Click Frenzy’s ‘gamified’ online sale starts tonight offering up to 99% off 1000 brands

Online mega-sale Click Frenzy kicks off tonight, offering major discounts on more than 1000 brands and adding more pressure to Australia Post’s parcel deliveries ahead of Christmas.

The 53-hour sale, which began in 2012, has grown to be one of the biggest online shopping events in the country, with more than 1000 Australian and international brands available this year from retailers such as Adore Beauty, David Jones, Adidas and Petbarn.

Nathan Brown, chief executive of Click Frenzy’s parent company Global Marketplace, tells SmartCompany he’s “excited” to work with a mixture of large and small retailers from around the world.

“We’re really excited to be working with a lot of Australia’s leading retailers like Pure Foods Tasmania and Tribe Skincare, but we’re also really excited to have some massive retailers that have joined us such as The Iconic,” Brown says.

How Click Frenzy works

Click Frenzy is an aggregator site that collects information from other retail outlets to offer discounts on one centralised platform.

After you sign up and enter the site, you can search the deals by category. When you click on a specific promotion, you’re forwarded through to the retailer’s site.

Shoppers must create an account to access the best deals, including the “Go Wild” promotion of 99% off selected products like Sony TVs, iPhones and KitchenAid Mixers.

“The 99% off deals run through the whole sale process from tonight. You need to sign up, you need to be on the site and there are clues that are given to shoppers,” Brown says.

A virtual treasure hunt

According to one marketing and retail expert, the secret behind Click Frenzy’s growing popularity lies in how it gamifies the online shopping experience.

Gary Mortimer, marketing professor at Queensland University of Technology, tells SmartCompany the sale appears to get bigger every year.

“One of the unique features of Click Frenzy versus a standard online sale is the level of gamification,” Mortimer says.

The sale features a ticker that counts down the time left before the sale kicks off and the time remaining ahead of the sale ending.

“That creates a level of anticipation and urgency when the event is on,” Mortimer says.

Click Frenzy also features a virtual treasure hunt, encouraging shoppers to tap through different pages to locate the offer they’re seeking.

Putting pressure on parcel deliveries

The mammoth Click Frenzy sale comes as Australia Post warns shoppers that November is likely to be the busiest month of the year for parcel deliveries ahead of Christmas.

Gary Starr, executive general manager business, government and international at Australia Post, said orders this month will increase thanks to more retailers taking part in Click Frenzy and more consumers doing their Christmas shopping early.

“From our latest customer research, we know this growth will continue with over two-in-five shoppers intending to buy their Christmas presents online this month, making November the most popular month for online Christmas shopping,” Starr said.

Australia Post has prepared for the surge in parcel delivery volumes by setting up 45 new operational and retail sites, hiring more than 4000 new team members, and doing weekend deliveries when required.

Mortimer says there has been a lot of discussion about challenges with parcel deliveries, which have been pushed out to up to 21 days.

“But I think if you purchase at the beginning of November, you’re going to be guaranteed delivery before Christmas,” Mortimer says.

“If you wait until later in the month, I think you’d be cutting it pretty close.”

Click Frenzy marks the beginning of a peak period for retailers, with Singles Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday following the online sale throughout November ahead of Christmas.