Is the internet putting an end to crazy holiday shopping?
Black Friday and the Saturday before Christmas have long been thought of as the busiest shopping days of the year, but is that still the case? As we all know the internet is changing the way consumers shop – which leads me to ask this question…are the days of packed malls, insanely long lines and early morning special sales coming to an end? Obviously it’s part of my job to make sure that we market Virgin products to our customers in the most effective way possible. So this year we decided to make sure we stocked our shelves to the full capacity – both in the stores and in our “virtual stockrooms” with the launch of our new retail site www.virginmega.com.
We launched the site last week – as kind of a test to see if people would rather hit the stores or log on to find their best deals. It turned out to be an impressive launch – as we had over 10 million hits on our site and over 110,000 unique visits in just the first week. However, we also opened our stores earlier than usual for Black Friday madness – which turned out to be…well, madness. We offered special sales incentives inside our stores and we saw impressive pick up there as well. Maybe I just like to torture myself…but nothing gets me in the holiday spirit more than fighting the crowds to see what’s new, what’s hot and what is this year’s “must haves.” Plus…I enjoy all the Santa’s on the street corners explaining to people that they’re just “Santa’s helpers…the big guy is still up at the North Pole.” So while shopping from my home computer is awfully convenient and quick… I personally enjoy a bit of the action. I wish you the best in holiday shopping this year, whether it’s from home or you hit the malls – and if you hear about a great deal, please let me know. I’m always up for a good bargain.
Cheers,
Dee
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