Thanksgiving and Black Friday online shopping ballooned to $9 billion in 2020 – a record 22% increase, year-on-year!
And it's not just online either - shoppers in the US flocked to malls in December 2020 as well.
Shoppers love a deal, and you can be sure they're planning their holiday splurge spending this year.
Online stores should get ready and prepare for Black Friday / Cyber Monday (collectively abbreviated BFCM), and all the shopping holidays beyond. Seasonal sales are great for ecommerce merchants. Here are ten tips for how to prepare your store for Black Friday, divided into two sections -- getting your store ready, and reaching out to customers.
- Preparing your store for Black Friday / Cyber Monday - Steps 1-6
- Bringing customers to your store for Black Friday / Cyber Monday - Steps 7-10
Preparing your store for Black Friday / Cyber Monday
Get your store ready so your customers are ready to shop
1. Start early - Customers start looking for deals in October
Start planning for Black Friday now if you haven't started. A survey found more than half of consumers begin their holiday shopping or researching for Black Friday as early as October. This is the time to entice with coupon codes and special offers.
The holiday weekend consumers will be in line and shopping, so don't wait until Thanksgiving weekend.
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2. Check your site speed: Slow site means no sales
On the internet, a lack of speed will turn customers off. In fact, 46% of shoppers have said they’ll never return to a slow website. You want to make sure that doesn't happen on your website.
Make sure your checkout process is as good as it can be. Black Friday and Cyber Monday shoppers are fickle. They have thousands of stores to select from and a limited amount of time. They will leave your store if your checkout isn't running smoothly.
Taking a day to improve your checkout process could pay off for you on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. You may consider adding extra payment options including Bitcoin or Paypal.
On average, about 69% of customers abandon their shopping cart.
Here's how to prevent shopping cart abandonment for your Shopify store.
You'll also want backups for everything from site code to product images. Black Friday only comes once a year.
3. Make sure your product descriptions sell
Write product descriptions that sell. Tap into emotions, and also make it easy for search engines to archive. One of Cialdini's principles of influence is Scarcity, and you can play up the limited-time bargain and urgency with these following phrases:
- Limited time only
- Only one left
- Selling out fast!
This isn't just a salt lamp - it makes you feel better.
You also want to give your product descriptions a boost. 7 in 10 shoppers are uncertain what they’re going to buy, so your persuasive copy can really have an effect. It's also important to do a touch of search engine optimization so shoppers can find what they are looking for. Here are some resources to help you:
- SEO For Black Friday/Cyber Monday: Boost Sales And Traffic
- Ecommerce SEO Best Practices in 2021 (You Can Do Today)
- Strategies to Drive Traffic to Your Ecommerce Store
- Plus, an Ultimate Guide to Shopify SEO (with Templates!)
If you had promotions last year, you will want to review your sales data to see what went well. This information can give you ideas on making alterations to existing products.
Plan ahead and create a product schedule that will determine the products that go on sale and the price. Get ahead of the game and make slight tweaks rather than making it up at the last minute.
4. Apply the right discounts
For Black Friday and Cyber Monday, most people are looking for at least 20 percent off the items they buy. You want to be competitive. In order to stand out, you may want to consider offering a free gift with your products as a way to sweeten the deal. Shopify allows you to add gift cards to your store.
During this weekend, the bigger the discount, the better. Most retailers are offering at least 20% off on Black Friday. How many will be offering 50% off for first-time buyers or 30% off 5 or more items? Get creative with the discounts that you offer.
Here are some tips for your Black Friday discounts:
- Display discounts clearly on the homepage – this helps your customers clearly see what they will save during Black Friday and Cyber Monday
- Add a countdown banner – A countdown banner adds urgency and builds excitement. You can create one with tools like Powr in a matter of minutes.
6. Cross-selling
This is a great time to up your cross-selling game. Don't expect that your customers will purchase the thing that they want and leave your site. If you have a customer that is making a purchase, you should refer them to something that will naturally fit together. Think socks and shoes, paper and pencils, yoga mats, and yoga straps. If someone is making a purchase, is there something else that they may need in addition to it?
You may want to create distinct Black Friday and Cyber Monday pages with related products for customers. This can consolidate your efforts.
If you currently have a SALE section on your website, it is easy to alter the text to make it a special Black Friday and Cyber Monday navigation bar. You should road test your site before the sales weekend. Have your friends give you feedback about your site's shortcomings as well.