Last Minute Black Friday Tips

Black Friday is the Friday following Thanksgiving Day (27 November this year); although the retail event has now spread beyond the USA and has become a significant part of the global retail calendar over the last few years. In the UK Black Friday spending is estimated to have been around ￡7.8billion in 2019. This makes it an incredibly important part of the Christmas shopping season, generally, Black Friday and the associated Cyber Monday weekend marks the start of the Christmas shopping season and with more of us shopping online (especially with the second lockdown in England) it becomes even more important for e-commerce businesses. Research has also shown that this year consumers are more price-conscious and are waiting for these sales before spending in the lead up to Christmas. Therefore, it presents an incredible opportunity for e-commerce businesses to take advantage of customers willingness to spend.

This has been an unusual year where in addition to the day-to-day running of any business the COVID crisis has possibly made you forget that this event is now just around the corner. So, then the question becomes is your online business ready for Black Friday? With it fast approaching there are still a few things that you can implement to take advantage or maximise the potential of the retail opportunity.

Start with deciding what you would like to offer your customers, obviously this is the time to present major discounts, but it is important to consider what level of sale would be enough to get people interested in your products while still making a profit.

The next thing to consider is what products you would like to clear before the end of the year so that you have clear some of your inventory. These should be heavily discounted as should any other products that take a long time to sell. Better-selling items can be discounted but at a lower rate.

It is also a good idea to think beyond discounts and include some additional incentives so that you have return customers after Black Friday. Incentives could include for example free shipping offers or discount coupons for their next purchase to encourage them to come back and shop again.

It is also not too late to take advantage of social media. Use the remaining time to increase your social media presence with posts and eye-catching advertisements. Millions of people around the world make use of social media to not only share holiday posts but also to look for Black Friday deals and sales. In previous years there were 450 million views on Facebook for Black Friday and other related posts. That is a huge potential customer base, so you want to make sure that you are making the most of these channels. If you struggle to target the right customers and convert your posts into sales this year, then the services of a sales and management consulting firm can help you get ahead for next year.

Holiday shopping (even online) can be a stressful time; making sure you are buying the right gifts and still meeting your budget. So, one of the best tips for this time of the year is to make the shopping experience seamless and stress-free. Convenience is one of the major reasons why people choose to shop online and along with the discounts you are offering will be the reason why shoppers will make it to check out with your product. Some examples of what customers say to make their lives easier in the chaos of the big sales events is a flexible returns policy, having questions about products answered quickly and there being a complementary gift-wrapping service.

Even if you only have the time left to put one or two of these ideas into practice, they should help you make the most of Black Friday. These ideas can also be used to help with the rest of the year and with a month left to go before Christmas, there is still plenty of time to make more sales.  

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