Top 5 Tips for preparing your e-commerce store for Black Friday

Black Friday. Two words that strike both fear and excitement into the heart of every business owner. Whilst of course Black Friday provides an amazing opportunity to showcase your products to the world, sell though redundant stock, build brand awareness, and increase customer retention, the increased workload can also be a time of anxiety for many. It’s important to remember that when it comes to Black Friday, organisation and preparation are everything and the two go hand in hand to kick start a lucrative peak period. Here are our top 5 tips on how to beat the Black Friday stresses, sell effectively and win big! 

How to promote Black Friday 

How you promote your products and services is everything. Your products are the beating heart of your business so it’s important to let your target market know just how fantastic they are. 

Social media should be your best friend. Consumers will be searching way in advance of Black Friday for the best deals, so work on campaigns that will alert customers old and new about your products. The earlier the message is live for all to see, the more time the consumer has to be made aware of discounts you have to take advantage of, consider their purchase and the further reach your product content will have.  

Don’t be afraid to get creative with your content. Whether you’re promoting your products via social media posts or paid ads, we’re all suckers for an aesthetically pleasing product shot/image with a catchy caption, all wrapped up with an irresistible offer that’s too good to say no to! 

Leverage your discount messaging by recapturing your existing consumers. Track basket behaviour on-site to encourage pending sales to be finalised. by understand past behaviours in your database that have spent time browsing specific product pages and have even added to their basket and not checked out? Create bespoke campaigns and utilise email marketing with specific and considered content and retargeting ads to reengage those customers using the juicy Black Friday discount as a hook. Not only can promotions drive new business, but it’s also a great way to win back lapsed customers and drive retention and repeat purchase, too! 

Check Your Stock Levels 

Making sure you have adequate stock is absolutely fundamental. If you’re selling through Shopify, you’ll have access to a wide variety of analytical tools that will allow you to measure trends based on product performance that will help track run rate of each SKU and best sellers across your portfolio to help forecast for the coming months. 

If you are outsourcing your fulfilment, make sure you’re one step ahead by working with a provider that understands your needs. Solid communication is absolutely vital. Here at fulfilmentcrowd, we make sure we open communication regarding peak periods in advance, including Black Friday and Christmas to best plan warehouse capacity and picking & packing capabilities. By understanding predicted volumes and any additional requirements at the earliest convenience, we are able to best utilise our vast network of centres and carrier partners to maximise efficiency. 

Check Your Web Speed 

A speedy website= speedy sales. In today’s fast paced world, consumers are after instant gratification and would much rather search for a new page than spend time waiting for the page to load. Not only will a slow web speed lead to loss of sales, having a quick and efficient site is fundamental for conversion rates, search engine rankings and customer retention.  

Research by Google shows that improving website speeds by even just one second can increase conversions by up to 27% for mobile users alone. With 70% of consumers now purchasing products from the comfort of their mobile, it is definitely worth checking your web speed, especially as we approach Black Friday. 

To test your website speeds, we recommend using Google PageSpeed Insights. 

The speedy process doesn’t have to end when the customer clicks ‘Checkout’. By integrating your fulfilment software directly to your sales channels (whether that’s Shopify, Shopify Plus, Amazon, eBay, Magento, WooCommerce, Visualsoft, BigCommerce, a bespoke ERP system or any other platforms on the market) the order can be picked, packed, and shipped in a matter of minutes, providing a seamless experience for the end customer. A platform like the fulfilmentcrowd app allows multiple sales channels to be connected in a matter of minutes, at one time. Fulfilment software that manages your stock allowing you to allocate inventory to specific sales channels before it’s even left the container or has automated distributed order management where the software chooses the best route to the end customer based on delivery address and stock holding locations can continue that premium experience and ensure the order arrives at your customers door as early as possible after the order is placed.  

Prep your multiple sales channels 

The chances are that you have multiple sales channels. However, are you aware of the extent of options you have when it comes to different sales channels? Here at fulfilmentcrowd, not only do we integrate with the likes of Shopify, but we work with Amazon FBM, FBA and Vendor.

We understand that Amazon (Vendor, specifically) can be used tactically to penetrate and capitalise on new markets, quickly with little upfront investment. If you have a limited distribution of your SKU portfolio across current channels or wholesale partners, becoming an Amazon Vendor or using Amazon FBM to drive volume of sales moving into the peak season may be a great way to increase your margin on slow-moving SKUs. Working with a fulfilment partner that can support your Amazon Vendor or FBM requirements, whether you’re kickstarting the Amazon partnership or leveraging it as a secondary channel to capitalise on trading peaks in the market such as Black Friday and Christmas may drive significant long-term growth for your business.  

As your business grows under the Amazon partnership, advanced requirements may require a hybrid fulfilment solution to include operational support and fulfilment solutions spanning Amazon Vendor, Amazon FBM and Amazon FBA simultaneously. Streamlining your requirements through one provider can keep costs low, reduce proximity to market and enable you to get closer to incremental revenue, sooner. 

Custom Orders/Bespoke packaging 

In recent years, the enjoyment the unboxing experience brings has almost become as important as enjoyment from the actual product itself. Not only is protection super important and makes the difference between a negative experience and a positive one, but people also love novelty. How you choose to package your products can be the difference between your brand standing out or blending in with the rest of the crowd. Personalisation drives referral. When you use a customer’s name, they feel as if they are being spoken to personally and more often than not this can make all the difference. Write a note to your customers telling them how grateful you are for their purchase. Appreciation goes along way and people are always willing to support businesses they feel like they have a bond with.  

How fulfilmentcrowd can help  

Here at fulfilmentcrowd, we have almost 40 years of Black Friday experience under our belts. We work extremely close with our clients and fulfilment centres to provide the best experience for our clients, and the end customer. 

 Shipping 60+ orders a week and ready to outsource your fulfilment? Partner with a 3PL provider brimming with market, sectorial and channel experience that help you scale, efficiently and quickly across channels and in multiple countries. Speak to a member of the team today to find out more.