Behind the scenes

Black Friday or a look into the crystal ball

26.11.2019

Translation: machine translated

Pictures: Alessandro Aellig

Black Friday, Cyber Monday and then the Christmas shopping season: eventful weeks await us. Eight experts explain how they have been preparing for this peak period for months.

Winter is just around the corner: it's dark shortly after four o'clock and a few crazy people are already playing the first Christmas songs. For my colleagues Irene, Sladjana, Theresa, Luca, Thomas, Yann, Roman and Mathias, it's the busiest time of the year. The eight of them are at the forefront of a whole group of people whose professional lives revolve around a secret list these days: all the products you want (or don't want) under the Christmas tree.

Preparations for the Christmas sales and the two bargain days Black Friday and Cyber Monday have been underway since the summer (you know: the time when we were still running around in swimming trunks and the sun never seemed to set). In heated offices, various digitecos or Galaxians have been coming together and preparing from that point onwards. Tension, anticipation and uncertainty began to mix. Above all, the big question: How do we make you out there and us in here happy at the same time? It's a waltz into the unknown - or rather: a look into the crystal ball.

Thomas is Marketing Manager in the Audio division. He is responsible for pricing the headphones, speakers and amplifiers in our range. Together with his colleagues in Purchasing, he has tapped into all his sources at the manufacturers in recent months. It's a dance that recurs every year and is primarily about two things: we want to offer you the goods you want as cheaply as possible without losing a lot of money. And we want to buy just the right amount.

The different categories have different price elasticities: For certain products, the price becomes attractive even with a relatively small reduction, for others rather less so. If you want to buy a new washing machine, you will probably be happy with a 10% reduction. For a mobile phone case, the persuasive powers probably need to be greater. The logistical processes don't all follow the same timelines either. Theresa, for example, is working on the sports category and defined and ordered the majority of her Black Friday products months ago together with her buyers. It was already clear back then (sorry, sauna lovers) that it would be winter sports that would dominate and that swimming trunks would have a difficult time.

Looking the beast in the eye

The crystal ball contains the answers that can make or break a lot of money: Do all our customers already know what they want? Or are there also occasional buyers? Do small discounts on expensive - but popular - products make the difference? Or do we also want to shine a spotlight on all the other things we sell? These and similar questions come together in Brand Management, especially for Sladjana and Irene.

Popularity, prices, novelties, surprise potential: Sladjana and Irene want to find the perfect mix for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. They want to end up with 240 products at Galaxus and 120 at digitec. But the whole thing will only be finalised a few days beforehand. And even then, there may still be last-minute changes.

Planning also began weeks ago at our warehouse in Wohlen: Luca and his team have also put together a list; only it consists of names rather than products. On Black Friday, 450 employees will be working in our logistics department - half more than on a normal day. Together with our HR, Logistics has recruited 150 additional employees for this. For two to three months, the team has therefore set up as good as two additional SMEs.

When tens of thousands of people want to shop at the same time at 00:00 on Black Friday, the shop has to function smoothly. Despite all the preparation, there is still some residual nervousness. Or as René says: "How much higher is the risk of a fatal accident for a base jumper than for me? Many times higher if you're unprepared, but if you're well prepared, the risk can be reduced enormously, even if not completely."

Last but not least, customer service will of course also have a lot to do. But for Yann and his colleagues, the action is more likely to take place on Cyber Monday. That's when they will be dealing with the late effects of Black Friday as well as enquiries about the new suppliers.

There will then be more or less no respite for the whole of December: but the team has been preparing for this all year.
So that leaves the elephant in the room; the great unknown: You. Rather the bargain hunter or the strategic one? A targeted shopping machine or open to inspiration? We have to admit: we don't really know. But maybe that's a good thing. Long live the crystal ball!

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Patrick McEvily

Communications Manager

patrick.mcevily@digitecgalaxus.ch

Be it at our warehouse in Wohlen, in our shops or among the accountants: In this jungle that is Digitec Galaxus, I swing from vine to vine, combing through the undergrowth on the lookout for juicy stories.

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