How to get ready for the 2021 Black Friday sales? 10 tips for e-shops

Paysera is a payment gateway service provider, currently enabling 13,000+ e-shops in the Baltics and beyond to accept online payments. Working closely with e-commerce representatives, we know how important Black Friday sales are for their businesses. 

And although many buyers naturally wait for Black Friday to purchase gifts or desired items, it does not mean that simply placing a few discounts in your store will grab their attention. The competition is fierce and everyone does their best to stand out. 

There are several preparation checklist boxes that simply MUST be completed otherwise the biggest sale of the year for your e-shop can be a flop. We observed our serviced stores and are happy to share with you some of the simplest and most effective campaigns, which it is not too late to start yet. 

Black Friday has turned into Black November. Many e-shops start their holiday sales or at least start advertising them in early November and continue all the way until Christmas. 

If one of your strategies is working on SEO content or if you are creating a new online store, you should probably start as early as September, as it takes some time for the search engines to learn about your new content. 

When preparing for the busy sales period it is crucial to think about your target market. For example, in countries like Lithuania, Black Friday sales are still very much concentrated at the end of the month, whilst in countries like the Philippines, Christmas decorations, as well as shopping, start as early as September. 

But don’t be mistaken. Even occasions previously limited to one country now become increasingly popular across the world due to online shopping that has no borders. One such example is Singles Day – one of the biggest shopping events in China. It is celebrated on the 11th of November – so right before the traditional Black Friday sales and can definitely be taken advantage of. 

When it comes to Black Friday discounts, it’s either make it or break it. Discounting your products by 5 or 10 per cent will not work for this occasion as everyone expects double-digit discounts that are too good to skip. Put out limited offers to drive people into your shop for discounts of 40 and 50 per cent, if possible.

However, you still want to make profits, so think how else could you compensate for big discounts. Maybe offering additional products that are not discounted is the way to go for your shop? For example, discounting a phone but making back the money when selling screen protectors, cases, and other accessories with it.

On one side – you want to drive people to your website. On another – can you handle it? Use tools like k6 Cloud to test your store’s capacities, and have an engineer available if a crash does happen during the crucial moments.  

What you want the least is to lose a potential customer because they can't find a suitable way to pay in your e-shop. Cards, SMS, online banking payments, cash – we all have different preferences and don’t like to be limited to just a few. 

Luckily, if you use Paysera Checkout, your clients will be able to choose among various payment options in your store, including monthly instalments, available in some countries. 

Review your offered payment options in advance, consider expanding them, and test them to put your mind at ease. 

Cutting down on prices for the Black Friday sales might help to convert occasional visitors but it will not be enough to drive new traffic and potential first-time customers. Think of all the different mediums you can use to announce your sales to the world. 

Continued social media content and ads. This is kind of essential nowadays but at the same time everyone does it, so the Black Friday sales content is everywhere in the social networks and it may be difficult to stand out. 

Good old email marketing. Yes, our inboxes are filled with deals, yet it still seems to be working alright. Keep it brief, write an irresistible subject line, and be loud and clear about your sales. 

Listicles. This is becoming an increasingly popular way to reach people who may be undecided on actual purchases but still don’t want to miss any good deals. Research bloggers, influencers, or websites who may reach your potential target audiences – maybe they are preparing (or could prepare) a list of TOP Black Friday sales. Get on that list, and consider offering a special promo code for the readers too. 

Build anticipation. Take advantage of various countdown tools, put out some limited offers or midnight sales. Make it fun and competitive if that fits your audience or go for very traditional marketing methods if your buyer is more reserved or older. 

Offer interesting and exclusive insights or comments for traditional media representatives and journalists and get published. Maybe you are a major e-shop and noticed very unusual trends approaching Black Friday? 

Or maybe you will go against the system and have an interesting opinion on why Black Friday sales are detrimental for businesses and e-shops should focus more on loyal clients rather than one-time impulse buyers and discount hunters? Think about how to get your name out there and be creative.  

This is especially important in light of recent outages with social media. Have a backup plan if that happens too. 
 

This one is VERY important. Don’t focus only on selling goods to your customers. The sales journey should not be considered complete unless the buyer received the goods and is happy about them. 

In this case, the delivery process is very important. Pre-holiday sales can get busy and messy not only for e-commerce but also for delivery companies. Therefore you should not rely on only one courier, just because it may be the most popular one in your country – it may also be the busiest one. 

The best outcome you can expect from Black Friday might not even be huge sales but finding new customers and turning them into loyal returning buyers. Quality, not quantity, as they say. 

Consider offering a discount coupon for the next purchase after the sale is complete, or offer special deals for your past buyers.

Get your customer support team ready for a busy day or even a week. Get some external help if needed in advance and respond to customers’ requests instantly. 

Black Friday is a lot about spontaneous buying and if the momentum is gone – you can forget about a successful sale.