Black Friday isn’t just about shopping—it’s a high-stakes, real-time stress test for retail operations. What sets in-store shopping apart from e-commerce? It’s the personal connection: warm smiles, knowledgeable guidance, and the personalized human touch. However, empowering the front-line workforce to perform at their peak under the year’s highest pressures remains a challenge for retailers.
For customers, Black Friday offers excitement, urgency, and the thrill of the deal. For retailers, it represents months of meticulous preparation culminating in a high-stakes moment. This paper examines how Meerby, an in-store conversion engine and management companion,
transformed operations in 15 stores during the 2024 Black Friday week. By comparing these Meerby-enabled stores to their non-enabled counterparts within the same Canadian retailer, ,we’ll uncover how technology and human ingenuity can combine to deliver a superior retail
experience that combats customer indifference.
Meerby, created by Canadian siblings Allan and Elizabeth Malcomson, is grounded in decades of hands-on retail expertise. By intelligently routing requests and optimizing staff allocation, Meerby ensures that every customer need is met promptly and effectively. This tool doesn’t just solve logistical challenges—it redefines what’s possible for retail operations, turning workforce empowerment into a strategic advantage.
There are 507 stores included in the sample data, ranked by sales performance as determined by their standing prior to Black Friday week 2024. During Black Friday week, Meerby-enabled stores demonstrated a significant competitive edge, achieving an average national rank increase of +6 positions, outperforming the national benchmark during one of the most demanding weeks in retail.
In contrast, non-Meerby stores experienced an average decline of -2.8 positions in rank. Notably, 11 out of the 14 Meerby-enabled stores showed positive rank movement, with the highest-performing store achieving an impressive +51 position increase. However, three Meerby-enabled stores underperformed, all located in Edmonton.
While most locations showed strong performance gains, three Meerby-enabled stores in Edmonton faced unique regional challenges. These stores operate in a market experiencing external pressures including high retail saturation and staffing constraints. Yet despite these localized headwinds, the overall performance data remained compelling:
The Edmonton experience provides valuable insights into how market conditions can impact technology adoption. More importantly, it demonstrates Meerby’s resilience – even in challenging environments, stores maintained key performance advantages over non-enabled locations, reinforcing the platform’s ability to deliver measurable benefits across diverse market conditions.
During Black Friday week, the average basket increase for non-Meerby stores was $4.81. In
contrast, Meerby-enabled stores achieved an impressive $8.91 average basket increase,
reflecting an 85% higher basket growth.
This remarkable growth stems from Meerby’s intelligent routing, which doesn’t merely connect customers to staff but ensures they are paired with the right staff—those equipped with the tools, knowledge, training and availability to deliver complete solutions. Quality engagements extend beyond basic tasks like opening showcases or reading product descriptions; they involve understanding customer needs, asking the right questions, recommending relevant add-ons, and ensuring customers leave with both their full solution and a positive experience.
Key features driving this success include intelligent request routing, which matches requests to the best-suited associates, and tip cards, which provide real-time prompts to empower staff to maximize every customer interaction. These tools help sales associates deliver higher-quality service, directly translating into larger basket sizes and enhanced customer satisfaction.
During Black Friday week, foot traffic increased across the board, but Meerby-enabled stores outpaced their peers. Non-Meerby stores experienced an average traffic increase of 6.7%, while Meerby-enabled stores achieved a higher 8.58% increase.
In retail, foot traffic is often driven by brand loyalty rather than discounts. However, once customers are in-store, execution becomes the differentiator. This is where Meerby excels. During peak hours, Meerby-enabled stores maintained an average response time of 1 minute, and 22 seconds, ensuring customer needs were met swiftly and efficiently. Strategic routing not
only minimized operational friction but also enhanced the customer experience by pairing requests with the most qualified associates.
The result? Increased loyalty and repeat traffic, as customers left the store feeling valued and supported. By streamlining in-store interactions, Meerby helps retailers capitalize on their brand loyalty, turning high foot traffic into lasting customer relationships.
A store with Meerby operates with purpose, efficiency, and responsiveness at every touchpoint. During Black Friday week, Meerby-enabled stores demonstrated exceptional performance metrics, supported by key operational insights from the data. Strategically placed buttons—on
locked showcases, high-value displays, wing panels, or key service zones—helped reduce customer frustration by streamlining the process of seeking assistance. Across the 9,246 customer button presses, Meerby maintained an average response time of 1:23 and ensured 56.28% of requests were resolved in less than one minute, even in the busiest stores. These results were achieved within the first year of adoption, with 6 of the 14 locations implementing Meerby in Q4 of 2024. Each store underwent a full-day onboarding session, ensuring teams had the knowledge and confidence to maximize Meerby’s capabilities. Teams left these sessions excited to use the tool, contributing directly to the impressive results observed. Backed by deep retail expertise, Meerby has designed purposeful technology that meets the needs of all users, delivering measurable results and integrating seamlessly into store operations.
Meerby’s intelligent request routing was key to this success. With < 2-minute resolutions accounting for 79.77% of requests, Meerby ensured that customer needs were met swiftly and efficiently. This approach minimized longer wait times, with only 0.86% of customers waiting
over 5 minutes, a stark contrast to typical retail scenarios. Requests were routed intelligently to the most suitable team member, empowering staff to respond promptly with the context needed to address customer needs effectively. This focus on operational efficiency naturally ties in with Meerby’s enhancement of customer satisfaction during peak retail events.
For customers, this meant fewer instances of wandering aisles looking for help or waiting endlessly for assistance. Whether it was unlocking products or receiving tailored recommendations, every interaction felt intentional and done with care. Staff members, equipped with Meerby’s actionable insights, spent more time engaging customers and closing sales rather than managing inefficiencies. This is evident in the operational efficiency of stores like Bells Corners, ON, which achieved an impressive 82.88% resolution rate within 1 minute, setting the benchmark for seamless customer experience.
For management, Meerby’s real-time visibility into store operations was equally transformative. Insights on deficiencies, staff performance, and peak demand periods allowed for proactive adjustments that maintained optimal efficiency throughout the day. Data like the average service time of 2:45 across stores highlighted the importance of balancing quick resolutions with meaningful engagements, while insights such as 38.77% of requests originating from locked showcases enabled the retailer to strategically deploy more staff with showcase keys.
The data illustrates how Meerby fosters an environment of operational clarity and responsiveness. By aligning customer service efficiency with strategic management oversight, Meerby-enabled stores achieved notable outcomes, including an 85% higher basket growth compared to non-Meerby stores. This increase of $4.10 per transaction emerged as a key driver of financial performance, significantly outpacing non-Meerby locations.
Across diverse store profiles—ranging from high-traffic hubs to smaller regional stores
—Meerby consistently delivered measurable ROI:
These figures highlight Meerby’s ability to deliver consistent results across both high- and low-traffic environments by leveraging intelligent routing, optimized staff allocation, and enhanced customer engagements. The financial outcomes validate Meerby’s investment case, demonstrating its role as a key enabler of in-store performance and revenue growth, especially during high-pressure events like Black Friday.
Beyond Black Friday, Meerby’s scalability and seamless integration with existing in-store programs position it as a critical tool for retailers. By enhancing experiential retail, enabling personalized shopping journeys, and optimizing service models, Meerby empowers retailers to exceed customer expectations, drive sustained growth, and foster unmatched loyalty in an ever-evolving market. As Carla Borossso, General Manager In Etobicoke, shares:
This level of actionable insight ensures that Meerby continues to deliver measurable benefits, empowering retailers to stay ahead in an increasingly competitive market.
