In America, Black Friday is the biggest shopping day of the year. In South Africa, however, it has slowly been gaining traction over the last several years. Here, Black Friday is an opportunity for your shop (online or physical) to boost sales, get rid of excess stock and attract new customers. But be aware: if you don’t do it right, you might wish you didn’t do it at all.
Here are tips to get your shop ready for Black Friday:
1. Plan ahead and start early
“Doing things last-minute is fun”... said nobody ever! That’s because anything worth doing is worth doing well. Black Friday can be an excellent time for your shop to stand out for all the right reasons. So plan something spectacular and do it in advance. Make sure your shelves are stocked, your staff is trained and you have enough supplies.
2. Promote heavily both online and offline
On normal shopping days, the competition is already fierce. On Black Friday, the competition will certainly be in overdrive. Be prepared.
Use all of your marketing channels to promote Black Friday deals. Create attractive flyers and posters to put up around town and use social media, e-mail marketing and paid advertising to reach potential customers online. Don’t wait until 25 November to start marketing. Start early!
3. Offer attractive deals and discounts
It is all about the deal! The better the deal, the better you will do. Remember, shoppers are walking around with one goal in mind – to get value for their money. It isn’t always possible to drastically reduce the price of some products. Try sweetening the deal with free gifts, bundle deals or value-adds.
4. Have enough staff on hand
On Black Friday, it can become a jungle out there. Secure more staff and ensure that your best are manning the tills and walking the floor assisting and upselling. Long checkout queues are a real turn-off, but if the deals are worth it, people might just persevere. Try and make queues flow as best as possible. And if all else fails, entertain them while they wait.
5. Be prepared for returns
Some shoppers will take advantage of any Black Friday deals and then return items they don’t want or need afterwards. Create a clear return policy and train staff to deal with returns in the days and weeks after the big day.
Cyber Monday on 28 November creates the opportunity for your e-commerce store to make an entire weekend of Black Friday. Make sure your website can deal with the influx of traffic by scaling up your website hosting plan.
Good luck!
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