How to leverage Black Friday for your tire dealership
Black Friday — the country’s biggest single retail event — is on November 25. With the Thanksgiving turkey still fresh in the memory, millions of Americans will turn their mind to chasing bargains on everything from electrical goods to yes, you guessed it, tires. Don’t miss your chance to advertising your Black Friday special deals and get the most out of this once-a-year shopping phenomenon.
Many customers put off making purchases, particularly expensive ones, until Black Friday because they know retailers will be offering some of the most impressive bargains of the year. According to the Hankook Tire Gauge Index, shoppers are more than willing to go the extra mile during the holiday shopping season in order to get the best deal. The Gauge found 83 percent of Americans would drive up to 50 miles to complete all of their holiday shopping this year and 97 percent said they’d be willing to drive up to 100 miles to find the best bargain.
“Retailers should prepare for a rush of consumers in the weeks following the presidential election as they get more economic and political certainty and are looking to take advantage of promotions and deals that are too good to pass up for their friends, family and even themselves,” National Retail Federation president and CEO Matthew Shay said.
Almost 60 percent of consumers also plan to buy things for themselves in the lead up to Christmas and will spend an average of $139.61 and 87 percent could be convinced to spend extra if tempted by a good sale or promotion.
“Many shoppers are taking the approach of ‘one for you, two for me’ this holiday season,” Shay said.
The great news for tire dealers is that Hankook’s Gauge found that more than a third of Americans would like to receive new tires this holiday season.
Here’s some advice on how to capitalize on this year’s Black Friday shopping frenzy:
Let people know you’re taking part
Customers will be Google searching for “Black Friday” and “tires”, so to give yourself a better chance of getting them through your door, make sure your website has a banner or a page dedicated to any Black Friday deals you have going on. This makes it more likely you’ll be picked up by the search engine. If you have a digital marketing company, talk to them about your SEO options. If you send out regular newsletters, lead with the deals you will be offering on November 25.
As always, social media is the perfect place to get your marketing message out, so tweet, and post on Facebook and Instagram. Remember to use hashtags in your posts though. #BlackFriday is the most popular one and is often how people find deals, so this should be included in every one of your messages. To make the most of your social media marketing, check out the best days and times for tire dealers to post.
Be prepared
Black Friday is busy. Really busy. As a tire dealer, not only will you have more customers coming through the door, but most of them will want advice and attention before they make a purchase. If you’re offering deals, make sure you have extra staff on board to cope and to provide that extra support and service. People might like low prices, but they still love good service and feeling like a valued customer. Get it right on one of the busiest days of the year and your customers will remember and come back to you the next time.
Offer a little extra
Your customers have probably been shopping like crazy and driving those extra miles to snap up the goods they want at lower prices. Shopping on Black Friday is tiring, so consider offering a little bit of respite. This could be free coffee and cookies, additional seating for weary shoppers or little giveaways. Come up with something that really adds to the festive atmosphere.
