ores. Too many people. Too few sales people. Unhappy shoppers with miserable memories fighting over product to get deals in what is traditionally considered the peak period in retail of the year. “Flash forward, Black Friday, November 27, 2015. In just one year, the whole picture has changed. And the picture looks pretty similar for the US and the UK,” he says. “In fact, photos from Los Angeles to London show shopping malls looking very quiet. The big story in 2015 is that online transactions increased significantly.” The New York Times reported that “Adobe, which tracked more than 180 million visits to over 4,500 US retail websites this Thanksgiving, said shoppers spent $1.73 billion online on Thursday — or 22 per cent more than 2014. Almost 60 per cent of the traffic came from mobile devices.” On the same day the Guardian, reflecting the headline across UK journals, reported that “British shoppers spent 52 per cent more online on Friday morning than they did in 2014 according to payment processing firm Worldpay”. That is a whopping 52 per cent jump in online shopping on Black Friday in the UK in just one year! In New Zealand specifically Kiwis were keen on discounted goods and lined up early in the quest for bargains. Retail NZ spokesman Gary Harford said Black Friday sales are growing in popularity here. “It’s been picked up by more and more retailers, which shows it’s very successful for those taking part in it and that customers are increasingly taking part too.” Bargains included a $400 reduction on a 50-inch television at The Warehouse, $380 off a Microsoft Surface Pro tablet/laptop at Noel Leeming and a $500 saving on a five-person tent from Kathmandu, with no real data available on the online component. Cohen emphasises thought that the trend is to move away from instore to online, a point which Kiwi retailers can take note of. There are of course cultural differences globally and across Europe, including how people buy. According to the IDC Retail Insights consumer survey, 50 per cent of consumers in Europe said that they frequently decide to purchase instore after starting their customer journey online, compared to 16 per cent in the US. That said, technology trends often start in the US, move to Northern Europe, starting with the UK, and continue on their path to other parts of Europe. And in this digital era, the pace of changes is like nothing we have ever seen before. “I believe that the story from Black Friday is one that retailers consider very seriously: people’s buying habits are changing quickly and they are buying online more than ever before, often with their smart phones,” concludes Cohen. “The retailers that use their data to learn about their customers and prospects, and develop personalised products, services and offers uniquely tailored for them – the ones truly transforming their businesses for this digital world – will win in the long run.”