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It’s the holiday season yet again and this time it's merrier than ever as the pandemic is at its decline. People are all set to shop their way to the holidays, so if you are in eCommerce, it's time to make sure you're ready for the biggest sales day.
For Shopify stores, this is really important. You have the golden chance to provide millions of customers with precisely what they want: a quick, secure, and easy shopping experience. And in exchange, you have the potential to broaden your audience, develop your clientele, and watch your sales skyrocket!
Experts say that eCommerce will contribute more than ever to Black Friday sales. 30% of all retail sales take place between Black Friday and Christmas. As a result, the success of your Black Friday 2022 depends on your e-commerce website and whether it is ready for this busy time.
The good news is that even small adjustments can have a great impact on your Black Friday revenue. Given the extreme degree of competition for Black Friday online sales, it won't be easy though. You will compete against the big players like Walmart and Amazon in addition to competing with hundreds of other Shopify stores. With so many alternatives available to your customers, it's up to you to ensure that your store stands out by offering a shopping experience.
If you haven't started preparing already, now is the time to prepare for the biggest shopping season of the year and the craziness of Black Friday.
Are you sweating thinking about all the work you have to do? Worry not, we’ve everything mapped out for you, just follow the checklist and your store would be good to go.
We have divided the checklist into two segments so that its easy for you to execute on the basis of your business goals:
a) How to prepare your store for Black Friday Cyber Monday
b) How to bring customers to your store on Black Friday.
Make this the best-ever season for your Shopify store by deploying the strategies mentioned below so that there are no last-minute hassles. These tactics can help you achieve your revenue targets and even go much beyond them.
Without any further ado, let's discuss the first segment in detail which is how you can prepare your Shopify store for the biggest sales day of 2022 with the right tactics.
1. Offer discounts and deals for longer periods
If you haven't already, start planning your Black Friday deals and push those out to your potential customers right away. According to a report, more than half of buyers start looking for Black Friday deals in October. Now is the perfect time to offer discounts, deals and offers so that these can lure your buyers to buy from you and they don't wait until the last minute.
Make sure you're promoting your deals as early as possible and extending them beyond BFCM if financially (and operationally) feasible, given that consumers are starting earlier. You may offer deals for some time even after black Friday so that you have a competitive edge over your competitors and people prefer your products as they are still on sale.
2. Optimize your website speed
During the holiday season, your website will certainly experience a surge in traffic which can make your site slower.
Your buyers and busy customers do not want to waste their time waiting for the websites to load. A slow website can hamper your reputation with customers and put your brand’s name in danger. As a result, potential purchasers could leave your website. Nearly 70% of customers say website speed impacts their buying decision.
In fact, you may find a number of tools that you can use to assess your website's performance and make sure it is performing at its best. Simply, enter the URL of your website, and the tool will evaluate and provide you results in a jiffy. This will help you decide whether your website speed needs improvement or not.
3. Use online marketplaces as additional sales channels
The data says, that most product searches begin with Amazon. You must list your products on online marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, Etsy, etc to cater to a wider customer base. However, it is difficult to stand out in the sea of product options on Amazon and other marketplaces. The best way to make yourself visible is through paid ads. Make sure you allocate a budget for marketplace ads so that it's easier for you to benefit from the higher traffic volumes on these websites. Another important aspect while listing your products is inventory management across all the channels. More on this later.
4. Set clear delivery expectations
The holiday season is the busiest for eCommerce stores as individual preferences are pivoting and they prefer convenience over affordability. They don't want to stand in long queues instead they want everything delivered to their doorstep that too in time. Make sure you keep your shoppers informed in case of any delays during the rush week. You may also charge extra for express deliveries. This can also assist your store in generating extra revenue.
Communicating the expected delivery dates to your shoppers before they make a purchase is equally important so that they can plan their purchases. During the time of holidays, people give presents on a specific day of their get-together so these expected delivery dates can help them align their purchases with the same.
5. Manage inventory effectively across channels
If you rely on suppliers to acquire or produce inventory, you should choose and order the products for your store in time so that you could advertise them for BFCM as soon as possible. Since the pandemic, suppliers have been working over their capacity, therefore they require buffer time to supply your order.
Before placing your orders, make sure you know which products were in high demand and how the sales looked the previous season. Based on those insights, you may take a decision when it comes to your inventory requirements. Access these insightful reports using tools like Glew.io, daasity and google analytics.
Another issue that may arise during the busy holiday season is the management of inventory. Manually managing and updating the inventory across multiple channels can also be a hefty task after each transaction. It may increase the chances of mistakes and overselling, which might result in poor order management. Your profits might be substantially impacted by poorly managed inventory during the busy season. Make sure you have the right tool in place to manage your inventories.
6. Offer different fulfillment options
When it comes to finding the right fulfillment strategy for your eCommerce business, it’s all about balance. You don’t need to offer every shipping option under the sun - instead, focus on providing the options that are affordable, that align with your customer's needs, and that is achievable from a logistics standpoint. Too many options can actually overwhelm buyers and discourage them from completing a purchase. But with the right shipping strategy in place, you can create a better customer experience while also improving your cart conversion rate and increasing your average order value (AOV).
Both local delivery and buy online and pick-up in-store (BOPIS) provide merchants with effective ways to get products to their local customers. Shop2App offers easy delivery and BOPIS Buy online pick-up in-store is usually free for buyers. It avoids any potential shipping delays as there is no dependence on delivery making it a cost-effective method for merchants as well. Shop2App integrates with Zapiet which is a great tool to offer unbeatable in-store pickup and local deliveries.
