With the Black Friday sales weekend just around the corner, one Aussie business is going beyond mere discounts, offering a $100,000 cash prize and goody-bag giveaways as well as cut-price goods.
Fitness brand Muscle Nation will enter any customer who spends more than $100 into the draw for the cash prize.
The first 10,000 people to spend $250 or more will receive a free bag of extra goodies, valued at $200.
All in, that amounts to more than $2 million worth of prizes.
The founders are also releasing some 200 new products, which will also be sold with the site-wide 40% discount applied.
Muscle Nation was founded in 2016 by Nathanial Anthony and Chris Anastasi, who started out selling activewear out of Anastasiโs spare room.
Now the business also offers supplements and food products, which are on sale in Coles supermarkets.
The brandโs Black Friday bonanza follows something of a growth period. It turned over $51 million in revenue for the 2020/21 financial year, an 89% increase on the previous 12 months.
Last year, it processed $6 million in sales on the first day of Black Friday weekend alone, Anthony tells SmartCompany.
And while heโs loath to make predictions, heโs hoping to hit $10 million this time around.
That means thousands of additional orders, he adds. The team has hired between 60 and 70 staff to help cope with the influx.
โIt’s time consuming a lot of effort and money,โ he says.
โBut for us, it’s a no-brainer.โ
Black Friday rewards for loyal customers
The foundersโ decision to go above and beyond on its Black Friday offering comes down to itโs vast, vocal and loyal online community, which Anthony calls โthe foundation of our brandโ.
He credits this community with Muscle Nationโs success so far, and it informs every single decision the founders make.
Thatโs why the sale is not about shifting old stock, he explains. Itโs an opportunity to give back to that community and continue to build trust.
Customers are going to be shopping over Black Friday weekend either way, Anthony explains.
Adding a giveaway into the mix is just another way to surprise and delight them, while differentiating from other brands and creating a buzz.
โIt just makes sense for us to run it all together as one big hype campaign and get people really excited,โ Anthony says.
Black Friday is evolving in Australia
When Muscle Nation launched in 2016, it was one of relatively few Aussie brands offering Black Friday deals. The so-called shopping holiday was very much a US event, Anthony says.
โNow itโs like a worldwide phenomenon.โ
Even over the past couple of years weโve seen huge Aussie stores like Myer and David Jones embracing the sales weekend.
Aussies are expected to spend about $3.8 billion between Black Friday and Cyber Monday this year. That could be the biggest sales season ever seen in Australia.
In some ways, that piles on the pressure, Anthony explains. Many of Muscle Nations competitors are now in the game.
On the other hand, however, the buzz creates awareness, and gets consumers actively looking for deals.
โAs long as we keep doing the right thing by our customers and keep building on our community, [the competition] doesn’t really affect us.โ
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