It’s beginning to look a lot like Black Friday. The American shopping tradition is gaining momentum north of the border, and Canadian malls are launching campaigns to woo shoppers to the Nov. 27 event.
Cadillac Fairview, which operates 20 shopping centres across the country, is launching its Black Friday campaign, “Finds Worth Finding.”
The campaign, developed by Traffik Group, aims to show that shopping at CF properties on Black Friday is about more than deals.
“Canadians are looking for more than great-priced stuff. What they’re looking for are finds — those things that are better than deals,” said Craig Flannagan, vice-president of consumer marketing for Cadillac Fairview, whose malls include CF Eaton Centre, CF Sherway Gardens and CF Pacific Centre.
“[The campaign] is based on the consumer insight that they want inspiration and efficiency, and we’re trying to give them both of those things on Black Friday.”
A PR program led by North Strategic includes a national media tour with shopping expert Liv Judd Soye, who will talk about inspirational fashion and holiday finds, as well as ways to make Black Friday shopping more efficient.
In the two weeks leading up to Black Friday, a robust digital and social media program will feature the hottest fashion and Christmas gifts of the season on CFshops.com, the CF Shop app and CF’s social media pages.
Cadillac Fairview is also rolling out its new text concierge service, CF Shop Text, which it has been testing at eight properties. “[Customers] will be able to text us for Black Friday ideas or holiday ideas, and we’ll text them back quickly with some of the things they’re looking for,” said Flannagan.
The campaign also includes radio ads across the country and in-mall digital marketing.
Flannagan said last year, Cadillac Fairview’s Black Friday sales were up 5% versus the previous year. “It’s looking like it may happen again,” he said. “For us, from a traffic perspective, Black Friday is pretty much on par with Boxing Day.”
It’s an incredible rise for a shopping event that didn’t exist in Canada just four years ago, and was created to stem the tide of cross-border shoppers. “[The growth] really does mean that Black Friday is a big, meaningful shopping event for consumers in Canada,” said Flannagan.
Lucia Connor, marketing director at Oxford Properties-owned Yorkdale Shopping Centre, said the difference between Boxing Day and Black Friday is simple: inventory. “Boxing Day is an opportunity for retailers to really clear their inventory,” she said. Black Friday on the other hand, allows consumers to prepare for their holidays and score some deals before everything is picked over.
In a survey of its own shoppers, Yorkdale Shopping Centre found that 90% of respondents intend to shop on Black Friday, up from 80% last year and 53% from 2013. In addition, 93% of those surveyed said they’re more likely to shop in Canada than in the U.S. because of the exchange rate.
On Black Friday, Yorkdale is extending its shopping hours from 7 am to 11 pm. And at 7 am that day, the mall is launching a Snapchat channel, yorkdalestyle, where fans can get access to exclusives and promotions. Every hour, an item that’s exclusive to Yorkdale will be featured and followers will have the chance to win it.
Yorkdale has also launched a text concierge service that will help customers with everything from holiday hours to gift ideas. And “Fashion Santa” (model Paul Mason) will make his first appearance at the mall on Black Friday.
One key difference between Black Friday in Canada versus the U.S. is that Americans get the day off; the event takes place the day after Thanksgiving. In the lead up to Black Friday, Yorkdale is releasing lists of excuses people can tell their bosses so they can skip work and go shopping.
“In the U.S., Black Friday really heralds the start of the holiday shopping and it’s taken a few years to really catch on in Canada,” said Connor. “But we’re beginning to see that Black Friday is really the unofficial start in Canada as well.”
