Black Friday 2015 is predicted to be the biggest day of spending the internet has ever seen!
To help you capitalise on this incredible sales opportunity, we have developed a 13-point checklist providing you with top tips on how to survive the Black Friday rush and help you to prepare your online store for record-breaking sales numbers.
Select the products you want to run in your ‘Black Friday sale’ now, so that you are not left scrambling around at the last minute trying to decide what should and shouldn’t be included.
Make sure visitors know about your upcoming sale at least a month in advance, as online buyers tend to start searching for product information and doing their holiday shopping as early as October.
Make sure your Black Friday offers represent great value deals and provide discounts that rival top online retailers. Offer a large discount on a small range of products, rather than a small discount on a large range of products.
Design promotional banners to highlight the offers you will make available on the big day. Incorporate visually appealing countdowns to your storefront or selected Black Friday products to create anticipation and a feeling of immediacy among potential customers.
Providing a smooth mobile shopping experience for your customers is a key factor to the success of your Black Friday sales campaign this year. Now that mobile accounts for over 30% of all ecommerce sales globally, offering mobile-friendly storefront and listing template will help you rival top online retailers.
More than 159 million European online buyers shopped cross-border in 2014! Providing your international customers with a multilingual storefront and listing template will allow you to capitalise on the growing cross-border opportunity and will also help you stand out from the huge competition that is expected this Black Friday.
On average, sales on Black Friday can more than triple, depending on your offers and promotional efforts. Make sure you have sufficient stock planned for your selected Black Friday products. Setting a stock buffer will additionally protect you from overselling, which can be one of the main pitfalls of Black Friday.
Plan your Black Friday delivery options extra carefully. Offering a “next day” delivery service could pose the risk of the items not being delivered as promised, which will lead to unhappy customers. Make sure you communicate the delivery options clearly to your customers and be upfront with them that delivery could take longer than stated.
Make sure you have enough resources to manage the increased volume of orders you will receive on Black Friday. You may need to draft in some extra support to get all your orders picked and packed on time. Planning this ahead of time will make your Black Friday order fulfilment less stressful.
Black Friday is one of the days when you will be receiving the most questions from impatient shoppers. Plan your customer service resources carefully and make sure you provide quick response time and fantastic customer service experience to all customers.
The increased number of orders on Black Friday means the potential for more returns. Offering an extended returns policy is a great way to capture buyers’ attention and close more sales on the big day. Make sure you communicate your Black Friday returns policy clearly to your customers.
Keeping a close eye on the competition can help you to stay ahead and gather great ideas for your own Black Friday sales campaign. Consider your competitors’ unique positioning – product range, pricing and promotion.
Review last year’s Black Friday numbers to get a better idea of what deals and discounts worked well that time around, how many orders you received and processed, and how much inventory you should have in stock this year.
Let us develop a tailored solution for your business that will help you reach new international customers and grow your global sales.
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