Roots Co-founder Explains Why Retailers Can't Ignore Black Friday

There's a reason Canadian retailers, large and small, now circle Black Friday and Cyber Monday on their calendars. Shoppers want to kick start their holiday spending earlier, and they're hunting for discounts. 

But should your business promote in-store and online offers?  

We asked Michael Budman, co-founder of Roots Canada, why they run Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions. We also asked him what tactics Roots Canada uses to attract shoppers. His answers will show you what's possible and highlight the importance of adapting to changing retails trends. In the end, it’s all about getting people to your store, where they’re more likely to make a purchase.

Q: When did Roots Canada begin promoting Black Friday or Cyber Monday?

A: Roots has participated in [Cyber Monday] every year since 2006 because we wanted to be competitive for our U.S.-directed online business and to [Canadian] consumers who’ve been shopping international online merchants. For many years, we’ve been seeing double-digit increases year-over-year.

In the last three years, we’ve started to extend the promotions at our stores in Canada in addition to the U.S. Consumers in Canada are very impacted by American media coverage of Black Friday events in the U.S. and wanted similar offers.

Q: What tactics does Roots Canada use to entice customers to shop with you on Black Friday or Cyber Monday?

A: We time the distribution of our printed holiday gift guide to precede Black Friday. It’s distributed via newspapers, direct mail and in our stores. Digitally we use both organic and paid social media, email, digital display ads, pay per click search advertising, retargeting and push notifications in our app. In-store posters and other signage also complement the promo in addition to updates to roots.com.

Q: What growth has Roots Canada seen on these days (2013 to 2014)?

A: Last year, both online and in our retail stores, Roots experienced significant double-digit growth and we're confident that this year will be as successful if not even more.