the moment let’s focus on those two famous shopping days.. I have watched how retailers market those days and much of it is quite uninspiring. They seem to advertise specials, percentage off sales, two for one bargains, and even specials at each hour. I would like to suggest that retailers can potentially be more successful by coming up with a creative idea that is available only on that day. It has to be an idea that will motivate customers to go into the store or website. Many advertise ridiculously low specials and end up on the minus side because it turns out that the item becomes a loss rather than a loss leader. Customers tend to sniff these extraordinary deals and of course base their shopping on finding the basement bargain prices.

So what would be a big idea for Black Friday or Cyber Monday? Well, that’s the challenge but here’s one idea that I saw and liked. For every purchase that one bought for a certain price, they were given a sales certificate for a special on another day during the year. So where’s the genius here? Retaining the customer’s interest and getting the customer to come back at a future dates(s) when the store can usual use the increased business. But this is what I mean by out of the box and why it pays to consult with people who have the experience and wherewithal to move from the ordinary.