How to Set Your Ecommerce Store for Black Friday

Posted by SAMEER KASMA | November 16, 2020 | E-commerce

Black Friday is historically a huge day in the E-commerce calendar, After a tough year, all retailers will be looking to maximize their sale.

This year, E-commerce is likely to be a key focus, with more people looking to shop from home and avoid any potential exposure to COVID-19, while you can also expect some major discounts, beyond the norm, as businesses seek to get all they can.

In order to ensure you have everything in place, Here are some of the tips and reminders to Set Your E-commerce Store for Black Friday

Optimize your products for sales

Analyze your sales data - what sells well and what doesn't?
Plan ahead by creating a product schedule for when a product goes on sale, and its price
Product descriptions should instill urgency - 'Limited time only' and 'Only one left'
Add special mentions of Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the product descriptions
SEO benefit: to find some Black Friday-related keywords for your products, run a keyword search on Google and using Google Trends

Apply the right discounts, to the right products

Be prepared to slash at least 20% off your items to compete
When it comes to discounts, the more creative the better
- Offer a free gift with your products as a little sweetener
- A "doorbuster sale" - an eye-watering discount on one product of, say, 80% - can be a great way to draw a high volume of shoppers

Improve the shopping experience with customers

Create ample opportunities for cross-selling and upselling
A customer should arrive on your store's homepage and be in no doubt about where to go
Consider building distinct Black Friday page
Create a sense of urgency:
- Display discounts clearly on the homepage
- Add a countdown banner
If you have a 'sale' section of your website, a quick and easy fix is to alter the text to make it a special Black Friday navigation bar

Make your checkout process as good as it can be

Take some time to improve your checkout process:
- Can you add extra payment options such as Card on Delivery and Instalment Payment?
3 in 10 online purchasing journeys involve more than one device - tie shopping carts with accounts so customers don't lose orders if they switch device
Create a sense of urgency
The checkout page is a red-hot prospect for upselling faster deliver

Use social media marketing to drive traffic

Watch out for Black Friday and Cyber Monday hashtags to piggyback on
Use social media plug-ins available from ecommerce website builders to integrate your store with social media platforms
Facebook is the most effective channel to drive traffic to your site and generate sales
For adverts: Choose a quality product image and add your logo and some text advertising your deals, circulating the advert at least a few days in advance to build excitement

Send top-quality email marketing campaigns

Make sure you start your email campaign at least a week advance to whet your customers' appetite
Consider offering your long-standing customers a special VIP offer over email
Follow up after Black Friday to ask for feedback and invite them to revisit your store
Adding an automated abandoned cart recovery email is a great way of stopping customers slipping through the net
Stay on top of what your competitors are doing for Black Friday by subscribing to their email list

Sort out your site's images

Optimize your website's images for faster loading - customers will not wait around
Consider offering your long-standing customers a special VIP offer over emaiCompress your image into a smaller version, without affecting the dimensions or the quality

Decide what to do about shipping costs

Weigh up the cost of free shipping against the discount you're offering
Either send a free shipping discount code through your store's discounts section (great for rewarding loyal customers) or set up a free shipping rate in your store's settings
Setting a minimum order value for free shipping is an effective tactic for increasing order values

Provide standout customer service

Write a detailed FAQs section specific to Black Friday - any questions your customers might have can be answered as quickly as possible. cover key areas such as:
- Your refunds and returns policy
- How long your sale lasts for
- Expected delivery time
Make sure your staff understand the importance of being polite and helpful
Consider investing in an app through your store platform that allows you to integrate a live chat service

Can your site handle the additional Black Friday traffic

The biggest nightmare for any site owner is your website breaking down just as you get a surge in customers looking to buy.

Test the Website load capacity
Test email marketing in advance
Test your site across different browsers

Black Friday Dos and Don'ts

DO always have an unsubscribe button on any emails.
DO offer genuine discounts. Don’t raise the price a week before and then drop it back down to its original price but advertise it as a discount.
DO make sure any pop-ups you add to your website are as unobtrusive and relevant as possible. We’d suggest they only appear after a visitor has been on your page for 10 seconds.

DON’T spam customers with relentless emails. Just because they’ve bought from you or signed up to your newsletter doesn’t give you right to abuse their inbox.
DON’T offer promotions or products in paid advertising that you aren’t offering on the site.
DON’T be rude to customers requesting refunds or making inquiries. Black Friday can be stressful, but you should always remain professional and courteous.

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