Black Friday and Cyber Monday are creeping up quickly and before you know it, they’ll be right around the corner. That means that now is the time to get your ducks in order and take action to make sure that your ecommerce shop is prepared to handle an influx of orders and leave a trail of satisfied customers in your wake.
The traditionally American retail event has been fully adopted by Canadian shoppers, with a 2021 survey by Leger which shows that 84% of Canadian consumers browsed or purchased items from a store website during Black Friday sales.
The opportunity is there – now is the time for you as an ecommerce business to prepare and make the most of all that Black Friday and Cyber Monday have to offer.
Promote, Promote, Promote!
Everybody loves a good promotion. That’s what Black Friday is all about!
Think about the additional value you want to provide to your customers at this integral point in the year. You could offer discount codes, free shipping, or BOGO deals. However you choose to get into the Black Friday / Cyber Monday spirit, make sure it’s enticing to your target market.
Once you’ve decided on your offerings, it’s time to promote those promotions.
Dive Into Email Marketing
Black Friday no doubt warrants its own email campaign.
Effective email campaigns are all about finding the right balance. It’s all about curating a strong list of recipients, developing engaging content that users will open (and not just delete right away), and informing your audience without overflowing their inbox.
You can start with your already-established email list. Sending out enticing promotion announcements and helpful reminders with catchy subject lines will inform your audience of your upcoming Black Friday deals, allowing them to plan their purchases and keep your business in mind. You might want to include special offers exclusive to those on your email list as well, providing coupon codes or special promotions for your subscribers. Consider also positioning these emails around the time of year, promoting your products as desirable Christmas gifts or leaning into an off-season discount, depending on the products you offer.
To build on this approach and really harness the opportunity brought about by Black Friday and Cyber Monday, you might want to launch an email campaign dedicated to those shoppers who have added items to their cart previously but who have not yet made a purchase. Highlighting upcoming deals and discounts may be just the push they need to head back to your website and pull the trigger – they’ve already shown interest in what you have to offer, and they make a very promising audience for your upcoming promotions.
Update Your Website
As an ecommerce business, your website is integral. Use it to your advantage!
Begin adding Black Friday and Cyber Monday messaging to your carousels and pop-ups to get customers thinking about the holidays and planting that purchase seed in their minds. Shine a spotlight on your upcoming promotions and highlight your go-to items so that customers can get excited about the big deals coming their way, whether it’s their first time visiting your site or if they’re already a loyal consumer.
Use this opportunity to ensure that your website is optimized, too. All it takes is a difficult-to-navigate home screen or a slow-loading, glitchy page to turn a customer away. That’s a situation you want to avoid year-round, but especially on those big-hitter days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Anticipate increased traffic and make sure that your website is ready to handle it, providing customers with a seamless user experience from start to finish.
In addition to ensuring everything runs smoothly on your desktop website, it’s equally – if not more – important to optimize your mobile site, too. Mobile ecommerce sales now make up 60% of all ecommerce sales worldwide, so ensuring that your website is just as effective on mobile is essential to capitalizing on the Black Friday buzz and keeping customers satisfied and coming back for more.
Don’t Be Afraid to Get Social
You guessed it – social media is a powerhouse tool at your disposal, and we encourage you to use it.
Hopefully, you already have branded social media accounts across all main platforms where your customers spend their time. If not, now is the perfect time to start!
Similar to your email campaigns, leverage your socials to communicate with your audience and let them know something exciting is coming up. Funnel people toward your site and highlight the standout products you have to offer with on-brand visuals and thoughtful benefit-led copy.
Get Your Financials in Order
It takes money to make money. It’s likely that you’ll need some funds to build a buzz around your Black Friday deals, whether that’s investing in website updates or ad campaigns or social media marketing. In addition to that buzz, you’ll also have to make sure that you have enough inventory to handle higher-than-normal customer demands.
Smart, strategic financial decisions are nearly impossible without organized books and optimized accounting. These services provide you with the foundation you need to clearly understand what you’re working with and where to allocate your funds to reap the highest return on your investment. However, the ecommerce industry is unique and it brings about its own set of accounting challenges.
That’s why AIS Solutions offers Bookkeeping for Ecommerce services, dedicated to serving our ecommerce clientele and navigating the ins and outs of the ecommerce business. Contact us today to discuss your bookkeeping needs and allow us to help you gain the financial freedom you need to make this Black Friday the biggest one yet.
