Black Friday 2023

How to Effectively Prepare Your Store for Black Friday 2023

‎ #blackfriday2023 ‎ is fast approaching. It's a special day that attracts both bargain-hunting customers and entrepreneurs looking to boost their profits. However, this year's Black Friday will look a bit different due to the introduction of the Omnibus directive, which brings new regulations to the e-commerce sector. So, how do you get your online store ready for this important event?

Performance Optimization

The first step is to ensure that your website or mobile app is ready to handle the increased traffic. Test their speed and scalability. There's nothing worse than having an unavailable site on a shopping day, which not only leads to lost profits but also frustrates customers. Therefore, it's worth taking care of the technical performance of your store before Black Friday.

Inventory

Analyze sales data from previous Black Fridays to estimate how many products you'll need. Nobody wants Black Friday to end before noon due to a lack of stock. It's also worth considering preparing special offers for surplus products to attract customers.

Continuous Improvement of the Customer Experience

Streamline the ordering process to make it as straightforward as possible. Remember that working on improving the customer experience should be ongoing, and attempting to tackle it (for the first time) a few days before Black Friday is not a good idea. It's also important to ensure clarity in the information on the website so that customers can easily understand the offers and promotion rules.

Promotion Planning

Decide on the promotions and discounts you intend to offer. The rules must be simple and clear. If a customer doesn't understand your offer, they won't make a purchase. Therefore, it's worthwhile to carefully develop a promotion strategy and prepare the appropriate communication.

Customer Service

More traffic means more sales, but also more challenges to address. Prepare your customer service team for increased workload, and if you motivate them properly, for example, financially, it increases the chances of better performance. You'll earn more, so you can share the success with the team. Good customer contact is the key to success, especially during intense shopping periods.

Analytics and Tracking

It's important to know which marketing activities yield results, which products sell best, and which channel generates the most traffic. Therefore, tracking data and analyzing results are crucial. In the world of e-commerce, there are various analytical tools that can help you understand customer behavior, such as our analytical tool: www.hashdash.it. With it, you'll have full visibility into what's happening on your website.

Delivery and Shipping

Ensure that purchased products reach customers, which can be a challenge on Black Friday. Increased shopping means more chaos. If a customer doesn't receive their ordered item, the reputation-related problem is much greater than the financial loss. Therefore, it's important to take care of deliveries and collaborate with reliable courier companies.

Backups

Regularly back up your website and data to be able to recover quickly in case of technical problems or cyberattacks. Data security is an extremely important issue, especially in times when cyberattacks are becoming more common.

Thorough Testing

Check if everything is working: the ordering process, discount codes, promotions, payments. You don't want to make simple mistakes that could cost you customers. Therefore, it's important to carry out thorough tests of all store elements before Black Friday.

Post-Event

Plan how you'll stay in touch with customers after Black Friday to encourage them to make repeat purchases. Loyal customers are a treasure, so it's worth nurturing relationships with them even after Black Friday. Omnibus Directive It's also important to remember the Omnibus directive, which introduced new regulations regarding promotions and discounts. Here are key points to consider:

• Prohibition of artificial price hikes: Avoid artificially raising prices before a promotion, only to later reduce them and appear more attractive.
• Price transparency: Clearly inform customers about product prices before and after applying discounts, as well as the lowest price in the last 30 days.
• Basket promotions: The "everything" discount code requires providing the lowest price from the 30 days prior to the reduction, while basket codes do not.
• Cascade promotions: Cascade promotions do not require reference to the previous promotional price.

With proper preparation, both operationally and in compliance with regulations, you can increase your chances of success during Black Friday 2023. Remember that customer satisfaction and price transparency are key to building long-term e-commerce success.

If you're interested in learning more, we invite you to have a non-committal conversation https://goodylabs.com/say-hello.