How to Prepare Your eCommerce Store for Black Friday

As the holidays approach, eCommerce retailers are keeping a close eye on one infamous shopping day in particular: Black Friday. With sales starting earlier and lasting longer each year, sellers should begin preparing their stories now for the onslaught of shoppers at the end of November. 

Here are some tips to prepare your online store for the biggest shopping event of the year:

Optimize Your Store For Mobile

Amongst a landscape that’s become increasingly digital, optimizing your online shop or marketplace for mobile is a no-brainer. Today, more and more consumers are making purchases via their smartphones, so it pays to have a platform that’s compatible with mobile.

One of the best ways to reach online shoppers is through mobile apps. A well-optimized mobile app can increase traffic and sales, making it an ideal investment for any eCommerce retailer—especially during the Black Friday rush.

To get the most out of mobile, you might also consider integrating your platform with mobile wallets such as Apple Pay and PayPal. This makes it easier for consumers to checkout and to manage their payments.

Launch An Email Marketing Campaign

There’s no better time to up your email marketing game than at the start of the holiday season. Shoppers will be expecting Black Friday emails and newsletters, so there’s really no reason not to take advantage of this heightened interest in email communication.

Personalizing your newsletters and advertisements, tailoring them according to each user’s behavior and interests, will help drive interest in your products. Consumers may not react to a generalized ad, but they may just respond to an offer for that red coat they’ve been eyeing for the past three weeks.

Partner With Influencers

Social media influencers can work wonders for boosting your brand visibility, and Black Friday is the perfect excuse to think about delving into the world of influencer marketing.

Before proceeding, stop and think about who your target audience is and what kinds of products they might be shopping for this holiday season. Having a clear picture of what this audience looks like will naturally steer you towards the most effective, relevant influencer campaigns for your eCommerce store.

You’ll also want to consider your overall objective for the campaign. What is it you’re hoping to gain from influencer marketing, and how might it affect your business down the road—for better or for worse?

Stay on Top of Trends

It might seem obvious, but as an eCommerce retailer, you should be staying up to date on the latest industry trends and preparing your shop accordingly. Pay attention to the behaviors of various demographics in order to reach a broader audience on Black Friday and beyond. 

AI tools are great for helping to spot trends. You should also take note of search recommendations and viral trends on social media platforms. Utilizing a host of methods will give you a fuller view of what’s cool out there these days. 

Plan Sales

Rather than scrambling to come up with something at the last minute, you should aim to create a thorough sales plan well ahead of Black Friday. 

In recent years, Black Friday and Cyber Monday have merged into a sort of week-long shopping fest, involving some of the best retailers and sales of the year. Limiting your discounts to Black Friday alone will limit sales, so you might want to extend the timeframe on offers in order to maximize traffic and profit. 

It’s also good to have an outline of what specific deals you’re going to offer. Consider your target audience, their shopping patterns, and behaviors. Assess which kinds of deals you think would best resonate with them.

Aim to Create a Quality Customer Experience

Black Friday can be hectic even under the best of circumstances. Now is the time to start preparing your website to be able to handle the increase in traffic that’s sure to occur on Black Friday. Taking these precautions now can help ensure your site doesn’t crash and burn later—after all, site errors are the last thing anybody wants to be dealing with as they hunt for the perfect Christmas gifts.

Chatbots are a great feature to help assist customers on your site. They can answer common questions and bring attention to abandoned shopping carts. Play around with them to see what they can do for your eCommerce store and how they can enhance the overall customer experience.

Listing Mirror is Here to Help!

Planning your eCommerce store for Black Friday can certainly be a hassle. There’s so much to prepare for, and expectations are high. Thankfully, Listing Mirror provides a multi-channel listing software capable of tackling all of your holiday needs. We offer order fulfillment and inventory syncing services to help you stay organized and on top of things. Reach out today to learn more about how we can help your business prepare for Black Friday, as well as how to get started with our 14-day free trial.

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