Wayfair will launch a retail holiday called Way Day, offering deals comparable to Black Friday and free shipping for all orders made on April 25, 2018. The promotion covers more than 70,000 products, with special “doorbuster” deals launching every six hours.
Way Day follows in the footsteps of Prime Day, which Amazon hosts in mid-July, and Single’s Day, a Chinese retail event hosted by Alibaba every November 11. Both promotions have proved immensely successful: Prime Day 2017 saw sales grow 60% from the previous year, and was the largest global shopping day in the company’s history until Cyber Monday 2017. Single’s Day 2017 generated $25.4 billion in sales, up 39% from 2016, according to CNBC.
Each e-Commerce retailer times its holiday for a reason: Prime Day was launched to celebrate the anniversary of Amazon, while the numerals for November 11 are all ones, representing shoppers who are alone on Single’s Day. Wayfair took a more pragmatic approach, offering steep discounts at a time when shoppers are preparing for the summer grilling season.
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“Spring is the season when our customers are especially focused on sprucing up and furnishing outdoor spaces in anticipation of warm weather and summer entertaining,” said Steve Oblak, Chief Merchandising Officer at Wayfair in a statement. “Many are also readying their homes for sale or moving into new ones. During Way Day, we’ll offer the best doorbuster prices at a time when we know our customers value it most.”
While retail holidays have been beneficial for their inventors, they have been reducing the overall appeal of Black Friday as shoppers come to expect sales year-round. A survey by PwC found that only 35% of consumers who planned to shop during Thanksgiving week in 2017 were going to do so on Black Friday, down from 51% in 2016 and 59% in 2015.