Black Friday, Cyber Monday And The Future of Retail

Your digital media catch-up is right here.

Every Tuesday – for just a few minutes – I join Heather Backman (my old buddy from her days on CHOM FM) on the air at Jack 103 (Rogers Sports & Media) to give a quick blast about the current state of technology, media and Internet culture. We’re calling the segment Tech Tuesday (and we do it in just a few minutes).

What is Tech Tuesday?

If you ever find yourself wondering… What, exactly, is the point of TikTok? How can I make myself look better on a Zoom? Reddit? What’s that about? How do I help my kids be safer online? Who’s the latest creator and streamer that I should be checking out?

You are not alone.

This is what Heather Backman and I discussed this morning over on Jack 103 FM for a couple of minutes:

Canada’s Shopify records Black Friday sales up 21% – Reuters and Online spending on Black Friday decreased for the very first time – The Verge.

Yesterday was Cyber Monday… after a strong-ish Black Friday. Was it worth it? Canada’s Shopify recorded worldwide sales of close to $3 billion on Black Friday for all of their merchants. This was an increase of over 20% in comparison to last year. With that, we’re also hearing that spending (overall) was down during this very special retail day. So, are you shopping more of less? Are these numbers a shift in consumer behavior from going to physical stores to being more “digitally-first,” because of our newly discovered habits (thanks, Covid 19)? What does the future of shopping look like?

“Adobe suggests that the downward trend might’ve been caused by an uptick in early spending, as some stores started sales and promotions as early as October. And when shoppers did make online purchases during Black Friday, Adobe found that 44.4 percent of those sales were made from a smartphone, a 10.6 percent increase from last year.”

How do you think retail is handling these shifting models?

App of the Week: Hand Mirror –  A one-click camera check, right from the menu bar.

Once the segment goes live on Jack 103, I will post it here for you to listen in, learn, share and engage….

https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1169492800

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