In today’s post pandemic world, there have never been as many opportunities for eCommerce brands to boost sales. By the same token, there has never been as much competition either. As we fast approach the holiday season, brands are turning their attention to Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM). Known to be synonymous with bargains, the last weekend in November marks the start of the holiday shopping season, prompting shoppers to flock to checkouts, whether in-person or via online stores.
As in previous years, brands begin preparing for the busiest shopping weekend of the year well in advance. While this year is no different, the increasing appeal of platforms such as Amazon has resulted in additional considerations for eCommerce brands to retain loyal customers, entice new audiences, and reach a larger market.
Proven Black Friday/Cyber Monday strategies for 2022
The industry is evolving at an accelerated pace and for eCommerce brands to remain relevant, it’s no longer enough to just keep pace. To gain traction and rise above the competition, brands need to re-examine their pricing, product selections, marketing, and even their supply chain tactics. Listed below are 14 strategies that will provide eCommerce brands with the opportunity to skyrocket BFCM sales throughout, and beyond, the holiday shopping season.
- Recognise and reward loyal customers
Ensure the return of loyal customers and increase customer lifetime value (CLV) by offering exclusive programmes such as early access to products or invitations to special events; solicit customer feedback and take appropriate actions; use social media or your website to thank customers for their business or for posting positive reviews; provide referral rewards such as a free upgrade or a discount code; and create a sense of community via social media or in-person events. Additionally, eCommerce BFCM deals can attract the attention of new customers. Secure their business during and beyond the holidays by letting them know you appreciate their business.
- Send timely and relevant communications
Encourage additional sales by sending communications that provide targeted and personalised offers and contain a clear call to action to customers that made recent purchases. Use this strategy to build trust by providing communications that deliver tailored recommendations based on the customer’s purchasing history, contain language that is consistent with your brand, and speaks to the customer in a way that is familiar to them.
- Reactivate past customers
Reach out to dormant customers by letting them know about your BFCM deals. This can be accomplished in three simple steps: 1) Review your customer data to determine who hasn’t purchased from you in a while, 2) Send previous customers personalised messages about your upcoming BFCM sales, 3) Create a sense of urgency by offering limited-time discounts or free shipping for orders placed on certain days or by a certain date.
- Combine BFCM discounts with digital coupons
Increase the appeal of BFCM discounts by combining them with digital coupons. Today’s shoppers are more comfortable with entering a one-time unique code, rather than accepting a blanket deal sent to the masses. Additionally, shoppers have become increasingly open to preloading coupons on their devices and searching for deals at checkout. Digital coupons can take many forms such as a percentage off the total purchase price, a fixed amount that can be applied to the order, free shipping, or other enticing benefits.
- Offer category-specific sales
Stand out from the competition by changing your sales strategy to one that offers significant savings on specific items or pages, and smaller discounts on other offerings. This tactic not only enables you to attract shoppers that are looking for certain goods but can help you clear out inventory that you may otherwise have difficulty moving.
- Update your pricing strategy
Maximise sales by offering steep, yet competition-aligned discounts on BFCM, while ensuring that the new price points will still enable you to achieve your long-term goals. With an Amazon Hybrid Selling Model you’re able to: offer discounts on multiple products instead of just one or two; track competitor’s pricing models to ensure your pricing is in line with theirs; and update your shipping rates to attract customers who are willing to pay more for expedited shipping options.
- Offset advertising costs by focusing on average order value
Improve your bottom line by shifting your attention from purely increasing the number of orders during the holiday shopping season to include a focus on average order value (AOV). AOV is a measure of how much each customer spends, on average, during a transaction. For example, if your AOV is $100, and you increase orders by 10 per cent, you’ll increase revenue by $10. However, if you increase AOV by the same percentage (10 per cent), you’ll increase revenue by $20 as opposed to $10.
- Use online shopping data to provide the products and bundles customers’ desire
Use customer behaviour data to understand who your customers are, and how they like to shop. Based on the data acquired, you can offer new products, unique bundles, limited time offers, etc. Some strategies to consider include new product offerings such as just released items or popular goods that have been out of stock; product bundles that have relational benefits; and time limited BFCM bundles.
- Get the most return from your advertising budget
Be financially smart about your advertising budget, and this means receiving sufficient return on advertising spend (ROAS). While for most brands, advertising spend in the run-up to BFCM will increase, there are ways to create cost-efficient campaigns.
There are three proven tactics worth considering that will provide the most return on your increased spend. To start, if the budget is designated to drive more traffic, bottom-of-the-funnel is where you should focus. For example, if you’re selling on Amazon, the extra money is best used at the SKU level to drive conversions. Next, focus on relevant keywords that are relevant to your products and are being used by people during searches. This helps to ensure that your ads are seen by those who are interested in what you are selling. Be sure to include popular holiday search terms like “gift ideas”, “Christmas gifts”, “holiday gifts”, etc. Finally, track results and know your click-through rate (CTR) and cost-per-click (CPC). When CTR is low or CPC is high, that’s a signal for you to adjust your campaigns – whether that’s advertising copy, targeting, or bid amounts.
- Start advertising early, but not too early
Reach potential customers before they’re inundated with holiday deals from your competitors and your ads become lost in the noise. This is especially true if you’re planning to extend the sales period, i.e., Black November, as many eCommerce brands are increasingly doing. A general rule of thumb is to launch your advertisements one – two weeks before the holiday.
- Reduce cart abandonment
Once the customer reaches your Amazon store or other online marketplace, you want them to complete the transaction. To reduce cart abandonment and lost sales, you can 1) send customised reminders to customers that have abandoned their carts, informing them of what they left behind, 2) set-up time-based prompts that remind customers to complete their purchases before the expiration date.
- Maximise the usage of your email list
Use your email list to not only increase sales, but educate customers, upsell, and cross-sell throughout the BFCM holiday rush. This tactic not only benefits the customer but also helps to maximise revenue. The success of this strategy relies on three easy steps, 1) send a preview email a few days before Black Friday, informing customers of the deals that will be available over BFCM, 2) On Black Friday and Cyber Monday, send regular emails highlighting your products and sales. Be sure to include links so customers can easily find what they are looking for, as well as calls to action, 3) After BFCM, send a thank you email and let them know about sales or promotions that are coming soon.
- Address inventory challenges before BFCM
Be sure to have adequate inventory to support the increased traffic and sales. Start the process well in advance of BFCM to give ample time for your inventory to be received at Amazon’s fulfillment centres or other warehouses.
- Extend sales beyond BFCM
Draw in more customers and increase sales by extending the BFCM theme and timeline. Given that this is the shopping event of the year, many eCommerce brands are using it to their advantage by extending the sales period for weeks. Not only can it have a positive effect on your bottom line, but you can also use the extension to sell older inventory or clearance items.
This fast-evolving industry requires eCommerce brands to understand how all areas of their business – from online journeys and on-demand deliveries to supply chain – impact consumers and their customer experiences. By incorporating some or all the above strategies, you can optimise your offerings and set yourself up to thrive not only this holiday season, but throughout 2023.
By Orla Power, Director of Marketing at Luzern eCommerce