- Bath & Body Works' annual Candle Day sale kicked off on Friday — $26.50 candles are on sale for $9.95.
- The brand added a presale and is placing shoppers in a virtual waiting room, drawing comparisons to Ticketmaster.
Bath & Body Works' blowout candle-shopping holiday is here, and its early-access sale and virtual waiting room are drawing comparisons to Ticketmaster.
The brand's annual candle sale, known as Candle Day, kicked off Friday and extends through Saturday, December 3. Bath & Body Works' coveted three-wick candles, typically $26.50, are on sale for $9.95, which the brand calls "pre-pandemic pricing." Last year, the candles cost $10.25 on Candle Day.
Also new this year: early access for Bath & Body Works rewards members that allowed loyal customers to begin shopping from 8 p.m. Eastern to midnight on December 1.
While the brand started putting eager shoppers in virtual lines during last year's Candle Day, this year's sales event added the presale feature, which shoppers likened to Ticketmaster's presale event for Taylor Swift's Eras tour. Ticketmaster experienced technical difficulties and sowed confusion during the presale process, so much so that outraged fans are demanding the Federal Trade Commission investigate.
But so far, customers are hailing Bath & Body Works for its virtual line: Shoppers simply need to visit the brand's site to be entered into the queue, and as of Friday afternoon, the wait was only about two minutes.
—Ashley (@ashlynnlee_14) December 2, 2022
—Adam Kelsey (@adamkelsey) December 2, 2022
—grace (@graceawbrey) December 2, 2022
Candle Day is one of the brand's biggest shopping holidays of the year, with popular scents often selling out and lines forming at Bath & Body Works stores much like Black Friday. Bath & Body Works has been hosting Candle Day for 11 years and "millions of Americans" have shopped during the event, the brand says.
Bath & Body Works is one of a growing cohort of brands creating virtual "waiting rooms" ahead of big sales. SNKRS, Nike's sneaker-shopping app, places shoppers in a queue during sales of in-demand products, which the brand says helps ensure that everyone gets a fair shot at buying shoes. While these types of waiting rooms often just generate hype for products, they also help prevent sites from crashing during major sales events, according to Retail Dive.