E-Commerce: Will Black Friday be Replaced by Black November?

QUEBEC CITY, QUEBEC--(Marketwired - Nov. 8, 2017) - Consumers no longer wait for big sales events like Black Friday before making their online purchases. This was one of the conclusions drawn from a survey of 2,000 members of Amikash, a Canadian web platform that specializes in cashback, the form of incentive whereby buyers receive a cash refund on their purchases.

The results show that only 36% of respondents wait to take advantage of a specific sales event to make their online purchases and much prefer to benefit from daily offers and free delivery. "We have also noticed that merchants start launching their online sales campaigns as soon as Halloween is over. Because retailers adjust their prices based on the rules of supply and demand, their special offers are often less advantageous on the day of a specific sales event than those available during the remainder of that month" explains Mr. Alexandre Faucher, president of Groupe Amik, the Quebec family-run business responsible for the Amikash platform.

ONLINE PURCHASING BEHAVIOUR

"On the Amikash platform, only 25% of the dollars spent in November and December 2016 were for purchases made on the day of a specific sales event," points out Ms. Geneviève Faucher, co-founder and vice-president of business development at Groupe Amik.

FREE AND FAST DELIVERY

Once again according to the 2,000 Amikash survey respondents, the key incentives for choosing one online merchant over another are as follows: 40% for free delivery, 30% for advantageous deals, 28% for cashbacks and only 2% because the merchant is local.

"We have also noted that the cashback principle has become an added incentive and a means of alleviating the impatience felt by consumers who can't immediately find a highly attractive special offer," Ms. Faucher says.

INCREASE IN THE USE OF MOBILE DEVICES

Although computers are still a highly popular medium for online shopping, the survey shows that 47% of respondents made their purchase using a mobile device, 31% on a computer and 22% on a tablet. The main categories of purchases for the 2,000 consumers surveyed are ranked as follows: 40% clothing, 20% electronic products and 20% beauty and health treatments and products. Jewellery and accessories and home and garden furnishings account for 10% of purchases.

ABOUT AMIKASH

Amikash, a division of Groupe Amik, was launched in 2014 as a concerted family effort to advocate e-commerce. A pioneer in the field of cashback in Quebec City, the company also clearly defined, from the outset, its distinctive policy of promoting local merchants. Marketing began in 2015 and over the course of that year a total of 120 stores became partners. One year later, the number of members had risen from 10,000 to 35,000. Now, in 2017, the platform is enjoying a real growth, and currently has 372 partner stores and close to 100,000 members.

SOURCES:

Amikash / www.amikash.ca/

Groupe Amik / www.groupeamik.com /