black friday ecommerce tips Archives

Black Friday Ecommerce checklist

Need a Black Friday ecommerce checklist? It is a great way to make sure you are ready for the biggest selling time of the year with this handy checklist.

Black Friday / Cyber Monday Checklist

Host a giveaway on social media, two weeks before Black Friday (so tomorrow) to attract the attention of potential new customers.
Check product inventory and supply inventory levels.
Check packaging and shipping supplies inventory levels.
Update store inventory levels if they are getting low, so you do not sell out and cause listings to deactivate.
Check all expired, sold out and inactive listings to see if there is anything that needs to be re-listed.
Update social media shop banners and avatars for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa & New Years products & sales.
Update store banner & avatar for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa & New Years products & sales. Be sure to add “Last Day To Order By” date.
Update shop owner photo to a festive one, just for fun.
Change email signature to show holiday, Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales.
Consider increasing daily ad budget for the month of November or just for November 25th to November 29th.
Only run ads on listings that have the highest sales conversion rate to maximize ad dollars.
Email customers Black Friday offers on November 25th.
Email customers Cyber Monday offers on November 28th.
Post to social media daily, and several times a day from November 25th to November 29th.
Comment daily on popular Facebook and Instagram posts that your target market reads, to get seen by their followers.
If you sell on Etsy, close orders as soon as they ship, to avoid shop getting paused.
Check that all links are working. Links from your social media sites to your store, and vice versa.
Include coupons or gift guides for Valentine’s Day in all packages.
If comfortable, encourage local buyers to do curb side pickup.
Email your local business writer(s) today and ask to have either your Black Friday, Small Business Saturday or Cyber Monday special mentioned in any write-ups they are doing.

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Need a more effective Black Friday Marketing Strategy? Are you personally holding off holiday purchases for Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales? Honestly, the only way I would buy anything right now from an online retailer is if they were giving me an advance Black Friday / Cyber Monday sale of at least 60% off, and indicating that they will not be going this low on Black Friday.

So, maybe you want to do the same thing. Why make your customers wait for Black Friday/Cyber Monday when you want those sales NOW, as well as get their spending dollars BEFORE they blow it all on Black Friday (and at someone else’s shop).

Make the Offer Irresistible

Therefore, I would consider emailing your customers this week with a special Customer-Only “Advance” Black Friday / Cyber Monday Sale that is a ONE-DAY only offer, better than anything you will be offering on Black Friday/Cyber Monday, guaranteed.

Again, the offer has to be amazing for people to go for it. On Black Friday customers are expecting offers of 40%, 50%, 60% off. Now, this might scare you, but hopefully you will make it up on volume if your profit margins are good. Otherwise, you have a couple of options:

Slightly raise your prices so that you can offer these types of deep discounts.
Tie the offers to volume purchases only i.e. Buy any 3 Items and Get 40% Off, any 5 and get 60% Off”.

The point is, you want the offer to be so irresistible that you will get those sales NOW, and not have to wait until Black Friday or Cyber Monday when customers might not have as much money left to spend at your store.

How to Write the Email

In your email subject line, be sure to use a mix of upper and lower case words along with some holiday emojis in order for it to get noticed, for example:

🎉 TODAY ONLY PRE-BLACK FRIDAY SUPER SALE – Coupon Code Inside!

Use a holiday theme email template that your email service company can supply. Keep the copy short and the sale should be hard linked back to your shop.

If the sale goes well, extend it one more day and tell your customers that they can pass the offer along to their friends and family, to broaden your reach.

So don’t sit around waiting for the end of November, jump the gun on your competitors and get those sales NOW.