The pandemic isn’t over yet, either health-wise or economy-wise. Supply-chain issues continue to plague many businesses – including rent-to-own – as we speed toward the holiday season. So APRO did a rental dealer “pulse check,” and asked: How will your business make the most of Black Friday this year?
“We put several items on special during the whole week of Thanksgiving,” answered Joe Fischer, President of Jaguar Holdings LLC, dba Eagle Rental Purchase. “This year, we’re including a 55” TV, a PS5 headset, a Samsung MX-T50 speaker tower, and a Dyson sweeper. We also offer six months same-as-cash on furniture, high-end laundry appliances, and TVs 65” or bigger.”
Additionally, among Eagle’s 15 Ohio- and Pennsylvania-based stores, each location can choose five items to offer at $20 off the monthly rate, and all stores receive $300 worth of gift cards to give to early-bird customers on Black Friday itself.
Sarah Marsh, Office/Purchasing Manager at Oregon- and Idaho-based Central Rent 2 Own, said her company is coordinating a multi-prong approach to Black Friday and the upcoming holidays – creating a big campaign around a little figure.
“We sent an 18-page Wish Book catalog, the theme of which is ‘Gnome for the Holidays,’” Marsh explained. “So the Wish Book features cute little gnomes throughout, as does our website. We also printed gnome window clings to put up inside and outside of our stores – we even put them on our trucks!”
Central hosts its own Pre-Black Friday event the Friday before Thanksgiving week, typically snagging some customers who might have gone to a big-box retailer for their deals – especially electronics.
“Our Wish Book included a full-page ad about our Pre-Black Friday event,” noted Marsh. “And our four stores call all of their customers to personally invite them to the event, offering them ‘insider info’ and the opportunity to place pre-orders.”
In Utah, Dave & Misti Brunelle, Owners of Action Rent-To-Own, have come up with a new way to deal with continuing supply-chain troubles as they head into the holidays.
“We’re ordering a broader selection of new gift ideas,” Dave offered, “with the hopes that if we don’t have exactly what a customer is searching for, we can provide them with an attractive alternative.”
Dan Singh, CEO of Dial Rent To Own, said his goal for Black Friday hits at the heart of what the holidays are all about – for the RTO industry, anyway: Great. Deals.
“We want to get folks who normally don’t enter our stores to come on in,” affirmed Singh. “We advertise below-retail cash pricing, so people can see we offer affordable prices. This year, we’ve got dramatically discounted pricing on an Arcade1Up Ms. Pacman 8-in-1 Party-Cade and an SXS Chameleon 2-Headphone/Speaker Package.”
Dial’s Black Friday specials are available at its 10 stores in Puerto Rico, Guam, Saipan, and the U.S. Virgin Islands on a first-come, first-served basis … so customers will need to be quick to secure their savings before the deal gets gobbled up!
