advertisement

How Periscope, other social media apps can help you shop

Social media to use in the suburbs this Black Friday

Something new will be in the mix for those who want to use social media as part of their shopping strategy while they prowl the suburbs on Black Friday.

That new tool is a smartphone app called Periscope, which allows users to broadcast live to followers or a general audience. Launched in the spring, Periscope is owned by short-messaging service Twitter.

An executive at a leading social media marketing firm said he expects consumers and retailers to make good use of Periscope on the app's Black Friday debut.

“Periscope will be an entertaining and useful addition to shoppers' Black Friday experience this year,” said Jim Rudden, chief marketing officer of Austin, Texas-based Spredfast.

“As the big day approaches, I think we'll see retailers live streaming behind-the-scenes footage of what to expect. There's an opportunity to make the season more human by live streaming the faces behind the retailers, featuring store employees as they prepare for the big day. Periscope can add a layer of exclusivity for loyal customers by creating broadcasts and choosing a select list of viewers to watch a sneak-peek stream from their stores.”

Rudden said shoppers can take advantage of the app in trying to plot their course for the day. For example, if a user broadcasting live shows that a particular retailer is sold out of televisions or the line at one store is around the block, viewers can take note and adjust accordingly.

However, don't look for Westfield Hawthorn in Vernon Hills to be on Pericope on Black Friday. Jeff Rutzen, assistant general manager of Westfield Hawthorn, said it's believed customers will be more inclined to check Facebook and Instagram for updates.

Consumers also shouldn't be surprised of a mall doesn't let them use Periscope.

“While Westfield cannot comment on the plans of specific retailers, I can say that because of different corporate policies regarding recording, certain stores and malls may not allow use of the app in their properties, especially on such a high-traffic day,” Rutzen said.

Meanwhile, Twitter and Facebook will return to the Black Friday social media mix. Similar to other malls, shoppers can follow Gurnee Mills on Twitter and Facebook for a bigger-picture view of what's happening there, general manager Randy Ebertowski said.

“What we do is we promote what the retailers have that is hot and what's trendy, new and exciting,” Ebertowski said. “So, that's what we're going to be pushing. We work directly with the retailers to put out to the customers what's the latest and greatest going on in the center.”

Research from Spredfast — which has 800 clients, including all five major broadcast networks — shows there was much Thanksgiving-week excitement ahead of Black Friday in 2014, as measured by social media activity. Black Friday had about 7.4 million tweets last year, which was five times more than the 1.4 million for Cyber Monday.

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.