Black Friday 2024: Underconsumption vs Spend Now Streaming

Published 29 November 2024

Author

Chelsie Hares

4 min read

In the US, consumer spending is expected to reach $125bn during the Thanksgiving/Black Friday weekend (November 28 to December 2) – a 5% drop from 2023 (ICSC, 2024), likely fuelled by ongoing economic and climate concerns. Key strategies catering for polarised consumer cohorts include wellness-infused retail refuges (Lush), underconsumption swap shops (Freitag), star-powered live commerce (TikTok and Amazon) and TV-spoofing ad series (Walmart).

Key Stats

General

90%	Nine in 10 Americans said they plan to shop during the 2024 Thanksgiving/Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend
64%	In the US, 64% of consumers said they intend to shop online during the 2024 Black Friday sales
27%	More than a quarter (27%) of Americans said they would spend less over the 2024 Black Friday weekend than they did in 2023
25%	A quarter of Brits said they intend to spend less during the 2024 Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales than they did in 2023
40%	Two in five Brits believe high discounts of 50% or more during Black Friday sales are not believable
58%	In 2024, 58% of British Black Friday shoppers said they intend to buy an item they’d already been considering at a discounted price
40%	As of 2023, 40% of Americans had bought a product via livestream commerce

Lush’s Scent Sanctuary Offers Retail Refuge: Leaning into the trend for functional fragrances, British eco-beauty brand Lush is transforming its Westfield London store into a Scent Sanctuary from November 28 to December 1.

Within the Sanctuary, visitors can receive free hand and arm massages from Lush’s spa therapists and Fragrance Readings with Lush perfumers, who pair scents with their emotions. Customers can also enter the Scent Shower – a circular scent-immersion booth for experiencing Lush’s shower gel fragrances, accompanied by a custom soundscape and LED mood lighting. The initiative builds upon the brand’s ongoing efforts to elevate its status as a trusted perfumer.

Lush Scent Sanctuary, Scent Shower

Lush Scent Sanctuary

Lush Scent Sanctuary, Fragrance Readings

Lush Scent Sanctuary

Lush Scent Sanctuary, Fragrance Readings

Westpac New Zealand Encourages Gen Zers to Curb Spending Hangovers: Shepherding younger consumers towards positive financial habits – 25% of New Zealanders aged 18-24 say they lack motivation or discipline when saving money (Westpac, 2024) – New Zealand-based bank Westpac launched a digital Spending Hangover toolkit timed to the Black Friday weekend.

A dedicated website offers practical tips (via text and short-form videos), including co-shopping with a friend to hold each other accountable, setting a spending limit (alongside a budget calculator) and avoiding ‘buy now, pay later’ schemes.

Westpac

Decathlon Canada Urges Consumers to Make Time for Sports: Steering people towards physical activity instead of impulse shopping, the Canadian arm of French sporting goods company Decathlon launched its Make Time for Sports campaign. Canadians are encouraged to schedule time in their calendars for sporting activities during the Black Friday weekend and send the campaign email a digital invitation. Participants will be entered into a draw to win Decathlon sports equipment tailored to their selected activity.

Decathlon

Freitag’s Underconsumption-Enabling Swap Shops: Embodying the growing underconsumption trend (see our One-Minute Explainer), Swiss circular accessories brand Freitag revived its S.W.A.P (Shopping Without Any Payment) campaign for 2024. The brand will halt sales globally on November 29, both online and in-store, instead opening its doors at 5pm to allow customers to swap unwanted Freitag products with each another.

Freitag

TikTok & Amazon Supercharge Shoppable Streams with Star Power: Seizing the growing appetite for live commerce – 49% of Americans want to shop more using this format (McKinsey, 2023), while 40% have already done so (Statista, 2023) – brands are recruiting high-profile celebrities to broadcast their Black Friday deals.

Social media giant TikTok launched a series of Shop livestreams with prominent creators and celebrities, including Trinidadian rapper Nicki Minaj promoting her press-on nail brand Pink Friday Nails and American influencer family the D’Amelios (daughter Charli D’Amelio is the second most-followed TikTok creator) plugging their footwear brand D’Amelio Footwear.

Similarly, Amazon partnered with American live commerce specialist TalkShopLive for shoppable streams promoting Amazon’s Black Friday deals, hosted by American celebrities like chef and businesswoman Martha Stewart, actor Eva Mendes and singer Jennifer Hudson. The shoppable streams will premiere on Amazon Live (the brand’s dedicated live commerce platform) as well as the host’s official Facebook and Instagram accounts.

@pinkfridaynails BIGGEST ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE YEAR 🎀 On Sunday, Nov 24, we’re going LIVE with the Queen herself, @Nicki Minaj 👑 for the ultimate Black Friday/Cyber Monday TikTok Shop event! 💖✨ Special guests, giveaways, and the most iconic deals of the year are all waiting for you! 👀🛍️ Be ready, #PrettyGang – we’re kicking things off at 3pm PST. Mark your calendars and set your alarms, you don’t want to miss this! ⏰🗓️💅🏾 #PinkFriday #BlackFriday #CyberMonday #NickiMinaj #TikTokShop @TikTok Shop 🇺🇸 ♬ original sound - Pink Friday Nails

@heididamelio 30 minutes until we're LIVE!! Join @Marc D'Amelio & I here on @TikTok Shop 🇺🇸 as we talk about the story of @D’Amelio Footwear ♬ original sound - ThisPageFunny

Amazon x TalkShopLive

Walmart’s Ads Spoof Fan-Favourite Streaming Series: Walmart leaned into entertainment fandoms for its Black Friday campaign with a series of video ads parodying popular TV series: Bridgerton, The Vampire Diaries, Yellowstone and Friday Night Lights.

Walmart’s Bridgerton spoof, Stable Boy of the Season, has surpassed 2.4 million YouTube views and stars American actor Anthony Ramos. In the video, Ramos enters a Bridgerton-esque high society with assistance from a family-inherited Walmart+ membership.

Walmart Deals Of Desire