The latest massive cultural import to cross the Atlantic from the USA is the mother of all retail discount events, the now-global institution that is Black Friday.
Originally linked to Thanksgiving, in the past few years Black Friday has shaken off its American-as-apple-pie image and come over to replace the traditional post-Christmas holiday sales in the UK and across Europe. It’s a trend that has been driven by eCommerce – especially in the form of Black Friday’s latest sidekick, Cyber Monday – and the event has become particularly renowned amongst consumers as the day to grab a bargain on gadgets and tech.
That means that smartphones feature heavily in Black Friday deals that big retailers are already starting to trail well ahead of the November 29th extravaganza. It is, amongst other things, the day that early(ish) iPhone adopters look to get great value on the latest release from Apple, this year the iPhone 11. It’s when Android aficionados look to upgrade to Samsung’s latest incarnation of the Galaxy or semi-tablet Galaxy Note, and when airtime dealers look to tempt new customers with eye-catching pay-nothing-for-six-months data packages if people sign up to a 24 month contract for a brand new handset.
Black Friday has already become so big, with so many vendors clamouring for attention with blink-and-you’ll-miss-it once-a-year offers, that many retailers are left asking – how do I cut through all the noise and offer something that really strikes a chord with customers? For anyone selling mobile phones, here’s a tactic to try – offer used handsets.
Best value
Black Friday is ultimately all about bargains, and the offers that grab the most attention amongst customers are those that cut through as offering the most outrageous value. Selling used and refurbished phones has two clear advantages over selling new devices in this regard – the wholesale costs are much, much lower, so you can undercut even the deepest discounts on new handsets, and because they cost so much less, you can still protect your margins even with big cuts.
In terms of a pre-owned smartphone Black Friday strategy, how about this. Focus on recent releases of the biggest name premium brands that have just been superceded by new releases, so devices like the iPhone XS and Galaxy S9 which, at most, will be just 12 to 18 months old. Focus on pristine and fully refurbished examples, so you can justifiably market them ‘as new’ with absolutely no discernible difference in appearance or performance. Then, cut prices as you see fit.
You should easily be able to offer recent premium models for half the new RRP or less and still make a profit. Make big statements – 50% off RRP, 60% off, 75% off – to grab maximum attention. And plug the quality of the devices hard to underline that, when it comes down to it, there is zero difference in performance between a used phone and new.
Avoid stock shortages
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are notorious times for stock shortages as demand out strips supply. Don’t let stock shortages affect your weekend sales, send Phoenix Cellular your forecast and we’ll let you know stock availability and prices.
Call +441270 449999 or email sales@phoenixcellular.co.uk today.
