Black Friday & Cyber Monday Checklist: Boost Sales & Traffic

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are now celebrated globally. They mark the beginning of the festive season and help brands increase their sales and customer base while generating global awareness. We have created an exclusive checklist for Black Friday & Cyber Monday to break your sales records and achieve higher web traffic rates.

Did you know? In 2021, a leather goods manufacturer called Estalon increased its sales by 40% sales increase compared to the previous year (2020) during the five days of Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales.

Why are Black Friday and Cyber Monday significant?

Consumer spending is usually high during the holiday season as people look forward to buying gifts for family and friends. Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) are the two most successful marketing campaigns that offer great deals and discounts. With the booming eCommerce market, these sales are now accessible to consumers globally. This global reach helps brands tap into new markets to sell their products.

Black Friday logistics could be described as a race against time. It is hectic to meet the flood of orders. If you do not have a solid plan, your customers can be easily aggravated, resulting in a loss of sales. Focus on primary factors like shipping time, stock, and customer relations to make your Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales successful. Read this article to explore several black friday logistics tips and approaches to achieve great results.

Checklist To Prepare For Black Friday & Cyber Monday 

If you’re a seller looking to drive more revenue during the black Friday sales, here are a few ways to prep your business. 

Taking your brand to the next level requires early planning. Use consumer trend forecasts, improve your e-business platforms, and create compelling marketing messages that appeal to your target markets. Here is an easy-to-follow checklist for Black Friday and Cyber Monday:

Understanding Consumer Behaviour and Preferences

Black Friday and Cyber Monday have evolved from a single-day shopping festival to one that lasts for days. Black Friday shopping has given rise to early bird shopping, which begins on Thanksgiving Day or earlier.

Smartphones, laptops, video games, branded clothes, and shoes are the most trending products during Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. These products are usually promoted at a highly discounted rate.

Planning and Setting Goals

Determine your business goals. Define your targets to establish expected sales, new customers, or a specific line of products. Setting goals and objectives helps decide on parameters to measure the business performance. 

Create a calendar for your marketing campaigns. You can schedule all the activities in the marketing calendar, including email marketing, social media promotions, content creation, and website updates. It is critical for the success of your campaign. 

Check the inventory and supply chain management. Storing products in adequate quantities is essential to meet the high customer demand. Maintain a good relationship with your suppliers to get the products at the right time.

Optimise Your Website

Check the speed and performance of your website. These factors can significantly affect your sales and customers’ satisfaction levels. Enhance your website by reducing the size of the images. Ensure the website is optimised for mobile and tablet use. Using a mobile-friendly website helps increase the likelihood of turning visitors into customers. Use a responsive layout to make your website flexible and fit different resolutions.

Keep the customers well-directed through a powerful call to action. Use plain and expressive words in your buttons that compel action, like Buy Now, Add to Cart, and Shop Now. Ensure your buttons are well placed. This can increase your conversion rate.

Communicating with customers is the key to winning the Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaigns. Design a secure checkout process for the consumers. Provide different payment options to ensure customers are comfortable with making the purchase. A secure checkout process will guarantee customer confidence and lead to increased sales.

Building Excitement for Your Target Audience

Use email marketing to convey messages to your customers effectively. Design a set of emails that preview future promotions and discounts and offer special coupons. Split your customers into segments and send customised messages according to their preferences or previous purchases. 

Post interesting social media content, which includes product videos and previews. Include contests or giveaways to increase viewer engagement. Add relevant hashtags to your content to make your products more visible. 

Create blog posts, articles, or videos on your products to attract and influence potential clients. This content can offer information to the readers, develop credibility among the audiences, and bring traffic to your website. Creating valuable content helps you advertise your products and gain the customer’s trust.

Ensure Detailed Product Descriptions

Good product description enables prospective customers to understand the product they intend to purchase. The product description must be clear and easy to understand. Including relevant keywords can positively affect your website’s ranking and increase traffic. Informative product descriptions can improve overall customer satisfaction as they get the information that enables them to choose. This can result in higher customer retention, a low rate of customer returns, and a good brand image.

