Black Friday is Coming—and the Exchange is Ready For It

For shoppers, Black Friday is a day of deals that falls the Friday after Thanksgiving—this year, on Nov. 29. For the Exchange, it’s more than just one day. It’s the days that follow—not just Cyber Monday, but the entire holiday season—and the many weeks of planning that come before it.

“It’s no longer one day of sales,” said Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Marla Randolph. “It’s a season of sales and endless ways to save. It’s a celebration of savings for days!”

Long before that celebration starts, Exchange directorates to ensure that everything runs as smoothly as it can, for shoppers and for the Exchange.

“Preparation happens months in advance,” said Executive Vice President and Chief Merchandising Officer Eric Sidman. “And it’s not just for Black Friday. Our Black Friday events that align with the retail industry start on Veterans Day. And then you carry through Thanksgiving, with multiple days of products and promos, into Cyber Week. And then there are the last-minute shopping events for all of December. There’s a lot of preparation, given that there’s a nice chunk of sales that happen in this time frame.”

Sidman said the preparation involves studying what was successful the previous year, what’s on trend for the current year, what price points are resonating for customers and what the hottest products are.

“You’re going to be going through a variety of different analyses and making decisions based on when you have to work with the supplier,” Sidman said. “Product lead times dictate how and when you have to procure products.”

For the Exchange, electronics are big sellers at this time of year. Sidman said that the most popular include large-screen TVs and gaming consoles. Merchandising works closely with Logistics to ensure that when Black Friday and the holiday shopping season come, heavily promoted products are available and on all store shelves.

Black Friday 2023 at the Camp Walker Exchange in South Korea. Electronics are also expected to be big sellers this year.

“Communication is key,” said Vice President of Transportation Operations Jason Rakestraw. “It helps ensure that product flows from the distribution centers regularly without issues. Communication gives us an extra eye on product that is identified as promos on sales fliers gets to the facilities.”

But there’s more than just getting product to store shelves, Rakestraw pointed out—there’s also ShopMyExchange.com.

“While we’re preparing to get product to the stores, our distribution centers, especially in CONUS, are preparing for Cyber Monday sales from online, making sure that the orders come in and are shipped in a reasonable fashion,” he said. “There’s a lot planning, working with sales forecasts, determining what we need to do to staff to get to that end point.”

Communication is also key for the Store Operations team as it prepares stores for the big day.

“We put out as much information for the stores as we can to ensure they are as prepared as they possibly can be,” said Vice President of Store Operations Jetdean Martin. “We give them all the guidance that they need or that we feel may be helpful to them.”

Martin added that the team also works closely with Information Technology as well as the Merchandising team and others to make sure Store Ops has good information on promotions and things run smoothly.

“We want to make sure that the prices are right and that the customers have a good experience, without holding up anybody in line,” she said. “Time is precious, so we want to make sure that the experience is the best experience is possible.”

At the store level, PXs and BXs make sure early that promoted merchandise is easy to find and that sales associates are up to speed on the products.

“We plan for Black Friday along with Veterans Day,” said Nellis AFB Exchange Store Manager Tiffany German. “We make sure that promoted merchandise is separated out so that it’s easy to find in the stockroom. We ensure that schedules are done correctly so we have proper coverage.”

There are subtle touches that help shoppers even if they might notice them, German added, such as having a streamlined layout that helps customers know which way to go to find products and get assistance from the store team.

One change this year is the new MILITARY STAR card that was introduced in September.

“The MILITARY STAR team has done a fabulous job sending out people to explain to store associates what the advantages of the card are,” Martin said. “For our operators, the new card is a seamless transaction. In the past, they used to have to know various plan numbers and what promotion goes with what. With the new card, it’s just swipe and go. It’s a game changer because it eliminates a lot of questions and concerns for the customer and the associate.”

The holiday season is also an opportunity for store associates to tell promote the new card.

“Our staff and customers are excited about the new card and what they can do with it,” said Nellis General Manager Asia Gilchriest. “We’ll have our MILITARY STAR ambassador, who will assist with opening new cards. “We’ll have other people on our team who are ready to open accounts with them and tell them about the benefits.”

Exchange stores, malls and restaurants will open at 8 a.m. local time Nov. 29 for Black Friday. Every year, the day—and the holiday shopping season—are a little different from previous years. Even with all the preparation, there are still external factors that could affect shopper behavior.

“I think this year is a little tougher than other years,” Sidman said. “There’s some uncertainty in how much discretionary spending is actually out there. There’s a lot of optimism, but there’s a lot of factors we can’t control.

“But we’re ready to serve the best customers in the world,” he added. “It’s going to be interesting to see how it plays out.”