Black Friday & Christmas: A 5-step guide to get prepared

A 2022 study conducted by IFH Cologne on behalf of the German Retail Association (HDE) found that virtually all online shoppers are by now aware of the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. In this 2022 study, nearly 50 per cent of respondents had stated that they plan to look for attractive offers on Black Friday. A few years back, in 2016, that figure was only 16 per cent. Popularity among consumers has been growing steadily since. And spendings have also increased tremendously, from €1.7 billion in 2016 to almost €6 billion last year (Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined). Even in difficult economic times, consumer sentiment is at a high during these end-of-year campaigns. The survey also showed that about half of the online shoppers on Black Friday and Cyber Monday use the opportunity to get some of their Christmas shopping out of the way.*

You’re probably already in the midst of preparing your shop for the busiest time of the year. Are you sure you’ve thought of everything to make the most of it? Our 5-step guide will help you get your shop ready for the peak sales season of the year.

Step #1: Step up your marketing

Business on sales days and around Christmas time is fiercely competitive. Getting your marketing right before and during the peak shopping season is crucial if you want to reach your target audience and stand out from the competition.

• Use targeted, timely newsletters and email marketing to make existing customers aware of your offers and send exclusive promotions.
• Run ads on Google and other platforms to reach your target audience. Keep in mind that advertising costs are higher during the peak shopping season, so it is important to budget in paid media accordingly.
• Develop social media campaigns to extend your reach. For example, promote exclusive discounts or run sweepstakes raffles/tombolas on your social media channels. To participate, for example, users will have to like your page or react to your posts.
• A special tip for the Christmas season: Enhance Cultivate your image by integrating charity campaigns into your shop.

Step #2: Develop the right discount strategy

Discounts and attractive offers are key to turning browsers into buyers. But don’t forget your profit margin. Attractive offers that drive sales but result in minimal profit are not necessarily worth it.

• Do the math on whether it makes more sense to compete for shoppers with a top offer or with by offering discounts on many (or even all) of the products in your shop.
• Another common strategy, bundling products can increase shopping cart size. It’s important to keep your bundles simple so that customers will understand the offer right away.
• Another thing, try experimenting with the discount amount to find out what works best and yields the best results for you.

Step #3: Provide the ideal checkout experience

A customer-friendly checkout will minimise abandonment rates and increase your conversions. Shipping and payment options play a particularly important role here.

• Make sure you offer reasonable shipping costs. One way to attract new customers is to offer free shipping, for example on shopping carts of a certain size.
• Check whether your delivery options and times meet your customers’ expectations.
• Customers today also expect uncomplicated, free returns.
• You will need efficient logistics to be able to handle a high sales volume in a short amount of time. Coordinate all steps involved with the service providers you use and with your employees, business partners and helpers early on.
• A lack of payment options is the most common reason why customers abandon their shopping cart. Make sure that your shop can convert shoppers with the right payment mix. One must-have is ‘buy now, pay later’. During the Christmas season, consumers spend a lot of money, and they look for flexible payment options such as pay by invoice and instalment payments.
• If you integrate these popular payment methods into your checkout as a white-label solution, your customers will stay in your brand world even when they pay. This will increase trust in your shop and promote customer loyalty.
• You may even see an increasing number of requests for pay by invoice and instalment payments at your point of sale.

Step #4: Check the performance of your online shop

If you want to be successful during the peak season, square one is that your shop works perfectly. Check the technical side ahead of time so that you don’t run into problems later that could have been avoided.

• Do a speed check to make sure your shop loads fast even with increased traffic. Users get annoyed with websites that load slowly and will quickly move on to greener pastures.
• Optimise your shop for mobile devices. More and more people are shopping on their smartphone. So the shopping experience should be just as easy, intuitive and fast as on their desktop PC at home.
• Test every part of your shop: Are all the pages up? Do the filters and other features work? Sometimes it’s easy for website operators to miss the forest for the trees, so you might not recognise problems or barriers that potential buyers would run up against in your shop. We recommend involving an outsider in the check. User tests, for instance, are a good way to get feedback.

Step #5: Ensure good customer service

Black Friday and other holiday sales promotions are not just about selling as much as possible. They are also an opportunity to establish long-term customer relationships. Good customer service is essential for that.

• Make sure that potential buyers get answers to any questions quickly – for instance, via a live chat feature on your website.
• Your approach to customer service should be friendly and helpful. But sometimes that is easier said than done, especially in high-stress times. Make sure your customer service team is sensitised and trained in the right way to deal with customers.
• Offer uncomplicated returns, for example by including a return label with each order. In fact, today’s customers often expect to return orders free of charge.
• Keep in touch with your customers after they make a purchase. By conducting customer surveys, for example, you can gather feedback and show your customers that the customer experience is important to you.
• Regular newsletters with exclusive offers are another good way to convert peak season buyers into repeat customers.

We hope you do well on Black Friday, Cyber Monday and this Christmas season!

* Source: HDE Online-Monitor News November 2022, based on an online shopper survey by IFH Cologne in October 2022.

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