November is the best month of the year for online businesses. Even though Black Friday and Cyber Monday only occur twice a month, they have a significant effect on retail establishments. Customers are expecting for bargains, and businesses are hoping for a significant increase in income, so both sides of the retail equation are looking forward to these days. In 2022, Black Friday sales exceeded $9 billion, according to Adobe Analytics. And on Cyber Monday, which fell on three days later, online sales exceeded that amount, bringing in almost $11 billion. Cyber Week had record-breaking sales of almost $35.2 billion throughout that whole week. Given that figure, online businesses are carefully planning their Black Friday e-commerce strategy for 2024.
Even though Black Friday and Cyber Monday in 2022 saw record-breaking sales, the rise of e-commerce overall has stalled. Although sales in 2022 grew by 7.7% year over year, e-commerce growth has been at its weakest pace since 2009. The thought of succeeding during Cyber Week may seem overwhelming given the decreasing growth and fierce competition that shops encounter annually during this period.
For a lot of them, stealing business from rivals just requires cutting pricing. Is it the best course of action, though? In your rush to increase sales, you can lose out on a lot of money that might have been made. “The past is prologue,” as the phrase goes. You can create a successful BFCM ecommerce strategy by looking at previous performance and current trends.
The New Black Is November.
Even though Cyber Week will get the most of your attention, it’s crucial to understand that, despite the fact that most purchasing occurs over the course of a single week, Black Friday remains a prominent fixture on customers’ thoughts throughout the entire month. You won’t have to push sales the whole month, but you will need to put in a bit more effort to be seen and remembered. You may start to concentrate your efforts in ways that will provide results by taking a look at a few of the patterns from the last few years.
E-commerce is growing, even on the actual Black Friday. Black Friday originated as a day when people would go shopping in malls, downtown areas, and cities; it predates the commercial internet. That has been impacted by online shopping, and the epidemic has hastened the decline. However, even before that, 93.2 million consumers shopped online on Black Friday in 2019 compared to 83.3 million on Cyber Monday.
Sales are mostly driven by paid advertisements. Unless you began the day after last year’s Black Friday, online marketing techniques like content creation and SEO optimization are excellent long-term tactics to increase website traffic, but they are not very helpful for Black Friday. In 2022, sponsored advertisements directly contributed to 28% of internet purchases. Direct (18%), affiliate referrals (18%), and email marketing (17%) were the next three highest achievers.
BFCM Ecommerce Tip
It’s evident that more and more consumers choose to enjoy Black Friday in the convenience of their own homes. To increase traffic and revenue throughout the month of November, rely on a paid advertising strategy. It’s not necessary to run sales for the whole month; the advertisements may just hint at your Cyber Monday and Black Friday deals and create anticipation for the occasion.
When choosing where to allocate your advertising budget, consider multichannel advertising as well. Google advertising are quite effective, particularly when used to drive traffic to your own website. Keep your advertising relevant to the Amazon platform, however, if you’re a vendor there. The same is true for eBay, where listing promotion may have a significant influence and increase views by up to 36%.
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One of the finest methods to provide your customers a personalized experience is via email marketing. Because they have opted in, your audience is more likely to read what you provide them. By segmenting your consumer base and giving them emails about subjects or categories they are interested in, you may tailor this page to perfection. Utilize your email in a drip campaign in the run-up to Cyber Monday and Black Friday.
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Personalization is more challenging if you are an Amazon or Walmart merchant (or, really, any merchant with a major presence on another company’s marketplace). This is because there is an administrative layer between you and your consumers. Other marketplaces promote a more direct exchange of information with consumers or go above and beyond in connecting users with vendors. For instance, Etsy has an advanced recommendation system that directs customers to certain goods and vendors. Additionally, the website has expanded beyond its initial focus on handcrafted and crafts goods, and your own merchandise may fit right in there. Should your inventory align with the top-selling things on the website, it’s possible that one of Etsy’s clients may find you via a tailored suggestion. It doesn’t hurt to have another “storefront” online, even if you don’t, particularly because it’s so simple to list simultaneously on many marketplaces.
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In every area, e-commerce has the power to make you a local hero as well as a worldwide player. We discussed the effectiveness of sponsored advertisements in 2022 as a factor in Black Friday e-commerce earlier in this piece. 2024 will be no different, and purchasing advertisements with several market localizations is a smart strategy. This does not imply lying about where you are; rather, it just means that the advertisement’s content should be something that people can recognize locally. A commercial featuring pictures of swimming pools and palm trees that is aimed at New Yorkers is a squandered chance.
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To reach as many people worldwide as possible, you may use the same type of local targeting with Amazon Ads. With the correct equipment, you may take advantage of Amazon’s worldwide marketplace network of warehouses to sell internationally into any market as if you were a local.
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To determine which toys will bring in the most money, discounts included, you don’t have to be an expert in the field. You may depend on technology to locate them selling on other websites for less than they’re going for on Amazon when you use our Tactical Arbitrage solution. This will provide you with the information you need to get into the Buy Box.
Make sure you can genuinely sell toys throughout the Christmas season before moving further with this. Amazon has limitations on when and who is allowed to sell certain items. In the event that you are excluded from this group, you will need to purchase toys for yourself (and place the whole toy plan in the “Black Friday 2024” pile).
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You can do the same thing with old books by using ScoutIQ. You don’t have to go into the whole book business, even if secondhand books may not be the first thing that come to mind when thinking of Christmas gift ideas. Alternatively, you may narrow down your search to just include books in the most lucrative categories. This won’t revolutionize your Black Friday approach; rather, think of it as a side job where you seize whatever chance you come across. And since, well, you can, you can give steep/competitive discounts here.
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AI is a popular subject this year, and many are turning to chatbots to help with front-line customer service on Cyber Monday and Black Friday. These bots may be useful, but if they aren’t connected with a conventional help desk or ticketing system, they could create more issues than they fix. To manage the flood of new client accounts, make sure you have a tested ticketing system in place. The goal is to maintain accountability and centralization.
It might be particularly challenging for multichannel vendors to provide a positive customer experience on many different marketplaces. All of the queries that come in from different channels should go via one helpdesk application. Your customer support staff may do this task manually or automatically using software like ChannelReply.
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It’s a good idea to ask pleased consumers for comments as you get ready for Black Friday. Create a repeat customer target group using email marketing software (repeat customers are likely to have had a positive experience). By providing a review incentive (like an additional or “secret” Black Friday discount), you may accomplish two goals at once. Just be cautious not to violate any policies, such as Amazon’s policy about customer product reviews, and don’t attempt to influence the reviews in any manner—just honest thoughts.
How to Make Your Online Store Ready for the Holidays
E-Commerce Advice
Include requesting reviews in your Black Friday procedure. You may ride a wave of credibility into Christmas and beyond by including a programmatic mode of asking for feedback into a major sales event. It’s never too early to begin making plans for Black Friday 2024, so start compiling a library of reviews today. Read more