Inspiration, Marketing
This is how you prepare your business to WIN on Black Friday
Black Friday is no longer only the biggest shopping day in America. In the last couple of years the madness has been spreading at a dazzling speed throughout Europe, quickly becoming one of the most important days of the year for all retailers. In this blog we will explain how you can prepare your business to get the most out of it.
A little memory refresher: Black Friday is an American holiday where businesses offer great deals. It received its fitting name because of the huge chaos and even traffic accidents it has caused. For entrepreneurs Black Friday can very easily turn into Bright Friday, as long as they are well prepared.
In a report done by Criteo, 11 European countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom) were researched on retail sales growth on Black Friday. Over the years, the number of sales have grown extremely fast. For example: in France the retail sales shot up over 200% on Black Friday in 2017, doubling the numbers of 2016. At this point, more than 75% of retailers in the UK offer a form of promotion for Black Friday.
So, how can you exploit Black Friday successfully?
Inform all your existing customers
First things first. It is crucial to inform your existing customers about the fact that your business is the place to be for Black Friday. These customers are very valuable, as they already know what your brand is about. All that you need to tell them is that you have some special deals waiting for them.
This is how you ensure your customers are aware of your Black Friday promotions:
Send your customers a card
If you have your contact information of your customers, then it can be very rewarding to send them an old fashioned card. Where email newsletters are usually deleted before opening, a card still really attracts attention.
Flyers
Hand out flyers on the street or to customers after they buy from you. You should consider adding a discount code to the flyers, so that customers who bring the flyer to your store on Black Friday will get an extra discount.
Posters
Posters are perfect for announcing one time only events, such as a sale for Black Friday. They are great to inform people with the vital information of your Black Friday promotions, while at the same time giving them a taste of your brand and product(s). You can put them on your shop window or behind the counter, where people will be likely to see them.
Stand out and attract potential customers
During Black Friday, a huge amount of potential customers go out to get the best deals. It is crucial that your business can be recognized as one of the businesses who are in on it. All your competitors will try their hardest to stand out, so you should too. Black Friday is the day where over the top becomes standard.
These are the products you should consider to decorate your store for Black Friday:
Black Friday starter kit
To make your life as easy, we have put together Black Friday starter kits to get you started. These starter kits are filled with products you need to make your Black Friday into a big success. We have a budget version, a medium version and a pro version.
How much discount should you give on Black Friday?
Black Friday is all about getting a good deal. But how much discount should give your customers? Sadly, there is no easy way to answer this question. First of all you should find out how much discount you can give, without making a loss. After that you can look around and give better deals than your competitors, so your customers will have an incentive to pick your business over theirs. It’s that simple.
Note: you won’t get the boost in sales you are looking for if you give a discount of 10 percent or less. Even if this is a high discount compared to your usual prices, customers will simply not be triggered by this, as other businesses will have Black Friday discounts that are way more extreme.
“But I’m already doing Christmas promotions…”
We hear this question every year: “Won’t my Black Friday promotions cannibalise my revenue during the Christmas period?” The simple answer here is: no. On one hand, it is true that one in five consumers buy their Christmas presents during Black Friday. But research shows that the biggest part of the spending – by far – we do completely for ourselves. 42% of shoppers already know what they want to buy way before Black Friday. They had something on their wishlist for some time and have been waiting for Black Friday to get the right discount.
Inspiration for Black Friday marketing
In need of some inspiration to set up your own mind blowing Black Friday campaign? In this blog we give you ten ideas to create a successful shopping event.
Time to prepare
Now you’re fully equipped to prepare your own Black Friday promotions. Let us know how everything went for you by leaving a reply in the comments below!
