Why Is Black Friday Important to Businesses?

In 2019, it was reported that Black Friday and Holiday online sales surpassed all previous records, reaching $7.4 billion, up by $1.2 billion from 2018’s $6.2 billion record. That’s huge! This is a serious matter that every merchant with an online or brick-and-mortar store should observe. It is extremely important to have your sales planned out this year because more people are guaranteed to be shopping online this year! You, your business, and your family deserve to get a piece of this pie!

Ideas For Black Friday and Holiday Sales

We all know that people expect HUGE discounts on Black Friday and throughout the Holiday Sales season. Here are a few ideas for you to implement that will help you convert customers in other ways outside of just offering percentage discounts or free shipping.

You can implement any or all of these ideas for Black Friday or at any point during the Holiday Shopping Season.

Shop Now, Pay Later Options

AfterPay, Klarna, ShopPay, and Sezzle are all great ways to increase sales in your store!

The good news for you as a merchant is that you get your money UPFRONT. The payment processor handles future payments from the customer.

Shopify is automatically adding Shop Pay to all accounts and has integrations available for all I have listed above. I HIGHLY suggest these.

Bundle products together by creating gift sets.

Bundle products together instead of selling them individually. Not only do gift sets make great presents, but they’re also a great way to upsell customers to a slightly higher price point.

Bonus Tip! Gift wrapping or gift boxes are great for extra incentives.

Offer incentives for later.

Give reward cards to all your customers who are shopping now, which will draw them in to come back for Black Friday.

For example, spend $50 or more dollars now and get a $5 or $10 reward card that can be spent during Black Friday or some other specific defined time period.

Cultivate your email marketing list.

Start letting your existing customers and subscribers know that you have some BOMB sales coming.

• Offer them exclusive discounts.
• Start teasing new merchandise that they get know about before everyone else.

Anyone who has taken the time to subscribe to your email list has a much higher intent of purchasing or being a repeat customer! Show them love!

Offer a free gift with purchase.

Let your customers know that if they make a purchase of $50 (for example) they will get a free gift of some type from you.

Make sure you identify how much they must spend and what the gift will be. Consumers LOVE the word FREE!

Present a BOGO Offer

Buy one get one free or 50% off will always be a timeless technique to use to get your customers to spend more money.

Offer Exclusive deals to your social media followers.

If you want to give your social media accounts an extra boost try incentivizing your followers with special discounts.

Offer a special deal every day throughout the holiday shopping season starting with Black Friday, like 25% off sweaters one day or 15% off shoes the next day.

Remember to post a discount code for customers to mention at checkout.

Bonus Tip: Use these codes on social media only to measure the true effectiveness of your campaign.

Maven Tips For Black Friday Sales Success

• Consider starting your Black Friday sales a week or two before Black Friday. This will allow you to get ahead of your competitors and stand out from the noise of all the other Black Friday sales.

• Offer a Sneak Peek at Black Friday Deals This will build anticipation for your deals by creating posts that promote products that will be on sale while mentioning their promotion before the big day. Remember to promote the sneak peek on your social media accounts.

• If social media advertising is a part of your strategy prepare to spend a little more money on ads during Black Friday and the holiday season in general. During the Black Friday weekend, advertisers will be spending way more than usual. The return on Black Friday sales is seen by many as a major investment, justifying the increased spending.

• Start creating your email campaigns and social media content now! Planning prevents you from being frantic from having too much to do later.
• Abandoned Cart Emails – Make sure you are sending follow-up emails to customers who do not complete their purchases. Already sending Abandoned Cart emails? Try adding an incentive that will draw your clients in such as free shipping or a discount code.

Shopify Apps To Help Increase Conversion

Here are FOUR apps that I have used and recommend to clients to increase their conversions in their Shopify store. Of course, you can search the store and find hundreds of apps that would be great for your store, there are just a few that I happen to love!

Ominisend, Privy, or Shopify Email – I just KNOW that you all already have an email marketing system in place, but in case you don’t – here’s my favorite for Shopify stores. You can easily create email campaigns as well as implement subscriber pop-ups. Omnisend also includes text marketing.

Smile: Rewards & Loyalty – This app will allow you to create your own rewards program for your clients. A Smile loyalty program gives your customers access to exclusive perks, attractive discounts, and a fun way to engage with your brand every time they log in to your store.

Sales Pop – This app shows that you’re an authentic store. It shows people trust you. It shows your store is busy. Most importantly, it shows people want your products. In a world where FOMO (fear of missing out) is top of the consumer’s mind, giving them the chance to see in real-time what others have purchased makes the customer jump on the bandwagon too.

Free Shipping Pop-Up – Free shipping is a great way to encourage customers to spend more. After you set up free shipping, you need to let your customers know about it. The most prominent way to do so is by setting up Free Shipping Popup. This app shows an animated popup every time your customers add something to the cart. Telling them exactly how much more they need to spend to get free shipping. It keeps motivating them as they add more products. It’s enticing, and it works!

Get Started!

Now it’s time to get started on these Black Friday marketing strategies to ensure that your store is ready to make the most of the boost in sales on the year’s biggest retail weekend.

Implement the tactics that suit your store best to ensure the best return on this major shopping weekend.

Now you have all the tools to make this Black Friday one of the best ones yet!

If you need one on one assistance with your holiday sales or with general marketing strategies for your business, take advantage of this 50% discount on all consultations throughout the end of the year. Schedule your strategy session with me to take your business to the next level! Have questions? Shoot us a note here and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Need help with creating your social media posts or flyer for Black Friday or the Holiday Season? Click this link to order your social media sales templates at a discounted rate. Use code Holiday to get 30% off ($120 off) your personalized templates.