Black Friday and Cyber Monday are two of the most important dates in your ecommerce business calendar. It’s really important you are prepared for this sale extravaganza and make the most of what your brand has to offer to consumers!
What is Black Friday?
Black Friday is the biggest sale event of the year, huge amounts of products are heavily discounted since its widespread popularity. It’s the one day shoppers can take advantage of some of the best deals on just about anything, online and instore. Products drop to all-time low prices, often with very limited stock.
There’s lots of different theories about the name ‘Black Friday’, the name was first coined in the 1860’s when a major stock market crashed. Much later, in Philadelphia during the late 1950s and early 1960s, the term was resurrected and used to refer to the day between Thanksgiving and the Army-Navy game. The event would draw in large crowds of tourists and shoppers, requiring extra hours put in for law enforcement to control the traffic. Many people believe we call the day after Thanksgiving “Black Friday” because stores would go from operating at a loss, or being ‘in the red’, to earning a profit, or being ‘in the black’.
It wasn’t until the late 1980’s that the term became synonymous with shopping – retailers reinvented the ‘ Black Friday’ name to reflect the backstory of how accountants used different colour ink, red for negative earnings and black for positive earnings, to denote a company’s profitability. Black Friday then became the day when stores finally turned a profit, it has evolved into a season-long event that’s spawned more shopping holidays, like Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday. This year Black Friday lands on November 25th!
What’s the difference between Black Friday and Cyber Monday?
The main difference between Black Friday and Cyber Monday is that Black Friday deals can be found online and in physical stores, whereas Cyber Monday is purely dedicated to online discounts. Some items will sell so well during Black Friday that they sell out before Cyber Monday. However, it can also be an opportunity for ecommerce brands to offer further discounts to sell as much stock as possible. Cyber Monday also tends to see discounts on smaller items that might get ignored during Black Friday.
5 top tips for ecommerce brands on Black Friday
- Plan Black Friday and Cyber Monday selling early
The best place to start this busy selling season is to be organised in your planning. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the most popular two selling days of the year and should not be overlooked or planned last minute. Shoppers love getting a good deal, so they’re more likely to splurge during this time. You are competing for attention, so you need to develop a great sales and logistics strategy to expand your efforts. You should be strategizing several months in advance to get the best results, and to even consider Black Friday and Cyber Monday selling weeks before the date to get ahead of everyone.
- Get your products in early to prevent delay
It’s crucial to make sure you order your products early, specifically for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Supply chains can be an issue and needs to be a priority, you don’t want this affecting the opportunity of sales. You must calculate precisely how much stock you think you can sell for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, considering monthly and annual average sales. This means making educated predictions – having more stock than not enough is often the better option because it can still be sold moving forward. Take time over your sales forecasting for this special time of year.
- Offer Product bundling
Product bundling basically means multi-item orders, this sales strategy increases your average order value (AOV). If someone’s a fan of your products they will often want more than one or choose to give them as gifts, so bundling items together and slightly discounting the individual prices of each item to one unique price provides more value.
For example, if your average order value is £5 on one top selling item, you create the opportunity to increase the AOV to £10 or £15. This is really good for brands with multiple offerings such as cosmetics, wellness products, dog treats etc. Bundling your products and services into one package enables customers to receive a better deal, while helping you as the retailer clear more stock and boost your bottom line with a higher AOV.
It’s best to plan ahead which items sell best and which would make the best bundles – you can make multiple bundles if you have an abundance of products. Research shows that a well-designed bundle can increase total revenues by 30% and really encourages new customers to try out your products. Combining slow-moving stock is a great option within your bundles, pairing items high in demand can bring a lot of value and can offload excess slow-moving stock in a big way!
- Offer Upsells
Upsells are slightly different to bundling; they are a recommendation for related products that don’t include a discounted package. When a customer is purchasing an item it’s great to refer them to another item that would naturally fit to purchase together. For example, toothbrush and toothpaste or paper and pencils. Upsells and cross-selling increase AOV while fulfilling the customer’s needs. It’s key to decide on your bundles and upsells ahead of time.
- Delivery speed
Dispatch speed is your competitive advantage – research shows shipping faster has a direct correlation to customer acquisition and retention. Studies have shown that the majority of online shoppers identify shipping speed as a key factor in their decision to shop with an e-commerce brand again. This customer touchpoint reduces abandoned carts online and directly affects revenue.
We hope you find these Black Friday selling tips useful for your ecommerce brand. If you need help growing your ecommerce brand, increasing your sales and standing out from your competition, book a call to discuss what The Fastnet Agency can offer.