Local retailers see big gains in store and online
Braving Black Friday crowds used to be the only way to get the best discounts.
Cyber Monday, however, offers a calmer alternative to the biggest shopping day of the year by giving you the ability to save on shopping right from the comfort of your own home.
But which day has the better deals?
The answer is both, at least for one Bossier City business.
Ellis Home & Garden is taking a non-traditional approach to holiday shopping by offering in-store and online deals that are too good to miss.
Derek Ellis, Regional Manager of Ellis Home & Garden, said Black Friday has been the company’s largest shopping day of the year for quite some time, offering the best prices of the year with hopes of driving customers in during the early morning hours.
“We aim to provide a unique experience by doing things you won’t find at the large chain stores,” Ellis said.
The Bossier store averages 2,000 visitors alone, and another 4,000 at their other stores. An average day is approximately 1,000 visitors company wide, so Black Friday means an increase of about 600 percent.
“This is our largest day for sales, but we also have some very large days during the Spring that cause this number to be lower than you might expect,” explains Ellis.
To gain customer interest, Ellis Home & Garden offers things like door busters, giveaways and scratch off tickets with various amounts of purchase totals. Last year, they gave away a free Christmas tree to the first 10 shoppers at their Bossier City store.
In store deals this year include price cuts to their high end line of wind chimes, candles, ornaments, ribbons and Christmas trees.
Ellis said store owners travel overseas just to find the right product for each season, typically trying to find the most unique and upcoming trends which is why our product mix is so unique. Ellis Home & Garden prides their stores on not only having a unique product selection, but also showing its customers how to best use this product with intricate displays throughout the entire store.
Ellis will also be offering more than great deals. They will be serving breakfast and lunch – free of charge – to shoppers on Black Friday.
Ellis said they have also purchased coffee from the Simple Church’s Do Good Store. Proceeds from their coffee sales will fund African families in need.
“We bought enough coffee to fund a family for 6 months,” Ellis said. “If we can pair up with someone to do something good, we can make a bigger impact in an awesome way.”
Local small business owners are looking forward to welcoming shoppers on Black Friday, but Ellis won’t be stretching deals into Thanksgiving.
“It’s a fun weekend for the customers and employees. We value our family time and want employees to spend time at home with their families too,” Ellis said.
The Ellis Home & Garden website will typically see two and a half to three times more traffic on Cyber Monday. Ellis said the company will be offering exclusive online deals that won’t be found in any of their stores.
By shopping at local retailers – whether in store or online – money is kept local and in the community.
Ellis Home & Garden is a family owned and operated company with five retail locations.
For more information, visit their website at www.ellishomeandgarden.com.
Tale of the Tape for Ellis Home and Garden
Black Friday
1. Est. sales:
Year’s argest sales volume day
2. Est. # OF vistors:
6,000 company wide
3. BIG DEAL/GIVEAWAY:
10 Free Christmas Trees to 1st 10 customers
4. Average Discount:
Between 60%-75% off
5. Hottest Item:
Artificial Christmas Trees at 60% off
6. WHEN SALES BEGIN:
6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday
7. % OF YEARLY SALES:
2%
Cyber Monday
1. EST. SALES:
Year’s largest sales volume day
2. EST. # OF VISITORS:
2,100 (300% increase)
3. BIG DEAL/GIVEAWAY
Christmas Ribbon/Burlap 75% off
4. AVERAGE DISCOUNT:
More 75% off categories
5. HOTTEST ITEM:
Christmas Ribbon at 75% off
6. WHEN SALES BEGIN:
12 a.m. Monday
7. % OF YEARLY SALES
1%
