Australia’s burgeoning online sales initiative Click Frenzy is set for its most unique year to date.
After two months of lockdown, Australia is currently returning to some normality, with many restaurants and retailers reopening over the weekend.
But is the current optimism enough for customers to look past the country’s current economic woes.
“Sentiment remains steadily in the Acceptance phase with the majority of Australians starting to experience life with less restrictions including the retail sector,” Criteo commercial director Colin Barnard told B&Tˆ.
“We can expect the positive sentiment from consumers’ favourite shopping centres and stores starting to open to have a ripple effect on the peak sales event.”
Click Frenzy brings together budget items from a host of different retailers in one central marketplace. Inspired by the likes of Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the US, Click Frenzy has been taking place in Australia since 2012.
The theme for this year’s sale is ‘Let’s Regrow’, as the local retail sector looks to bounce back from recent hardships.
But Barnard warned retailers of the potential challenges that come with marketing a sales event during a time of economic uncertainty.
“Despite restrictions starting to ease, brands must have a messaging strategy that talks to their customers’ pain points and pivots messaging toward resonating with people’s values or else they’ll be seen as irrelevant, insensitive or opportunistic. The brands that get this, the ones that make purpose their North Star, walk the walk and create authentic conversations are more likely to succeed,” he said.
“With the right messaging and branding, brands can build long-lasting relationships with customers. Ad creative focusing on resilience and unity together with fulfilling consumer needs now will resonate. This is best done with a combination of carefully selected creative, great products for this moment and AI-drive personalised ads that address real consumer interest.”
Predictions
Click Frenzy has previously boosted sales as much as 45 per cent.
And despite the current state of uncertainty, Barnard predicted this year’s sales to eclipse previous records.
“People have had no choice to resort to ecommerce with sales in everything from webcams, to sleepwear, sporting goods and jigsaw puzzles skyrocketing according to our data,” he said.
“Sales can increase by more than 45 he said during Click Frenzy, so we can expect this to ramp up even further this year in the same way that Aussies are more engaged online than ever before.”
Barnard tipped sporting goods, fashion and health and beauty to be the categories most in demand.