As far as delivery is concerned, shoppers prefer both fast and free delivery. Offering free shipping is one way to entice individuals to make a purchase from your Shopify store. But offering them free shipping doesn’t mean the shipping is actually free, it's just that the burden has been passed on to you. This free shipping can be used as a tool to increase your business revenues. Offer free shipping for a minimum cart value only so that people are motivated to buy more from your store.
7. Cross-sell and upsell to drive extra revenue
When you convince customers to purchase a more expensive or upgraded version of products or add-ons, you are upselling and increasing the overall sale value. Cross-selling is presenting customers with a product option that goes well with their first buy. A 10% to 30% increase in revenue is usually expected for eCommerce businesses using these strategies. Imagine the revenue it will bring during the biggest sales day of Black Friday.
Upsell is a gentler sales technique that functions more like warm advice to guide people toward the ideal buy during the black Friday craziness whereas cross-selling can serve as a reminder for both first-time and recurring customers to purchase a related/complementary product to their previous purchase. Use the Rebuy app to offer recommendations for upselling and cross-selling the products of your Shopify store.
Effective upselling and cross-selling require excellent copies. Your sales copy must urge your readers to act by including phrases like "Add Extras," "You May Also Like," or "Others Also Bought."
8. Setup attribution strategy
The holiday season and BFCM are great opportunities for your company to reflect on both its triumphs and failures. The knowledge you gain has worth far from whatever money you may make during the sales. Tracking everything and reflecting on what worked and what didn't is crucial for this reason. Make sure you track the following KPIs to measure the Black Friday success:
Take notes (and screenshots) to document your choices and the results as you execute new ideas and techniques this year. These insights will serve as a baseline for the upcoming holiday season and will show you what is profitable for your company so you can do more of it.
9. Think Mobile-first
Most of the US customers spend 5-6 hours daily on their mobiles that too without including its use for work. Keeping this in mind, you must make sure that you tap this opportunity and make your potential customers spend this time on your eCommerce store. If your mobile experience is not at par with the competitors, they will spend this time somewhere else.
A mobile app becomes essential when you want to provide a customer experience that goes above and beyond. An app makes the entire shopping experience smooth and convenient. While some customers still complete their transactions on desktops and use mobile devices only for browsing, last year, Shopify merchants saw mobile transactions account for 71% of all sales over Black Friday and Cyber Monday, compared to just 29% on desktops.
By improving website navigation and speed and providing one-click purchases to all the customers, you may boost the chances of people especially mobile shoppers finding your store successful.
Loaded with tons of features and guided help, Shop2App offers the ideal platform for creating the greatest eCommerce app for your Shopify store that too without any complex codes. Read more about why you need a mobile app for your eCommerce store.
10. Assess checkout process
Optimize your checkout experience so that it's convenient for your shoppers while they’re checking out of your business after purchase, especially on a mobile device. Filling out every field needed to complete a transaction, especially on a mobile device, can drop sales.
Use payment alternatives for quick checkout which can help increase your mobile conversions this Black Friday. Shoppers can autofill stored information using these checkout processes, which minimizes the number of clicks needed to complete a transaction. You may also allow the customer to proceed as a guest also to smoothen the process. You may streamline payment for your Shopify store using tools like Klarna and Affirm.
11. Write product descriptions that sell
Create product descriptions that sell. Stimulate feelings while making it simple for search engines to record. Scarcity is one of Cialdini's principles of persuasion, and expressions such as “Limited time only, Only one left, Selling out fast!” can be used to create a sense of urgency.
But, how to write a good product description that sells. Emphasize more product benefits.
For example, This isn't just a face mask - it makes you feel better.
Since 7 out of 10 customers are unsure about their purchase, your persuasive product description may be quite effective. To help customers find what they're looking for, a little search engine optimization can also be helpful. See which descriptions worked for you during last Black Friday's sales and implement the same practices. You may start early to make tweaks and adjustments rather than doing it as you go.
12. Holiday special gift cards
Another tactic you may use while preparing your Black Friday plan is offering gift cards. Customers who make purchases from your store on Black Friday may get a discount gift card for their subsequent purchases.
During Black Friday last year, tech firm Apple Inc. used this strategy. They offered their customers gift cards worth up to $150 to use later on certain items they checked out over the specified time period. If you have a shopify store, then creating gift card becomes a piece of cake using Govalo.
You could also sell gift cards to boost your revenues. Amidst loads of options to choose from, some people are always confused as to what should they buy for their loved ones. To make the shopping experience convenient for them, sell gift cards and expedite their purchasing decision.
13. Identify your marketing channels
It is important to have a solid marketing strategy in place to ace your Black Friday sales. Make sure you market your store products on a diverse set of channels. Identify which channels are appropriate for your store and leverage them Business Insider reports that by 2024, social commerce will represent 7.8% of all e-commerce purchases in the US, while a poll by Statista reveals that 48% of all Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 had bought something on social media.
Choose one channel at a time and plan accordingly. TikTok amongst other platforms has grown in popularity for selling products whereas Facebook and Instagram have already been in the business for a long time now. Allocate the budget to promote products through ads on these channels to enhance the visibility of your products. Instead of just investing the entire budget on Google ads, ensure that you split your budget on all the marketing channels and reap the benefits of multi-channel marketing.
You’re all set! You just got a head start on your holiday planning this year with our Black Friday Cyber Monday checklist. This comprehensive guide covers everything you need to know for successful holiday season sales, starting from preparation and planning to execution. Plus, we've another part coming out soon which is all about how to bring customers to your Shopify store. Make sure you check it out as we will help you make the most of the holiday season. Stay tuned!
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