After just a few years, Black Friday is firmly set in the minds of UK shoppers as a major reason to buy.
And, with clear evidence of customers bringing their Christmas shopping forwards in the search for bargains, sellers simply cannot afford to ignore this US import. Stay aloof and you risk losing customers to hungrier competitors.
Plan early, however, and think creatively, and you can share in the Black Friday bonanza, rather than being trampled in the rush.
Black Friday is no longer just for multi-nationals and majors. Smaller, nimbler players are being increasingly innovative with the imported format.
Here are 5 ways to be creative for a Black Friday bonanza.
1.Move to mobile
It’s no secret that ecommerce is increasingly mobile and, faced with the ugly, in-store scrums that defined recent Black Fridays, many savvy shoppers are grabbing their bargains from the sofa. Last year, 1/3 of PayPal payments on Black Friday were made on a mobile device. And, 3/5 of UK sales conversions took place on mobile (more than in the US). UK shoppers have embraced mobile. You should, too.
2.Think Black November, not just Black Friday
Without the cultural tie to Thanksgiving, UK sellers have already started to stretch Black Friday to a week or longer. Last year, IMRG found that 44% of the UK’s Top 100 retailers launched their Black Friday sales in the week leading up to Friday itself and many continued into the following week. As MultiChannelMerchant.com noted, Amazon’s Black Friday sale lasted for 35 days.
Look for an opportunity to start your online sale early, perhaps tie it to China’s Singles Day (11th November) or even Halloween!
3.Look for international opportunities
In its Top Tips for Black Friday 2017, ecommerce specialist Salmon suggests taking advantage of exchange rate differences to target overseas buyers.
Remember, Black Friday has become a phenomenon in many countries beyond the US and UK. Shoppers from other countries will be looking for British bargains.
Our How to sell like Christmas all year round
ebook can help you target international sales. It’s full of tips and links to other resources on pricing, shipping and, of course, planning.
“We’re a PayPal business. We process all our payments through PayPal and that in itself has increased our turnover. We are one of the few businesses that artists trust to help them open these international markets. They know my story, and I understand their concerns.” Oliver Sean, Musician, producer and founder of WOA Entertainment
4.Be innovative in your marketing
As IMRG has pointed out, most Black Friday marketing consists of stark, white-on-black text with little or no messaging beyond the implicit promise of bargains.
How can you differentiate your message? Think about how your unique products can appeal to your audience of (mobile) online shoppers. Again, our
ebook can help. Perhaps, you can use your social channels to take a more meaningful message to your customers?
5.Be smart about pricing
Yes, Black Friday seems to be all about enormous bargains, but look more closely and you’ll see how smart sellers mix outrageous discounts with more normal prices. Some recover their margin on complementary products, like irresistible cufflinks for bargain shirts. Others will associate products in “looks”, edits, bundles or other offers.
IMRG suggests: "the trick is to employ [discounting] as a hook to attract shoppers to access the top deals, but then associate products with the discounted goods – either available at full price or a lower discounted rate – that are likely to appeal at that time, helping to average out the hit to margins.”
And, finally: test, test, test. Each year the media is full of stories of how the big names failed. Make sure you devote time to stress-testing every stage of your ecommerce process so that you don’t upset customers and lose valuable sales on the day.
Click here for a copy of How to sell like Christmas all year round. It’s packed with ideas to help you enjoy Christmas-level sales, every month of the year: how to connect with customers, giving them a reason to buy, and making it easy for them to buy from you.