Click, click, click: Oz shopping set to go cyber as Click Frenzy kicks off tomorrow @ 7pm
Big high street names Myer, Westfield, Dick Smith, Target, Bing Lee, Dell, Microsoft, and Ted’s Cameras Vodafone, Priceline, Dan Murphy’s, as well as pure online players OO.com.au, Kogan, The Iconic, Booktopia, DealsDirect are all taking part in Click Frenzy, Australia answer to US Cyber Monday discount day for online shoppers.
200 retailers and e-tailers partaking in the 24 hour sales blitz kicking off tomorrow Tuesday November 20 at 7pm promising “up to” 90% off RRP’s. Westfield are also managing deals on behalf of several retailers, including Alannah Hill, Gorman, Jack London, Dangerfield, Cellarmasters, Westfield gift Cards and iSubscribe.
This is the first year of Click Frenzy, although the organisers say it will now become an annual event similar to Cyber Monday even in the US which began in 2006, and predict traffic volumes of up to one million bargain hungry Aussie consumers.
So how does it work?
Consumers need to register at Click Frenzy to avail of the one off 24 hour e-deals and can do so even just minutes before the Frenzy begins at 7pm, says Click Frenzy PR and Marketing Manager, Jessica Benton.
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Once the bell tolls 7pm registered consumers will be brought to deals page listing all the various offers from all 200 retailers , and can then click through to retailers direct website to make a purchase.
However, not all retailers goods will be on sale and will be select products only, and many sellers have not revealed the deals on offer.
“One retailer may have just 5-10 sale items while another may have up to 100,” says Benton.
“We’re advising retailers to put stock warning on products if there is limited supply of a particular item,” so consumers won’t miss out.
Telstra BigPond Music, for instance, will offer a 50% off all album in its download catalogue while BigPond Shopping customers will receive 50% of selected bed linen, a spokesperson confirmed yesterday.
So with the huge volumes of traffic, can we expect retail sites to crash and burn?
“We’re gearing up for huge, huge volumes of traffic,” says Benton and have “warned retailers to make sure websites infrastructure can cope with the high traffic volumes.”
High traffic is expected throughout the night but Click Frenzy organisers Powerbuys expects peak traffic at 7pm kick off.
“It will be an online stampede through the virtual doors,” says Grant Arnott, cofounderof Click Frenzy, who predicts it will be “the biggest digital sales event yet,” or to put it another way, “Boxing Day-style, in the virtual world.”
Google head of retail Ross McDonald told Smarthouse he is “excited” about the e-commerce event, which could give online retail industry a serious pre Christmas boost.
Click Frenzy has just hit the 200 retailer milestone, up from 180 who were involved by late last week and the response from retailers has “definitely exceeded expectations,” says Benton.
But although major players like Myer and Dick Smith are involved, there are some notable absentees in the electronics space including JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman.
“We did make contact with them but they said they wanted to see how the inaugural event went before getting involved.”
“However, we wouldn’t be surprised if they got involved next year,” said Click Frenzy PR and Marketing Manager.
And like the mass popularity of Cyber Monday in the US which attracts millions of consumers, Click Frenzy is hoping Australia will follow suit, and will “definitely” going to be an annual event and “keep growing each year.”
Popular categories are expected to be electrical and appliances as “people are always looking for deals on these items” as well as fashion and accessories, health and beauty and kids stuff, Benton predicts.
“We want Click Frenzy to become the annual festival of online shopping,” says organiser Grant Arnott.
Register for Click Frenzy here.
