Carolyn Young: Retail NZ CEO on Black Friday sales and retail spending

Retailers are hoping for bumper Black Friday sales today.   

Retail NZ says Black Friday and Boxing Day are the biggest shopping days of the year. 

It comes at a time when retailers are struggling, with 70% not meeting their sales targets in the September quarter according to the Retail Trade Survey.  

Retail NZ Chief Executive Carolyn Young says it would be good to see Black Friday generate more foot traffic down the line. 

She told Mike Hosking that retailers are considering shorter sale periods next year, to concentrate the number of people who come in during that time. 

Young says there’s a mixed appetite for spending at the moment, but Black Friday is a good time for people to be thinking about Christmas shopping. 

LISTEN ABOVE 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'm not sure if you're aware of it, but it's
Black Friday. It feels like it's been Black Friday, of
course for about a year and a half. Increasingly Black Friday,
though Cyber Monday at playing an outsize role in this
retail sector of ours. Price Spuy, as I've said this morning,
they're expecting the average person to spend about six hundred
bucks today. Retail New Zealand boss Carolyn Young is with us. Carolyn,
very good morning to you.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
What a Mike, how are you very well?

Speaker 1 (00:20):
Thank you? How much of Black Friday is just noise
and how much of it's real in terms of what
it needs to do for your average shopkeeper?

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Absolutely real. You know, we're in that time of year
when sales are critical and it's become a really key
focus for that real postion to that Christmas period. So
now it's an absolute key marker for retail in New Zealand.

Speaker 1 (00:42):
Do you have like, do you send out an email
to your members to go, hey, guys, don't do specials
that aren't specials? Is that a thing? All that sort
of beyond you?

Speaker 2 (00:53):
Well, we always talk about making sure that you are understanding,
you know, how you're advertising and ensuring that you're complying
with the Consumer Guarantees Act and if your trading acts
are implicit underlying things that businesses need to comply to.

Speaker 1 (01:07):
Right, what about the sectors within the sectors? Who does
well on Black Friday versus other people? Are in a
sector that you know it makes no difference.

Speaker 2 (01:16):
Well, I think you know, food and grow throy fuel,
those sort of sectors are probably you know, it doesn't
make a significant difference in those sort of spaces. But
you will have, you know, areas within sectors where stores
really go hard out with a key headline special to
get people in store that they'll buy that item and

(01:38):
then they'll come across and get some others. And there's
a couple of different strategies you'll have noticed stores during
this year. Some are really focused on the five days
between Thursday and Monday this week, and others have been
on sale for a couple of weeks, and different strategies
are working for different stores. But speaking to some retailers
this week that have been on sale for a week
or so, said, you know, next year, actually we'll probably

(01:59):
just do the short period because it's you know, it's
just an elongated period of time where you're making the
same number of sales. So they want to concentrate really
and get people focused so that people come in during
that time.

Speaker 1 (02:10):
What's your vibe on the appetite for spending. Do you
think we're into it?

Speaker 2 (02:16):
I think it's mixed, really, I do think it's mixed, Mike.
There's there's some people that have plenty of disposable income
and you know, their appetite spend is the same as
it's always been. But we know a lot of people
are doing it hard. We look at the numbers. You know,
retailers are often about discretionary spend and it's been a
really tough couple of years for consumers and retailers and

(02:39):
so that it's really tough out there. So I think people,
you know, do like to go to the shops and
they do like to buy things. It's about, you know,
what can they afford to buy. But it's a really
good time for people to be thinking about, you know,
the Christmas shopping and gifts for far now and it's good,
good opportunity to get something on sale.

Speaker 1 (02:58):
But it goes wealthy Carolyn appreciate Carolyn Young Retail, New Zealand.

Speaker 2 (03:00):
Of course for more from The Mic Asking Breakfast.

Speaker 1 (03:03):
Listen live to news talks at B from six am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio