With Thanksgiving approaching us rapidly, there’s only one question on everybody’s mind – what are going to purchase the day after? Black Friday has been gaining attention in the past decade and has definitely become one of the most important days of the year, both for buyers and sellers. This trend is more visible today due to online purchasing, so here is why Black Friday is such an amazing opportunity for your ecommerce.
Mobile shopping
The fact that most people make their online purchases using the smartphones is neither new nor particularly surprising – after all, we can all spare a minute or two during our commute or while waiting for the turkey to cook. That’s why you need to focus on these customers more than on all the others because the numbers for this year’s mobile revenue are showing something rather interesting: this will be the first year when mobile profits will be higher than the ones made on desktop computer!
Therefore, a steady growth that’s been present in the past couple of years is going to climax quite soon, and you’d better be prepared for it because, ultimately, if your offer isn’t available to mobile users, it just won’t be as visible as you’re expecting it to be.
Bookmarks and wish lists
This is another trend in the ecommerce that’s probably going to become even more important in the years to come – creating wish lists and bookmarking the things you’re planning to purchase. People who are serious about their shopping have a tendency to do this all year long and by the time November comes, their browsers are packed with bookmarked pages and their wish lists are longer than ever.
Accumulating their desire for certain products for several months just makes them long for these products even more and this anticipation explodes precisely at Black Friday, making it a win-win date for everyone. Wish lists are the next big thing in the ecommerce world and something everyone needs to explore – the suppliers, the sellers, the buyers and everyone in between.
An opportunity to remember
Another amazing thing about Black Friday is that it isn’t all about who’ll make the most purchases but it’s also a chance to crunch some numbers and evaluate your progress. The end of the fiscal year is closer than you think, and most businesses like to start the evaluation process ahead instead of having to wait for the last minute. That’s why they take Thanksgiving and Black Friday as an opportunity to see how much they’ve done in the current year and what else they can do in December.
Ultimately, Black Friday evening is also an occasion to throw a business event for your company, celebrating all your success of the day, while the numbers are still crunching and purchases are still being made late into the night. These events are always a good opportunity to meet and greet your colleagues and employees, and it is generally good for your company on more levels than one, especially after a successful and productive day such as this one.
Prepare properly
Knowing that the Black Friday sales usually start a day or even two before the actual day and continue until the beginning of the following week, i.e. Cyber Monday, you need to think ahead and prepare yourself, both mentally and physically, as well as your company and your products in advance. Being ready is half the work and if you’re expecting an army of online shoppers – and since it’s Black Friday, you might as well assume they’ll come in hundreds and thousands – this will make a huge difference and ultimately make or break your day.
What can you do to prepare for an invasion of shoppers? First of all, ecommerce is different than ordinary shopping, so stacking shelves and making sure every product has a price tag isn’t always crucial, but what’s vital is the health of your servers and databases. If something crashes in the middle of the day, you can say goodbye to a ton of money and will probably lose lots of new customers who won’t return after being disappointed on such an occasion. Therefore, the future image of your company depends on this day more than you can realize, so step your game up and give it your best!
Free shipping
With so much traffic going on during these 24 hours, you can’t even imagine how easy it is to lose lots and lots of customers just because your prices are a dollar or two higher than your competitor’s. But, earning new customers is just as easy and if you do something unordinary – like offering free shipping, for example – you’ll make much more cash than you could’ve anticipated.
Even though free shipping will eventually have to be paid by your company, the extra profit you make will cover the losses, and even earn you a ton of unexpected cash. Again, this is something you have to organize and advertise in advance because lots of people plan their Black Friday shopping for months and are quite interested in your free shipping offer. In the end, although this step looks like losing money instead of earning it, it’s quite the opposite, so think about it as soon as possible.
Other ideas
Some of the other ways to attract visitors and buyers on Black Friday include spicing up your website, checking your speed and investing in databases and backups, just in case something goes wrong.