Black Friday 2021 is around the corner, and shoppers everywhere are getting ready to fill their carts, check off their holiday lists, and grab some serious deals. Consumers anticipate once-a-year sales, while online retailers ready themselves for a flood of new and returning customers…and an eCommerce flood it certainly is.
In 2020, US sales on Black Friday reached $8.9 billion, while Cyber Monday boasted a jaw-dropping $10.78 billion in sales.
Are you ready to capture your slice of online sales this Black Friday? Download our free eBook “The eTailer’s Get-Ready-Guide for BLACK FRIDAY 2021” for industry insights and proven strategies from eCommerce experts at Finch.
Black Friday Planning & Strategy
Unlike the products sold during Black Friday, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all selling strategy. But that’s actually pretty great! It means companies large and small have the opportunity to assess the competition and position themselves for success.
What does a winning 2021 Black Friday strategy look like for you? Our experts have put together a comprehensive checklist every brand should use before diving into the deep end of online Black Friday sales:
- Establish your goals
- Understand your competition
- Know what your website can handle
- Determine what your campaigns will look like: single-day event, multi-day event, different offers each day, countdowns, coupons, percent or dollars off, free shipping, etc.
- Determine on what channels you’ll run promotions
View our complete Black Friday checklist here.
Scope Out the Competition with Competitive Analysis
It’s easy to feel like your products will get lost in a sea of banner ads and that the competitive landscape for Black Friday and Cyber Monday can feel more like Mad Max than a friendly tennis match. Enter competitive analysis.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, you aren’t just competing against your traditional competitors. More and more brick-and-mortar retailers are moving their sales into the omnichannel model, which outperformed eTailers in 2020 and consumed 44% of US Commerce sales. Standing out from the crowd has never been more critical.
The experts at Finch utilize a hybrid model of competitive analysis and industry analytics to create custom eCommerce strategies. Get a deep dive into our process and complete Black Friday checklist in our latest ebook.
Black Friday Website Traffic, Inventory Control & More
You’ve answered some vital questions and stalked the competition, but there’s another piece to this puzzle: you!
Few things are more frustrating and potentially costly to your brand than underestimating demand and/or overestimating capacity. Taking stock of your company’s website capabilities, inventory management, and people power is necessary before putting pen to planning paper.
For example, in 2020, 40% of US eCommerce purchases on Black Friday were made on mobile phones. Is your site optimized for mobile shopping? Keeping in mind 90% of online shoppers won’t wait for a slow web page to load, is your site speed optimized below 3 seconds?
These are fixes a dedicated tech team can handle before launch, but if you don’t conduct a small stress test anticipating increased Black Friday traffic, you just might be leaving dollars on the table (and in your customer’s carts).
Black Friday Ads
You’ve got the goods. You’ve got the website. Now it’s time to grab the customers! Online advertising across various channels has proven to be a necessity for Black Friday’s selling success. Luckily, eCommerce promotion is right in our wheelhouse, and we have some best practices, tips, and blogs to get you started.
A few key statistics to keep in mind while planning your online ads:
- A study by Google found that seeing both shopping ads and search ads increases the likelihood of a shopper visiting a website 90%.
- Keep an eye on your budget. Costs during Black Friday can be more than your normal days. For example, Prime Day advertising can cost up to 3 times more than average.
Like with any significant promotional campaign, you’ll want to make a full sweep: channel selection, optimization, and competitive analysis. Find our detailed, step-by-step guide to planning your campaigns and optimizing your channels here.
Get Ready With Finch
Overwhelmed by options and need a bit more guidance? You’re not alone. You can reach out to any of our experts to help hone your strategy, analyze previous performance, or just brainstorm best practices with experts in the field. Reach out to us here.
