How to Maximise Black Friday Profitability with Despatch Cloud
Black Friday is the retail event of the year, and every ecommerce business aims to make the most of it. But how can you ensure that your business not only survives but thrives during this frenzied shopping spree?
The answer lies in smart strategies and efficient tools, and that’s where Despatch Cloud comes in. By taking steps ahead of time, you can ensure that your business takes it’s share of the $20.4 Billion spent across the Black Friday and Cyber Monday Weekend.
- Black Friday $9.12Bn
- Cyber Monday $11.3Bn
- Steps to Mastering the Black Friday Madness
The countdown to Black Friday is on, and your ecommerce business is gearing up for the biggest shopping event of the year. It’s a day when shoppers are on the hunt for irresistible deals, and with the right strategy, you can turn the frenzy into profits.
Due to the common scenes of Black Friday queues at retail shops, as much as 58% of people say they’ll avoid shopping in-person on the day – this means that ecommerce businesses potentially stand to benefit from Black Friday even more than a retail shop.
- Understanding Customer Behaviour During Black Friday
To maximise your returns, it’s crucial to understand your customers’ behaviour during Black Friday. What are they looking for? What motivates their purchases? With this insight, you can tailor your offers to meet their needs and drive sales. Most of the subsequent decisions will follow on from this so it’s worth spending time ensuring your business offering is aligned with customer intent.
- How to Craft Irresistible Black Friday Offers
Black Friday presents a unique opportunity to capture the attention of bargain-hungry shoppers. To make the most of this day, it’s essential to craft offers that not only grab attention but also entice customers to make a purchase.
- Discounts that Wow: Consider offering discounts that truly stand out. Shoppers on Black Friday expect substantial savings, so aim to offer discounts that are both compelling and competitive within your industry. Whether it's a percentage off, a buy-one-get-one deal, or a limited-time flash sale, the key is to make your offer irresistible.
- Bundling Benefits: Another effective strategy is bundling related products together. This not only increases the average transaction value but also provides customers with added value. For example, if you sell electronics, bundle a smartphone with a protective case and screen protector at a discounted price.
- Early Bird Specials: To create excitement and reward early shoppers, consider offering exclusive early bird specials. This encourages customers to start shopping on your website before the competition, increasing your chances of making sales even before the peak shopping hours.
- Loyalty Rewards: Reward your loyal customers with exclusive offers or early access to your Black Friday deals. Recognising and appreciating your repeat customers can build long-lasting relationships and encourage them to choose your store over competitors.
- As of 2019, as much as 68% of shoppers state that they’d be more loyal to a brand over time if it offered them exclusive rewards and offers.
- Creating Urgency Without Alienating Customers
Urgency is a powerful tool for motivating customers to take action, but it should be used thoughtfully to avoid pressuring or alienating them.
- Transparent Policies
Be transparent about your return and refund policies. Customers should feel comfortable knowing that they can return items if they change their minds. A fair and hassle-free return process can ease concerns about making a quick purchase.
- Countdown Timers
Incorporate countdown timers on your website or product pages to visually reinforce the limited-time nature of your offers. These timers add a sense of urgency without being overly pushy.
- Stock Availability Alerts
Let customers know when a product is running low in stock. This not only creates urgency but also provides transparency about product availability. However, ensure that the alerts are accurate to avoid frustrating customers.
- Highlight Scarcity
Excelot can resell courier services in the target country thanks to Despatch Cloud’s software. The procedure has been streamlined such that when they receive a parcel from the UK, they send it to France and directly inject it into the network of a local carrier, utilising the domestic rate of the local partner.
- Limited-Time Offers
Emphasise that your Black Friday deals are available for a limited time only. Use phrases like “Today Only” or “While Supplies Last” to create a sense of urgency. However, ensure that the time frame is reasonable and that you’re genuinely offering a valuable deal. This doesn’t need to be limited to your website itself, a case study found that a well-timed email campaign a few hours before the end of Black Friday caused an increase in conversions by 400%.
- Seamless Inventory Management
During Black Friday, there are several challenges that arise as a result of the increased traffic and order volumes. These can be prepared for and by forward planning you can ensure that it won’t have a negative impact on your profits.
- Avoiding Stockouts and Overstocking: Running out of stock during Black Friday is a nightmare. On the other hand, overstocking ties up your capital. Learn how to strike the right balance to keep customers happy and your cash flow healthy.
- Predictive Analytics for Inventory Planning: Predictive analytics can help you forecast demand accurately, ensuring you have the right products in stock when your customers want them.
- Smart Bundling and Cross-selling Strategies: Boost your average order value by offering bundles and cross-selling related products. It's a win-win for you and your customers.
- Real-time Inventory Monitoring: Stay in control of your inventory with real-time monitoring. Know what's selling and what's not, and make informed decisions.
- The Solution To All Your Black Friday Ecommerce Worries - Despatch Cloud's Ecommerce Software
As identified, while Black Friday brings with it a range of opportunities for additional business, this requires prior planning in order to ensure your customers have a positive experience. Whether it’s warehouse fulfilment that you need, or a shipping management system that’s able to process your various orders, our software can pick up the burden.
Courier Integrations and Delivery Times –
Dealing with timely deliveries is crucial to any ecommerce business hoping to retain consumer loyalty. Shipping features such as offering Free Shipping or not is THE most significant factor to whether customers make a split second decision according to 49% of shoppers.
As such, it’s crucial that you can inspect and compare the various costs and prices that each courier will offer you for the parcels. Our software ensures that your customers receive their goods as quickly as possible while keeping your costs down.
Explore the shipping product further.
Stock Levels and Oversight
One of the quickest ways to generate a bad review or leave a customer with a bad impression of your business, is to sell them a product and have to follow-up at a later date with the news that it’s not in fact available. This is of course an extreme example, but customers like to buy with the confidence that they’ll receive what they’re looking for. This can be a challenge to ensure when your products are listed across a range of different marketplaces and your deals mean that they can sell out quickly. With our inventory management software, you can be sure that you have accurate oversight over product levels and your products are never oversold.
- Despatch Cloud’s software is scalable
As Black Friday approaches, it’s crucial to have a well-thought-out plan in place. Maximising profits and ensuring smooth operations are paramount, and that’s where Despatch Cloud shines. By leveraging our robust ecommerce software, you can navigate the Black Friday madness with ease, delight your customers, and watch your profits soar.