In today’s highly competitive eCommerce world, it is necessary to spend considerable time and effort to develop thoughtful and elaborate product descriptions for the web store. The customers rely on the product’s features outlined on your brand’s site, and review their shopping experience based on whether the product received matches the description. Hence, it is important to provide a detailed, authentic description of your products on the website, especially if you’re selling across borders.

Create good informative product description with the help of Shiprocket’s Free Product Description Generator.

Offer High Discounts

Offering interesting and high discounts provides your global buyers the much-needed incentive to purchase your products. Thus, starting early on with sales is important to stay ahead of the competition in international order deliveries. A survey found that 43% of buyers grab a coupon if they receive at least 25% off on the offer. 

Provide customers with special packages that include several goods that go well together. Ensure that your deals are well communicated and reach your customers on time. Provide free shipping to make your products more appealing. Customers cannot resist free shipping; it can significantly improve your conversion ratio. 

It is good to offer your customers something special to gain their loyalty. A well-thought-out loyalty program can encourage consumers to repeat shopping with you. For instance, you may give special discounts or offer unique gifts to your loyal customers.

Optimise cross-selling 

Make sure you offer related items to the products being purchased during this period. This is because most buyers express interest in categories less navigated in usual shopping days, but do so during festive seasons due to the ongoing sales. Suggesting related items drives sales and creates awareness of products less in demand. 

Create An Urgency

When your eCommerce store has a massive spike in orders, it is important to keep your buyers in the loop. Using communication channels to convey terms such as ‘limited stock,’ ‘out of stock,’ ‘one item left,’ ‘Hurry Up,’ etc., helps create urgency around your products and prevents last-minute orders that may cause hassles in shipping during peak time. 

Provide Excellent Customer Service

It is vital that your customers feel safe and get efficient help. Provide various channels for customer support like email, phone, or even live chat. Customers expect access to your support team at any time of the day. Engage with customers and resolve their issues effectively to make them happy and want to continue shopping with you. 

A good return and exchange policy positively influences the level of satisfaction and trust of your customers. Live chat or chatbots should be adopted to enable immediate customer support and enhance their experience. Live chat lets the customers interact with a customer care assistant in real-time, while chatbots provide instant basic answers to frequently asked questions.

Have An Seamless Order Processing Workflow In Place

Peak season sales are the best time to reevaluate your brand’s order management and shipping workflow. Ask yourself the following questions first before opening sales for the black Friday or Cyber Monday season – is your brand ready to process double the number of international orders? Is your usual international order delivery process capable of shipping these surging orders? Even if you have the requisites to take up increasing orders, it is always best to have a load mitigation process in place. Ensure all your shipping and return policies are transparent for your buyers and staff. Surging orders could also mean damage or loss of shipments while in transit – keep a security cover policy ready in advance. 

Monitor and Analyse Performance

The real-time tracking of web traffic, sales, and customer activity is vital during Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions. Website traffic, sales conversion rates, customer interactions, and other parameters can be analysed with the help of special tools. 

Once your Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaign is over, it is crucial to assess your campaign. Reflect on the campaign achievements according to the targets set at the beginning and define the prospects for further advancement. Focus on the quantitative indicators reflecting the results like sales, web traffic, the rate of acquiring new customers, and the level of satisfaction. 

Conclusion: Start Early, Plan Seamlessly

Last Year, in 2021, around 343 Indian exporters crossed ₹10 lakh in sales during these two global online shopping events, while 154 eCommerce sellers sold products valued over ₹25 lakhs. There was triple the surge in demand across regions of North America, the European Union, the Middle East and North Africa, with maximum exports in toys and furniture categories.

With all the Black Friday Logistics tips mentioned above, you can manage your orders better. ShiprocketX can be the perfect partner to handle your eCommerce logistics and boost sales. The platform lets you sort orders, book shipments across 220+ countries, and track your shipments in real-time. It integrates with almost all the popular eCommerce platforms. When you leverage your shipping process, you can easily free up time and devote your attention to other areas of growing your company.

Shiprocket offers you a list of trusted shipping carriers. Whether you require domestic or international shipping services, you can choose an ideal carrier that suits your needs. These services will help you improve your shipping process, lower expenses, and provide a better customer experience on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.