Black Friday (or Black Week) are the biggest shopping event of the year, and it can make or break retailers. Year after year this major event continues to break records and most retail brands are heavily relying on these upcoming days.
We are in an era today when customers are more brand-savvy and mobile-ready than ever. If retailers want their customers to buy from them directly this Black Friday, instead of buying cheaper versions of their offerings from another vendor’s online marketplace, then they must offer a 1:1 integrated retail customer experience.
5 Black Friday tips for enhancing the digital customer experience:
1. Optimize for mobile
Sixty-four percent of sales during last year’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday were attributed to mobile. Mobile shopping continues to outperform desktop, and will dominate the holiday shopping experience again this year.
Smartphones were solidified as the de facto device for mobile shoppers, with tablets trailing behind. But those aren’t the only mobile devices shoppers will be active on this year—kiosks, gaming consoles and TV apps are all amplifying their digital presence. High-quality images that load quickly, content that refreshes seamlessly and relevant offers are must-haves for mobile shoppers.
2. Create anticipation in days before Black Friday
Drumming up anticipation for your planned offers can lead to more conversions. Therefore, start introducing your visitors to what is on offer for example with huge count down banners on your website.
3. Plan your offers early and wisely
Start planning your offers for Black Friday as early as possible. This also includes planning which types of offers that suits your business the best. Three common Black Friday offers include: 1) Exclusive product launches, 2) product bundles, and 3) site wide discounts of for example 20% or even more.
4. Create a sense of urgency
When you are running advertising campaigns during Black Week, don't forget to mention how many days are left or how long the offer will run in order to create a sense of urgency and thereby, boost impulsivity and sales. For example, creating a count down timer supports this strategy as well as using call-to-actions such as "shop now" or "limited time offer".
5. Create attractive e-mail marketing
Black Friday e-mails outperformed business-as-usual emails by nearly 52%, and has been impactful for several top retailers and e-commerce businesses year after year. Customers want to hear from you and do their research before they purchase. It’s annoying for the consumer to receive emails with a misspelled name or worse, to find out there are cheaper coupons online than the ones the vendor sent in email directly. You must make sure your marketing team has access to customer data and the ability to be spot-on to meet these demands.
Therefore, prepare your e-mail marketing for the days around Black Friday to get the most out of this channel. Plan powerful subject titles, keep the body of the e-mail short and to the point, and end it with a compelling call-to-action.
6. Reward previous customers
Also, creating specific offers and rewarding your previous customers is a great strategy for Black Friday. In fact, customers who has previously bought from you, have a high probability to buy from you again. For example, you can text or e-mail past customers with exclusive offers (of course only if they opted in for this). This is not only a very effective strategy, but also a very cheap compared to acquiring new customers.
7. Connect customer touch points
It's critical that retailers know where and how customers interact with their brand. Digital interactions influenced roughly 56 cents of every dollar spent in brick-and-mortar stores, according to Deloitte Consulting.
Nearly 60% of shoppers look up product information and prices while using their mobile phones in stores, so knowing who they are and how they prefer to engage with your brand is critical.
Customer Master Data Management connects customer data from siloed systems (such as an ERP and CRM), then cleanses and enhances the data so that enterprises have a clear understanding of their customers, which is needed to create exceptional 1:1 experiences.
Don’t Turn Your Back on Marketing
Most retailers and e-commerce businesses will attribute the revenue success of Black Friday to slashed prices and unique offers, but marketing plays a huge role in retail’s success during this event.
The evolvement of mobile devices and e-commerce will continue to shape the retail industry and consumer behavior.
Remember the good old days when we stood in line, in the cold, through the night until Black Friday morning to get deals at Toys R Us, Circuit City or Mervyns, with hundreds of other deal-hungry people by our side? We’ve had to say our goodbyes to those stores, and customers are slowly saying goodbye to those experiences. But, just like customers, businesses can adjust.
Prepare for the trends now, and your business will thank you later.
