Black Friday Success in 2020
What does Black Friday and Cyber Monday success look like in 2020?
We’ve already told you how e-commerce is trending up in 2020. Earlier this year, experts predicted an increase in overall e-commerce performance and online sales. With COVID-19 and restrictions in place globally and consumers shifting behaviours to online sales, e-commerce outperformed the experts’ predictions before the year has ended. We break down how a print-on-demand drop-shipping business can take advantage of this historically in-store annual consumer spending spike opportunity without typical in-store mania.
Setting the groundwork
With the in-store limitations and restrictions for COVID-19 prevention, many retailers will turn to a digitally-focused approach. Translation: the competition will be strong and standing out will be important. However, consumer online shopping habits have increased in 2020 which means more online retail sales will be strongly met with an audience hungry for catching a deal.
Your advantage: a print-on-demand business offers customers a custom, unique and exclusive purchasing experience. Understanding and leveraging your unique position as an e-commerce retailer is paramount to standing out during the sales. But if you need more help to plan your strategy, we have other tricks on how to stand out and make a profit during Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Expecting the unexpected
The 2020 anthem is: expecting the unexpected. This does not translate into throwing out strategic planning and data collection. Whether you’re a novice or veteran online business owner, it is crucial to establish a tailored plan for your business and measure the success to help better guide and inform future sales and collect consumer data.
Early bird gets the worm
Historically, brick and mortar retailers announce Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales the day before or on Black Friday to create a sense of urgency and excitement. The best deals usually run from Friday through to Monday with various discounts across product offerings although some retailers extend sales or change discount details daily (or hourly!) for variety.
Experts predict consumer holiday shopping will occur earlier in 2020 because of potential delays or safety precautions. According to a Visa study, a mere 20% of U.S. shoppers plan to purchase their holiday gifts in-store. Retail companies are wise to this consumer trend and some companies have begun advertising Black Friday discounts in October.
To differentiate your online custom apparel business from the competition or other retailers, consider planning your Black Friday discounts to begin a week or two before. Planning your Black Friday and Cyber Monday after the U.S. Thanksgiving is unwise. Consumer excitement wears off and you’re unlikely to get your customers’ attention. An early sale helps you stand out from the crowd of retailers without targeting “shopped-out” customers.
Extra, extra!
Announce your sale across all your channels: website, email, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok or wherever your brand is visible. But, be warned: according to Bluleadz, multiple offers on your landing page may decrease conversion by 266%. Translation: advertise your sales without clutter.
Consider temporarily changing the banner to outline your biggest discount and dedicate a specific sale page to outline any additional sales you may have. If you’re considering one site-wide sale, consider temporarily changing the landing page of your website to detail your sale.
Homepage promotions are certainly important but do not neglect the rest of your customer’s journey. In each stage of purchase or viewing your website, make your sale and promotion visible and understandable.
Other popular Black Friday promotional tools include a countdown clock on social or your website, a Facebook event or an Instagram Live to announce the sales. Wherever your business is active and engaged with its audience, you must advertise your Black Friday deals to reap the benefits.
Bullseye
Segmenting and appropriately targeting your audience are important when promoting your sales. Before you announce your sales, segment your list and target each list member based on products they have already purchased. You can find helpful information about your customers in the Shopify behaviour reports. Using helpful – and readily available – consumer data can not only tell you information about your customers and target audience but it can also help improve your marketing and promotions strategy.
Some segmenting strategies include personalized discount codes or rebate programs for your loyal customers. A personalized email delivering the good news and thanking your customer for their business is an excellent tactic to increase sales and brand affinity.
Popularity contest
If you’re leaning towards select items for your Black Friday sale, choose your most popular items and advertise them as just that – the most popular items. Customers who are new to your site are likely to peruse the most popular products – after all, they are purchased and loved the most. Consider creating a holiday gift guide, featured collection or a best-seller list.
Technical difficulties
Like we mentioned before, expect the unexpected. This mantra applies for all technical components of your Black Friday sale. After you’ve designed your strategic plan, complete technical testing as well as a test run of your tactics.
Not sure what to look for? Consider the following:
- Test your website load time and reach out to your hosting provider if the website needs an upgrade. If you’re website is hosted exclusively with Shopify, click here to check the stress status of Shopify.
- Quadruple check if your online store is mobile-friendly for various phone providers and web browsers (example: Apple or Android and Safari or Chrome) and is viewable in default or dark custom display settings.
- If you are measuring with any analytics tools, ensure the goals are precisely set up to capture all data.
- If your customers are using a discount code, try testing an order with the discount code to ensure it is working and is applying to the correct items. Click here for Shopify test order instructions.
Honesty is the best policy
Display your return policy in clear and understandable terms. You may have new customers or guests purchasing a holiday gift for their loved ones. As a print-on-demand business, it is imperative to display your return policy during a Black Friday and Cyber Monday sale to keep your customers informed and happy.