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Black Friday is no longer really ‘the one day of the year’; it’s more of a mindset now – what makes customers tick. It’s a make-or-break opportunity for retailers – particularly for small e-commerce shops.
Several e-commerce merchants with glitzy web stores rake in oodles of pounds during Black Friday because they know that the retail event is now about reimagining business for the new age of consumerism.
But if you fail to garner the lion’s share of holiday pounds from this supreme retail opportunity, you are likely making these alarming retail mistakes. From slow crowd control to complicated/outdated e-shop design and ineffective communication, retailers must do well to avoid these Black Friday sale sins.
Black Friday adds additional stress to brands trying to create the most effective marketing campaigns. If you want to turn this elite shopping event to your advantage, you must plan an excellent approach to get in on the action. Most retailers devise their comprehensive plan at the beginning of November, which creates chaos across departments, thus hampering their revenue goals. Planning four to six months ahead is critical to driving sales. Writing a thorough, step-by-step to-do list will keep your team updated on essential tasks and on track for success.
Ecommerce stores with crisp designs tend to generate more revenue than an outdated e-shop. Your website design is the first impression a customer perceives about your brand. It also spells success in terms of revenue. Most retailers focus on promotions and keep other tasks on the priority list during the Black Friday sales event; and as a consequence, the design of the website takes a back seat.
If you want to get massive traffic to your e-commerce shop during the holiday season, you must focus on the e-commerce design to give your visitors the best-in-class shopping experience. An eye-catching website with intuitive functionality and aesthetics will deliver a groovy user experience. If your online store doesn’t provide the feel and ambience your users want, then it’s time to give it a facelift.
Also, prepare your website to handle traffic load well. A technical team should be there to control the inflow of customers and tackle major technical issues that may occur during checkout – if it’s clunky or confusing, shoppers will abandon their carts, and you’ll fail to convert new visitors into buyers.
Consumer buying behaviour has changed noticeably over the past few years- they look for the same product at different online stores, compare prices and discounts, read reviews, and test products before buying. So, if you are only limited with small discount offers, you’ll miss out on benefits that your competition cash in on. Significant discounts like 50% off and 75% off get shoppers to open their wallets, but that’s not enough.
It would be best if you also play around with:
Test different deals and make adjustments on the fly.
One of the answers to your marketing woes could be ‘targeting the wrong audience,’ which causes businesses to lose money – it seems obvious and forthright. For Black Friday marketing campaigns, your team should have a clear profile for your target audience – who could and should be buying your products. If you miss the mark, you’ll encounter disappointing results.
Communication isn’t only related to customers; your internal communication also matters. During the Black Friday sale event, your team might be stressed. They also want to enjoy time with family around holidays. So, if you devise a clear plan and strategy and effectively communicate with team members, you can take some of their stress out and make the preparation for the big day go smoothly.
Another mistake that retailers make during the Black Friday sales frenzy is to leave customers to fend for themselves without any assistance. If you don’t provide good customer service and make them feel stressed or ignored, they might leave without making purchases; they have many other good options.
Work on improving your customer service with chatbots or live chat features to stay connected with users all the time. Allocate a customer service staff to promptly answer their queries and guide them to what they are searching for.
Cart abandonment is another mistake that retailers often overlook during Black Friday, but it’s a fundamental reason that sales don’t reach their full potential. Shoppers leave their carts for many reasons – having second thoughts, searching for other deals, etc. Ignoring those carts is a big mistake. You must make efforts to release them. Use customer data to send reminders via emails to customers and ask them to complete the purchase. Offer them a special discount as well to lure them so they can empty their cart soon.
Black Friday is the single biggest shopping day of the year that helps new e-commerce brands come into the limelight and hoard husky profits. If you are an e-commerce merchant and kicking off the first sale event, you must avoid these mistakes that most retailers end up making that negatively affect their bottom line. These mistakes guide you on what not to do as you approach Black Friday this year. There is nothing that can hold you back if you think wisely.
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