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SHOULD I RUN A BLACK FRIDAY SALE? READ THIS FIRST

“I'm running a Black Friday promotion where we'll discount all of our apparel and I’ll offer it out to members during that weekend only. Do you have any advice on discounting the rest of our inventory?”. Why yes, yes I do: Don’t do it. 

Over the past few days, it became clear that we needed to address and focus on something that has the potential to sabotage up your retail plan: "Black Friday Sales”

Do not attach the word “sale” or “discount” or any synonym for a sale to your retail items. It could be supplements, jump ropes, shirts- whatever. The issue is telling people “this is on sale and if you wait long enough for me to discount it, you’ll get it!”. This is the slow death of any retail part of a business. 

A Black Friday Sale feels like a last ditch, Hail Mary, moon shot strategy to squeak out the last few sales for the year. It is a short term strategy for a long term process. Offering retail items in your gym is a long game. It is about consistency and timing (which is why you need a plan). Resist the urge to sell an extra 5-10 items at a discounted rate. 

To illustrate this point, check out this article on J.Crew. You only need to read the first 200 words to understand what I mean:

"A loyal J. Crew customer, Ms. Sherman had, nonetheless, exited the store empty-handed after picking up — and quickly putting down — a $70 shirt. “It was cute,” she said, “but it will go on sale soon enough.”

We want to avoid this mentality for our retail items. Once your members pay a discounted price, they will expect to pay it forever and wait out buying apparel until it is on sale. This will kill your preorders and any momentum you have with your retail items for the rest of the year. 

So in summary:

If you are itching to offer a sale for Black Friday, please consider the long term ramifications of discounting your apparel. Let Amazon dominate Black Friday and block out the outside noise. There is no pressure or expectation to discount your items.