November 25th is just around the corner, which means it’s time for two special shopping events, and time to talk sales. In recent years, Black Friday sales have exploded due to international public interest and online availability. Along with Cyber Monday, the two have become the busiest shopping days of the year.
According to Adobe, last year’s U.S. ecommerce sales reached an incredible $2.72 billion, and this year’s Black Friday is projected to be even bigger. While some customers still prefer to visit physical stores and stare at window displays, many shoppers now browse from the comfort of their living rooms and click their way to shopping nirvana.
Furthermore, instead of relying purely on word of mouth, savvy consumers research and rely on online communities to help them choose products and compile wish lists. Achieving sales goals is a lot easier with a simple change of approach and point of view. As a retailer, you can make the most of Black Friday with a few simple tips:
You Can Never Be Too Ready
Some retailers we work with begin planning their marketing strategy as early as six months before Black Friday. They carefully chose the optimal advertising channels to maximize excitement among customers and direct attention to specific and relevant products for the season. Preparation includes optimizing staff, inventory, and infrastructure, ensuring all the technical details such as servers, software and goods quantities are in check.
Look Back
Going over your website’s performance for prior Black Friday sales is an extremely helpful way to determine how to improve and develop better strategies for this year. This information will help you create triggered campaigns in advance and add special incentives for people who opened certain coupons, recently logged on to the website, or purchased on Black Friday in the past. Using past trends, you’ll be able to anticipate future traffic and engagement and ensure the website is capable of handling it. Don’t underestimate the minimum safety cushion in order to not miss out on potential customers.
Communication is Key
It’s important for all staff members involved in the preparations to have specific responsibilities and know exactly how to properly handle any situation that might arise. By keeping communication lines open and conveying clear instructions, it’s possible to resolve matters in a quick and efficient manner. This straightforward approach will also contribute to future customers and their shopping experiences.
Remembering Your Basics
Don’t forget to review your keywords ahead of time. Although you might already have a list of successful keywords, these critical, busy days have a character of their own, and creating a list of specific keywords will move your online visibility to the next level. Cross-checking these keywords with which pages get the most views will provide valuable insights before spending on an AdWords campaign and coming up with a marketing plan.
Going Beyond the Sale
A good way to predict what the best sellers will be is to look beyond what’s popular in social media. Using social analytical tools, you’ll be able to find which reviews are most read and anticipate what shoppers are planning to spend their budgets on this season. This data can help in stocking up on specific products as well as actual store displays to maximize sales and profits.
Feeling the Space
Good marketing and increased traffic are a great start, but it’s only the beginning. Once a consumer visits the website, it’s crucial to design a compatible user experience by rethinking your UI/UX elements and how they work with different buying decision platforms. Incorporating such tools in an accessible way keeps the visitor on the site by eliminating the need to go to other websites for information and reviews.
Running a successful online store through the Black Friday – Cyber Monday sales peak can be quite stressful, but careful preparation and research will make a difference not only in increasing profits but also in reducing stress for business owners. In addition to these simple tactics, there are other best practices you can adopt in order to prepare for Black Friday to boost conversion rates up to 40 percent. That’s worth your time!
Smadar Landau, CEO and founder of Feelter