My thoughts on Nielsen's "Top 10 Retailer Mistakes on Black Friday"

Nielsen published an article earlier this week on "Top 10 Retailer Mistakes on Black Friday".
According to Nielsen, the mistakes include:

• Sticking to traditional categories
  
• Not having a retailing objective
  
• Not measuring your objectives
  
• Leaving a bad first impression with new shoppers
  
• Missing loyalty opportunities
  
• Sticking to Friday morning
  
• Not having door-buster merchandise in stock
  
• No sense of urgency
  
• Shallow discounts on door-busters
  
• Not scouting the competition

While I agree with most of these points, I do have some disagreements:

1. It may be a bad idea for retailers to try out new categories. I think it is OK for an electronics retailer to offer free soda and chips during Black Friday, but selling these items is a very different proposition.
2. Most retailers do have sales objectives (by category) for Black Friday. I think what they also need to have are gross margin objectives. Given the hectic pace of Black Friday, it is often not possible to have targets for 'new customer footfalls'.
3. Retailers need to be careful about passing discounts to the most loyal customers. Many of them are willing to shop with the retailer without the discount. On the other hand, many Black Friday shoppers are active discount seekers.

Here's wishing all of you a happy Thanksgiving