A new forecast from accounting giant BDO predicts that Black Friday sales will gain 3.8%, Cyber Monday sales will increase 2.5%, and that--surprisingly--the humble email will become marketers' weapon
of choice on the busiest shopping weekend of the year.
"We're really seeing the return of the shopper," Ted Vaughan, partner in BDO's retail and consumer product practice, tells Marketing
Daily. "Certainly, there's not going to be an immediate return to pre-recession shopping levels. But we are seeing these slight improvements year over year." Last year, CMOs in the survey forecast of
just 1.8% for both of these key shopping events.
Based on a survey and interviews with CMOs at the nation's 100 largest retailers, Vaughan says the results also revealed more confidence in
retailers, with 64% expecting to see more discounts and promotions, a steep decline from the 96% who made that prediction in the same survey last year. And 36% don't expect to see any up tick in
those offerings.