Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals Shared en Familia
Latinos have embraced the new mobile technology in higher numbers than other groups. However, there is something missing when it comes to Black Friday or Cyber Monday. The overall in-store mobile experience is a bit different.
“I love to get my mother’s feedback when I am shopping for clothes so I always bring her along. I look up the prices on the stores’ apps and then we go shopping together,” explains Lucia Ortiz, who is visiting her family from college. We met Lucia as she was entering a retail store in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia, smart phone in hand.
Once in the store, VOXXI found eighteen year old Sara Fernandez taking pictures of a dress hanging from a rack.
“I am sending the pictures to my sister just to get her opinion. I like the price but I am not sure about getting this dress for New Year’s,” says Fernandez. She admits that she especially misses her sister during the holiday shopping experience.
Sensis, a cross cultural advertising agency corroborates Ortiz’s and Fernandez’s comments through a study which was released in three phases this year. Latinos love to make of shopping a social experience and this poses a challenge for retailers, especially when it comes to Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
“It’s about making a device that can be companion friendly for their everyday shopping experience and their big purchase experience. So, if you are a typical Latino mom going to Target you do not have to send your kids across the store to get the deal from your shopping list app because that would not be the optimal use. They should be multi device and multi user experiences,” explains Jose Villa, Sensis’ president.
Villa explains that their 2012 study concluded that Latinos do not rely on product reviews. They rely on their family’s opinion and on getting the best deal in town. In store mobile experiences tend to be single centric or designed for individuals.
“For Anglos, convenience is more important. For Latinos, it does not matter if you have to drive across town to get the best deal because you do not want to feel cheated and you want to involve the whole family,” adds Villa.
Here is a quick look at one graphic which shows what Latinos are searching for on their smartphones while in the stores:
Source: Sensis/Whitehorse
Non- acculturated Latinos who rely on Spanish apps want to be able to trust them.
“They tend to feel like the Spanish apps are biased but a way to mitigate that is by creating a transparent interface that can switch from English to Spanish,” shares Villa.
We ask the expert: what are the best apps for this Black Friday and Cyber Monday?
Villa quickly answers: non store apps
“I am a fan of simple, unfiltered information. I do not download retailer apps. I would rather use the Google shopper app which is not affiliated with anybody. I believe that Latinos are brand loyal but not retailer loyal. If apps could cover that in broader sense that would be a game changer,” he adds.
VOXXI would not leave you without some suggestions for retailer and deal sites/apps for this Black Friday and CyberMonday. So here are ten “Everything PR” recommended sites:
1. Amazon.com (No sales tax, and sometimes free shipping)
2. shop.org (info on deals)
3. cybermonday.com (more deals)
4. bestbuy.com
5. target.com
6. walmart.com
7. staples.com
8. dell.com
9. panasonic.com
10. creativelabs
Source: Everything PR
And last but not least my personal suggestion:
http://blackfriday.com/
Follow this link to get the details of the Sensis study:
http://www.hispanicmobilereport.com/
This article was first published in Voxxi.
[Photo by JenCarole]