2018 Black Friday has been eventful especially since massive fails in most online stores characterized it. This is owed to the fact that a majority of retailers felt that last years’ success would spill over to this year without them making any considerable efforts to up their game.
Contrary to this expectation, some stores had failed in several aspects. As such, they experienced a drop in the profits even with people buying several items from them. However, they can redeem themselves with better planning and make better sales next year and possibly recover from the decrease in profits. Here are some of the key areas online retailers can amend ahead of 2019’s Black Friday.
Timely Promotions
Some of the areas that benefited from timely are the cosmetics, footwear, and health sections. A company like Maybelline New York began its promotional efforts several weeks before the D-day. Consequently, this company, and others in the same line, as well as other non-food products, were seen to increase their sales significantly during the event. It seems as though the food industry took a back seat in this battle considering that not many retailers and restaurants offered any lucrative deals good enough to lure a following to buy from their sites. Four weeks advertisement before the event will work just fine to encourage buyers to spend their funds in the store.
Delivery Delays
It does not come as a shocker that most online retailers who had massive sales did not deliver most of their items on time. While many will blame this on the constant unavailability of transport during this season, it is safe to say that some level of unpreparedness was observed from their end. Knowing well that sales during this time of the year skyrocket instantly, they should have outsourced for alternative transport options to cover the shortage during the period. Looking ahead to next year’s Black Friday, these companies should invest in more transport options, especially for deliveries to be made within their jurisdictions. If not, they should look into adding more vans to their fleet to take care of the mess.
Retailers Should Add Christmas Sales to the Black Friday Shopping Deals
Anyone who watched the spending patterns of most shoppers firmly can attest that they were adamant to spend money on items unless it was necessary. This is because they were trying to balance their funds between Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and other Christmas offers. Considering that finances have been tight this year, it is understandable why shoppers were particularly keen not to indulge in unnecessary expenditure. In the next Black Friday sale, retailers should incorporate hot Christmas deals in the mix. This will get people to spend more considering that they will be looking to kill two birds with one stone.
Each Online Store Should Keep an Eye on Their Competition
The easiest way to fail at a Black Friday Sale is to ignore your competition. They will plan to outdo you, leaving your efforts to fail miserably. Watch out for their adverts, pre-event planning and find a way to provide better deals without leaving a dent in your bank. Do not let them push you to the extent of compromising your standards. Be ahead of the game.
If you have enough funds, you can gift individuals who shop over a specified amount of money to keep them motivated to visit the site not just once but severally. In case of funds constrain you, a personalized message to each shopper will suffice. Also, be sure to invest in friendly and prompt customer service individuals who will assist in making returns where necessary. Take this matter seriously because in most cases, it affects other sales attempts throughout the year considering that clients will hold back from visiting your website whenever they remember they had an unpleasant encounter with your customer support team.
Create a Buzz
Yes, most stores advertise their intentions a week or two before the event but this is never enough, considering that everyone else is doing the same. Take advantage of the trends on social media to drive traffic to your site. Hashtags are one of these useful inventions that you can incorporate in your hyping attempts. While you can do this alone, it is better if you bring in the help of experienced social media influencers. They will pull crowds to your sale effectively. While at it, ensure that they pitch in an aspect of scarcity on some of your best selling items.
Also, take advantage of positive reviews by some of your clients. Share a few of these on your blog or social sites. Provide a link that redirects viewers to a page with more reviews once they click on it. Ensure that a majority of these reviews are positive. As a mandatory requirement, online stores should create a new website interface specifically for Black Friday. It will build the anticipation even more. This can be done before the official sale advertisement.
SEO and Mobile Optimization
With several retailers seeking to gain a big following, you need to optimize your site so that it appears as the first option whenever anyone searches for Black Friday deals. Retailers can choose to employ the services of companies or individuals who are well versed in this sector or do it themselves. Even so, they should note that the former is more effective as compared to doing SEO optimization on your own.
Most retailers this year took their time to optimize their sites to provide a friendly interface on mobile devices as with desktop ones. While this is commendable, it is unfortunate to note that the amount of traffic leading to their sites led to slowed processes. It seems that shoppers were utilizing their portable devices more as compared to computers. To create a more conducive and friendlier shopping encounter on smartphones in 2019, each retailer should look into providing stronger e-shopping cart software.
Liaise Directly With Designers Early Enough to Provide Quality Products
One of the greatest let downs when shopping online is finding that the item you purchased does not perform as the advert stated. This has let to several returns during Black Friday. Each store should liaise with all their service and product providers early enough and make orders. This will give these production entities enough time to deliver top-notch items that will be difficult to reject. Additionally, every retailer should desist from partnering with companies that specialize in cloning objects and selling them at lower prices, especially when it comes to electronics, clothes, and cosmetics. Doing so never ends well and honestly, the trend should end in 2018, clearing the road for a better Black Friday season next year.
Additionally, retailers should anticipate more sales in 2019 considering that most of them will try to incorporate several marketing and PR tactics to counter the failures they experienced this year. As such, they should take stock early enough, replenish what is minimal, especially their best selling products.
Final Thoughts
Each online retailer should strive to keep their online shopping experience as neat as possible. They should keep the traffic moving, and ensure that their post-purchase customer service is at its best. However, they should note that even with all these provisions in place, all their efforts will be rendered void if they do not secure the site.