When it comes to eCommerce, Black Friday is one of the most exciting times of year for shoppers and retailers alike. Though originally linked to Thanksgiving in the US, Black Friday has since become synonymous with discounts and deals on a global scale. Moreover, Cyber Monday and Black Friday eCommerce sales have become much more than just two days out of the year, with top retailers taking advantage of the entire month of November. As a result, consumers flock to both online and brick-and-mortar shops in anticipation of Black Friday eCommerce trends.
That said, retailers need to know how to prepare for the Black Friday eCommerce hype, as detailed below.
Plan Well in Advance
The first of the Black Friday eCommerce tips for success is ample planning. In fact, it’s never too early to get preparations underway to ensure you’re entering November with the following:
- Comprehensive mobile functionality.
- A smooth checkout experience that allows for various payment methods.
- A Black Friday eCommerce strategy that revolves around user experience.
- An instinctive user interface.
Ensure Your Site Speed is Up to Scratch
Since more people than ever are expected to visit your site over Black Friday weekend, you’re likely to see a spike in traffic. While this is the ultimate goal for eCommerce sites, high traffic can lead to poor site performance when the correct measures aren’t implemented. Essentially, customers won’t want to waste their time waiting for sites to load, meaning a slow site can negatively impact sales.
Assess Your Checkout Process
As previously mentioned, people aren’t going to want to wait around for a site to do what they want it to do. This means having a seamless checkout process in place. After all, Black Friday presents the opportunity to make as many sales as possible. Therefore, retailers should take this time to test and optimise their checkout processes to avoid cart abandonment during the busiest time of the year. Some methods of improving your checkout process include the following:
- Employing multi-recipient capabilities
- Employing automated cart abandonment notifications
- Providing various payment options
- Keeping the checkout to one page
Optimise Your Customer Service
Since your site is set to see more traffic than ever on Black Friday weekend, you need to ensure you have plenty of customer support on hand. It goes without saying that extra sales equate to extra customer service requests. As a result, the emphasis on quality customer service is massive; just one negative customer service experience is enough to damage your brand image. To ensure these negative experiences don’t present themselves, you need to ensure your representatives are responsive, knowledgeable, and quick to solve a problem. When it comes to customer interaction, it’s all about efficiency.
Implement Retargeting Strategies
Online window shopping is a hobby for many, meaning your Black Friday eCommerce ideas might consist of retargeting methods. If you find that multiple customers are adding items to their baskets without checking out, you might follow up with them via email. This way, you can keep them engaged with your product and encourage them to proceed with the purchase.
Use Social Media
Another one of the many Black Friday ideas for eCommerce sites is using social media effectively. Social media provides you with the ideal platform to advertise products via high-quality content. As we approach Black Friday, a slight sense of urgency is essential to encourage fast purchases; however, it’s crucial that this isn’t overdone. Chances are, your followers’ social feeds will be inundated with “limited-time offers”, so it’s about striking the right balance to not fade into the background.
Cross-Sell and Upsell Products
Cross-selling is all about providing customers with the opportunity to purchase complementary items that fulfil a requirement their initial item doesn’t. Upselling, on the other hand, encourages customers to upgrade their chosen product to a more expensive version. It’s important to signpost each of these products effectively to make the user journey a seamless experience.
Take Advantage of Buy One, Get One Offers
Buy one, get one refers to an offer in which customers are able to get a discounted or free item upon the purchase of another. This is one of the most successful promotions you can put in place on Black Friday.
Launch New Products
Black Friday is among the most appropriate times for a product release. Despite this, in order for it to be a successful launch, you need to incite excitement as soon as possible. Therefore, you need to employ the following tactics for a thriving Black Friday product launch:
- Prepare well in advance.
- Maintain suspense for as long as possible.
- Ensure thorough product testing is conducted.
- Accept pre-orders.
- Collect feedback after the launch.
The extra attention drawn to brands via product launches can do wonders for its Black Friday eCommerce stats.
Keep Loyal Customers Happy
While it’s important to grab the attention of new customers, keeping your existing ones happy is essential. In anticipation of Black Friday, you might create a customer loyalty programme, send out thank you texts, or engage with your active followers via direct messages. If your customers feel that their service is being appreciated, they’re sure to return again and again.
Go Beyond Black Friday
As previously mentioned, the top eCommerce sites no longer restrict the Black Friday deals to Black Friday itself. The whole month of November provides you with a platform to offer the best discounts to your customers.
Add a Touch of Personalisation
Last but not least, personalisation is key. Your customers don’t want to feel like they’re just one of many people receiving generic marketing emails. Instead, they want to feel as though you’ve taken their interests into account to offer the best-suited products for them. Making your customers feel as though they matter is integral to your success.
Prepare for Black Friday and Cyber Monday with i3MEDIA.
With extensive expertise in online marketing methods, including pay-per-click, i3MEDIA is well-equipped to help you prepare your eCommerce site for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Get in touch to discover how we can help you achieve digital success.