If you run an e-commerce business, big or small, it’s important to prepare for and take advantage of the biggest upcoming opportunity of the year, Black Friday!
Black Friday is often synonymous with unbeatable deals and has become so popular that, according to Bizcommunity, FNB cardholder consumers in South Africa spent a whopping estimated R2.5bn in 2021. That’s an increase of 15% compared to the year 2020.
It’s clear that this annual shopping extravaganza not only encourages shoppers to spend but also presents an opportunity for businesses to attract new customers and significantly increase their revenue.
So, without further adieu, here are ten tips to help you effectively capitalise on the biggest shopping holiday of the year!
1. Pay close attention to your competitors
Your business may not be able to compete with the likes of Amazon or Takealot, but closely studying their promotional strategies can help you to come up with ideas of your own. Good questions to ask yourself include, how are these companies marketing their Black Friday deals? And what strategies are customers responding to?
2. Come up with a Black Friday promotional plan
Before you start promoting your Black Friday deals, first come up with a plan. For example, deciding on which products you’d like to promote. When deciding, you can focus on stock that isn’t moving quickly, as well as on very popular items that usually fly off the shelves, to create a good mix.
You’ll also want to look at where you plan on advertising your deals. For example on social media, billboards, through email, etc. There are a number of ways you can go about promoting your Black Friday items, and the best part is that you are not restricted to only picking one. Often a mix of channels is good for reaching all sorts of customers, so get creative and embrace all avenues.
3. Offer sizable discounts
If you want to attract new customers around this time, you’re going to need to be willing to offer significant discounts. How much you discount will depend on your industry and what your competitors are doing. But a good average percentage is around 20% according to Teachable.
4. Inspect your point-of-sale system (POS) ahead of time
You need to provide access to as many payment options for customers on Black Friday as possible if you don’t want to miss out. That means being able to accept online payments, credit cards, debit cards, gift cards, contactless payments, etc.
Using a POS system will allow you to easily accept offline payments all through one terminal. You’ll be able to print or email customers’ receipts and view transaction insights through an analytics dashboard.
5. Double-check your inventory
Take stock of your inventory (especially of your most popular items) to ensure you have enough before promoting your Black Friday deals. If you sell items online and own a retail store, offering incentives to shop in-store rather than online will help you to move products more quickly while reducing your delivery costs and returns.
6. Hire temp staff
If you need additional help during Black Friday, start hiring help now. Work out how many team members you need and start training them to get ready for the mad rush.
If hiring people proves to be a struggle, offer bonuses to those temp employees who choose to stay on and help during the entire holiday period (Christmas included).
7. Keep it simple
While it’s always beneficial to learn from bigger, more prominent retailers, avoid trying to copy them exactly. Instead, tailor your strategy to what your business can comfortably cope with, and execute that plan well.
Keeping your plans simple will ensure that your customers are happy and help to avoid unnecessary mistakes. It will also help to keep you going for Cyber Monday.
8. Devise a plan for shipping
Shipping companies tend to charge higher rates around Black Friday because of the increased volume, but most customers still expect free shipping. So, by strategically offering free shipping above a certain amount you can bring in additional revenue, while still fulfilling your customers’ needs.
9. Test your checkout process
Consumers are quick to abandon their carts if they happen to experience any sort of hiccup during the checkout process, which can lead to a loss in revenue.
To keep this from happening, test your checkout process to see if there are any roadblocks and then fix these issues to make the process as smooth and easy as possible.
By doing this, you will ensure quick and efficient checkout experiences that will go a long way to strengthening consumer’s trust, while allowing you to gather valuable data and insights to guide decision-making.
10. Offer efficient and helpful customer support
Don’t miss out on attracting repeat customers during this time simply because your customer support is subpar. Make sure you have the necessary support to address additional questions and concerns that both new and existing customers may have during this busy time.
Additionally, offer support through various channels including telephone and in-store support, as well as online support via live chat, email and social media to manage customer expectations.
You can also update your website to include FAQs to help answer straightforward queries.
If your business requires advertising during this busy and exciting period, feel free to contact us for a tailored content marketing solution today!
