Black Friday Shoppers – The Original Data Scientists

Featured blog by Scott Jennings, Director of Market Development, Retail & Services at QlikTech

When it comes to holiday shopping everyone is looking for a good deal. However, it takes a lot more than luck to get big savings. The most successful shoppers have it down to a science.

In the US bargain shopping has become a cultural phenomenon. Shows like “Extreme Couponing” have made coupon cutting a form of entertainment, while thousands of blogs and websites focused on bargain hunting have further fed into the money-saving frenzy. The common theme communicated by all of these is the importance of doing research and consulting sales data before you hit the stores. In a way, bargain shopping is actually one of the most relatable, real-life examples of how data can positively influence decision making.

As IT professionals we are all well aware of the power of data driven decisions in the enterprise. Better information yields more informed decisions and ultimately more successful outcomes. But there are also a lot of opportunities to apply data in our personal lives to drive better results. Bargain shoppers certainly understand this, which is why they spend so much time and effort searching and organizing data on sales, coupons and upcoming deals.

At QlikTech we decided to make the whole data-driven shopping concept a bit easier for all of the tech savvy consumers. That’s why we’ve once again launched our Black Friday Shopping Guide App, which helps shoppers sort through all this year’s holiday deals being offered by top retailers on November 28^th – colloquially known as “Black Friday.” The application tracks deals on more than 23,635 products and includes data from 84 national retailers. It allows users to explore the data by product, store, price range or product category. It even includes information on when the store’s open.

Using the app shoppers can drill up or down into the information to find answers to questions like:

–       Where can I find the best deal on a television?

–       What deals are available for Android products and where can I find those products?

–       What blu-ray player brands/models can I buy for less than $50?

–       What stores have the most deals on appliances?

We invite Black Friday shoppers to recycle the stacks of store circulars they’ve been collecting and pick up their mobile phones, tablets or laptops and easily begin planning their Black Friday strategy. By having all of the data easily accessible, and searchable, via a Black Friday Applications, it’s much easier for shoppers to compare and contrast deals to find the best prices for the items on their shopping lists. Plus, it leaves more room on the table for the Thanksgiving meal!