BACKExperts: Panini America’s 2014 Black Friday Promotion Packs $1.5 Million Impact
Crediting additional manufacturer lead time and greater strategic planning from participating hobby shops, collectibles industry experts on Friday estimated the financial impact of Panini America’s 2014 Black Friday promotion to be $1.5 million, an 11 percent increase over 2013.
“Key enhancements from Panini America – especially a pre-Thanksgiving release date for Black Friday packs and longer lead times throughout – definitely extended the reach of the trading card industry’s best promotion,” said Kevin Isaacson, Industry Summit organizer and Beckett Media Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “Hobby stores are doing a much better job leveraging the opportunity presented by Panini Black Friday, resulting in increased year-over-year sales and many first-time customer visits to hobby stores.”
The opportunity to launch the promotion before Black Friday allowed participating Panini Roundtable Stores to benefit from a few extra days of promotion, creating increased in-store traffic and sales.
Mike Fruitman of Mike’s Stadium Sports Cards in Aurora, Colo., took full advantage of the opportunity.
“2014 Panini Black Friday was such a success at my store and so many others,” Fruitman said. “We kicked things off for an hour starting Wednesday at midnight and had some good sales. More importantly, we were able to get some video of a collector pulling a Jabari Parker autograph which, when posted, inspired considerable sales when we re-opened the next morning at 10.
“Since the first time Panini America offered Black Friday, and then later on Father’s Day, my shop has been a huge supporter of these programs. Based on hitting almost $10,000 in sales on Wednesday, the streak of successful promotions remains intact. Because of Black Friday, we found 10 new collectors who had never been to our store before and we continue to share packs with collectors who are enjoying participating Panini releases.”
Longtime store owner Charlie DiPietro has conducted successful Panini Black Friday promotions in San Antonio’s Sports Cards Plus during each of the last four years. But he rates this most recent edition as his most effective yet.
In fact, because of Black Friday, DiPietro had one customer from Mexico City make special travel arrangements on a business trip to the states so that he could stop by Sports Cards Plus to participate in the promotion.
“Panini America’s promotions are the best in the hobby and this year’s Panini Black Friday Promotion was the best ever,” DiPietro said. We gave away from one to 15 Panini Black Friday Packs with the purchase of any Panini America product and the collectors responded. We had customers drive from as far as 140 miles away asking for Black Friday packs.
“We had 1,100 Panini Black Friday Packs this year and today, people continue to visit our store asking for them. At Sports Cards Plus, the Panini’s Black Friday Promotion continues.”
Collectors can access the complete 2014 Black Friday checklist in the links below.
2014 Black Friday checklist in Excel format: 2014 Black Friday Checklist
2014 Black Friday checklist in PDF: 2014 Black Friday Checklist
