Andrew Madeira-Silva November 12, 2020 
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are only weeks away. The scary part about that fact is, the process of preparing for Black Friday and Cyber Monday can also take weeks. But don’t worry! We’re here to help.
Chances are, 2020 will absolutely blow previous records of online sales away. A couple of reasons for that happening are:
- Last year, US shoppers spent $ 7.4 billion online during Black Friday – that’s 20% more than in 2018.
- This year, because of the pandemic, 62% of consumers said that nothing could persuade them to physically enter a store on Black Friday – so it only makes sense that e-commerce sales will be even higher than normal.
Since the clock is ticking, let’s get into what will help you be successful this Black Friday/Cyber Monday and keep you competitive with online sellers that may have had a head start.
The sooner you plan, the more successful you’ll be.
If you’re selling products online this Black Friday you can count on being extremely busy. So the more you do now, the more you can focus on profits come Black Friday. This is particularly true of your promotions and specials, which are the only thing consumers care about on Black Friday. Some important things you should be considering are:
- Communicate with your merchants ahead of time: If you’re using an e-commerce marketplace other than your own website, like Amazon, make sure you have everything in order before the actual sale days. You will have less real-time control with third party merchants. We can’t stress how important this is to do well ahead of time.
- Figure out your sale prices and design your sale tags: Nobody is shopping on Black Friday or Cyber Monday to buy products at their regular MSRP prices. If there isn’t a big SALE tag on your products you can count on customers to skip over them. So determine what sales you can offer your customers while still generating a profit and think about how you can incorporate psychological sale triggers into your tags.
- Extend your sale beyond Black Friday/Cyber Monday: Not everyone gets a chance to do the shopping they want to on these days because of work or other commitments. So consider extending your sales to the entire weekend/week to give customers a greater window of opportunity.
Less waiting means more profits.
The internet has increased our ability to do so many things, except be patient. We’re used to unlimited information, food, and entertainment that is simply a click away. Corporations like Amazon and Walmart have made shopping as easy as one seamless click of a mouse or tap of a phone screen. These companies have made it the norm, and you’re going to have to get onboard with quick online shopping if you want to compete. Here’s what you need to know to do that:
- Test your site speed: A 2019 study found that 74% of visitors will leave a site if it doesn’t load within 5 seconds. GTmetrix is a great free source for testing speed and optimizing other functions on your website.
Also, REMEMBER MOBILE! People spent $ 142.5 billion online during the 2019 holiday season. The primary main reason? Smartphones! They drove nearly all (84%) of the online sales growth during the season. – Adobe Analytics.
- Enable credit card memory: If your customers are returning shoppers make sure that they are able to create an account that remembers their credit card info. Thanks to Amazon’s one-click purchase, some shoppers now get annoyed when they have to enter all of their card info.
- Have a “buy” button on every page: The fewer clicks someone needs to make a purchase the better for their convenience and ultimately your profits.
Optimize your products.
7 in 10 shoppers are uncertain what they’re going to buy on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This presents a great opportunity for you. Another way of putting it is saying 70% of shoppers haven’t eliminated the option of buying whatever it is you’re selling. So in order to get your product in their carts, you’re going to want to do the following:
- Boost your SEO: You’ve probably got your SEO nailed to make sure people are able to find what they’re looking for. But as we’ve noted, people don’t always know what they’re looking for on Black Friday. So try changing up your SEO to include more words that relate to Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Check out our SEO Optimization Guide for more information.
- Have an eye-catching featured image: People shouldn’t be able to go more than a few seconds on your site before realizing what awesome products you’re selling. Your featured image is the big product shot that communicates within seconds to your customers what you’re offering them.
- Use what you know sells well: If you were in business last Black Friday/Cyber Monday use your data to see what your best sellers were and get those products to the forefront of your website. If this is your first year leading up to the sale, see what your typical best sellers are and try promoting those items.
Maximize consumer perceived value.
You’re trying to sell as much product as you can during one of the most competitive times of the year. But more importantly, you’re trying to retain customers so you can repeat your success year over year. Some great ways to maximize the value that customers feel they are getting from you are:
- “Free” shipping: When people offer free shipping, it’s usually because the shipping costs are accounted for in the pricing. Most consumers don’t know that, so offering them free shipping is a great way to establish brand loyalty.
- Small gift cards: You can give customers a free gift card at checkout. This is a great strategy because it gives them a reason to come back to use it. Typically the gift card amount isn’t enough for their entire next purchase – meaning more revenue.
- Offer referral specials: Word of mouth is the most reliable form of advertising because we trust our friends more than we trust the people who are trying to sell us stuff. So offer your customers something like a store credit, or a discount when they refer their friends to your site.
Fight against abandoned carts.
According to a Statista study, 75.6% of online retail orders were abandoned instead of purchased. As you can imagine, that is an insane amount of missed sales. Here are some tips on getting those sales back:
- Use exit-intent pop-ups: These are pop-ups that appear when someone is about to leave your site and instead offers them a promotion. It’s the online equivalent of the sales rep stopping you on your way out the door to offer you a better deal.
- Keep the cart visible: Have the cart icon, as well as the number of items in the cart, visible from every page on your site. This way it’s a constant reminder and people are less likely to forget about their items.
- Don’t have extra fees at checkout: Include shipping into your prices and don’t have any other hidden fees. Nearly 30% of online shoppers abandon their cart when hit with extra fees at checkout.
- Scarcity sells: Make it appear as if the items in their cart are selling quickly and might be out of stock soon.
- Enable save-cart function: Customers aren’t always ready to make a purchase, but that doesn’t mean they won’t come back later. Enable save-cart function so they can jump in right where they left off.
If you stick to what we’ve given you, you’re giving yourself a great chance to be competitive on one of the highest volume shopping periods of the year.
Remember though, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are not far away – you need to start preparing ASAP. As always, feel free to reach out to us for any help you may need during the shopping season or download our holiday merchant guide. Our door is always open and we’re here first and foremost to help you succeed.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE HOLIDAY MERCHANT GUIDE
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