Sarah Corcoran
Blog Writer
Black FRiday 2019
The boom is most certainly back but shoppers still can’t say no to a bargain. Cyber Monday and Black Friday – which comes in perfect time for the Christmas rush – are an ideal opportunity for your company to capitalise, increase traffic and sales and clear some space before your Christmas stock arrives. Ensure your business is making the most of this valuable buying season by preparing where you can ahead of time – even if there isn’t a lot of time left. Make sure you’re ready for Black Friday with our handy tips:
Plan and Prepare Early:
Decide in advance what products or services you want to discount and how much of a special offer you want to offer. How will your special offer be advertised? Email is usually the quickest and cheapest way to advertise to your existing customer base. Keep your subject short and direct. Getting straight to the saving with catchy ‘X% off for Black Friday’ and ‘Use this code for X% discount’.
Make sure the links in the email work correctly and try to use some eye-catching colours or graphics so you are not lost in the flood. Even if you’re only considering Black Friday a week before, you’d be surprised how quickly you can get things done if you put your mind to it.
Social Media:
If email marketing is not your preferred way to communicate, or you want to reach a wider, more diverse audience, a social media campaign might be a better option for your company. If you plan properly you can create a schedule to build anticipation for your sale, advertise dates and offers and promote purchasing. Make sure any links you have included to your online shop, website or marketplace work correctly as customers won’t try twice! You might also consider working with established bloggers and influencers if your product is compatible with that form of advertising.
Make it Accessible:
We’ve said it already, but it is so important to ensure all of your means of advertising and selling are 100% accessible to all of your users. That means having an adaptable desktop and mobile website and that your store is fully functioning. Ideally, you would have ‘alt text’ meaning your website is accessible to visually impaired. Your text should be easy to read in a clear font and bold colours. Make sure your loading time isn’t too long, customers do not have a very long attention span when it comes to loading times. Links should be tested numerous times to make sure there is no disruption or broken connections.
Test and Test Again:
You cannot possibly anticipate every problem that may or may not arise from a Black Friday sale, but you can be ready so everything runs as smoothly as possible. You should have a contingency plan in case your website cannot put up with the extra traffic caused by the sale and a backup plan in case it crashes. Have a third party test your website and comment on all aspects of the buying and navigation processes. You don’t want your sale to fail because the website or shopping experience lets you down.
Consider delivery,returns and refunds:
Not every product hits the spot for every customer, that’s just life! A bigger volume of sales usually means a higher rate of returns and you should bear this in mind when planning for Black Friday. Offer free returns or refunds within a certain time frame and include a return slip with each delivery. This is a good way to show you have faith in your product and offer good customer service. Calculate the cost of returns, delivery and postage ahead of time and factor those into your financial plan.
If you’re finding it difficult to manage calls and postal admin for your business, why not give yourself the gift of time this Christmas and invest in a virtual office service. Not only can Premier Business centres offer a full virtual office service, we also have number serviced office sites which can grow along with your business. Contact Therese Mullane on 0866001238 for more information.
