Introduction
The day following Thanksgiving is black friday. Businesses often offer huge bargains to start the holiday season throughout this yearly shopping weekend. Many people consider it to be the unofficial beginning of the holiday shopping period. This holiday season can make up 20% more than many companies’ yearly revenue, so it’s a crucial day for the retail industry.
To kick off Black Friday, businesses used to open their shops at 5 a.m. and provide a broad range of in-store offers ranging from kids’ stuff to technology and gadgets. But in recent times, the shopping craze has migrated online, with 2018 setting a new record for eCommerce merchants with $6.2 billion in digital shopping, up 23.6% from the year before.
Why is it called Black Friday?
The term “Black Friday” is a collective term for the day following Thanksgiving. This is the largest shopping day of the year and is regarded as very important, specifically for some retailers. The day after Thanksgiving is not considered a legal holiday. The day following Thanksgiving is sometimes given as a day off by employers, but this is not an officially recognised holiday.
Beginning around the middle of the twentieth century, the phrase “Black Friday” came into use. Black Friday was first used by policemen in Philadelphia to describe the chaotic congestion of traffic on the day following Thanksgiving.
Businesses embraced the word as it gained popularity. For retail companies that relied on holiday sales, it was effective to get their finances “in the black,” meaning making a profit, as opposed to “red,” or operating at a loss.
How does Black Friday work?
Many stores open on Black Friday either early or late on Thanksgiving. The weekend is spent shopping, with some people standing in line for the best prices. From Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday in 2021, for example, consumers spent an average of $301.27.
“Cyber Monday” is the Monday following Black Friday. Cyber Monday is when most people buy presents online, and it has since grown to be a purchasing occasion on its own. It is often the busiest online shopping holiday of the year, and in certain years, its overall sales have even exceeded those of Black Friday.
Why is Black Friday important to eCommerce retailers?
With more and more individuals opting to shop for pre-holiday deals online, eCommerce businesses have an unrivalled potential to draw in more customers and boost their sales.
With more consumers utilizing smartphones to finish online transactions, Black Friday customers are more inclined to buy online than in-store. Compared to any other day of the year, Americans are most likely to buy something online, six times more on Black Friday. Online merchants estimate revenue gains of up to 240% during Black Friday and 380% on Cyber Monday. Throughout Black Friday as well as Cyber Monday, online traffic can increase by about 220% and 155% more than it would on an average sales day, respectively. Daily offers are less effective than long-lasting sales events. Online retailers that offer free shipping attract over 70% of total Black Friday purchasers. A shopping day spanning five days is the best option for online shops trying to somehow dispose of existing stocks.
Tips for eCommerce Retailers on How to Prepare for Black Friday
The list of Black Friday advertising methods has grown significantly over the past few years; however, the following are the most successful ones:
The first step is to employ web marketing expertise. The art and science of online marketing involve selecting the best offers and products to post on a webpage in an effort to increase sales. Make sure that your best promotions are displayed in a way that will catch clients’ interest as immediately as they land on your website. The most notable deals are frequently shown using hero photos, posters, and pop-up windows.
Next is giving away freebies and prizes to develop social sharing. One has to immediately increase the number of visitors to your webpage in order to increase sales. That’s why sponsored social networks and Google ads are advertisers’ go-to strategies for increasing internet traffic. As an alternative, businesses might try to offer discount coupons to persuade customers to advertise their sales and increase activity on social media. The best areas to publish these deals are the home page, products page, checkout processing page, and order confirmation section. Adding the voucher to the email which verifies your transaction can also work.
Then, eCommerce can also make gift lists on its webpage. Some of the finest methods to get prospective consumers to let out their cash are by guiding them in looking out for the most pertinent and jackpot offers. Sales might be intimidating. Keep in mind to produce a number of gift recommendations with various groups being considered (such as presents for men, women, children, and others) and highlight these on your website in addition to your email advertising campaigns.
Finally, targeting the customers’ emotions is also effective. The only thing that sets Black Friday consumers apart from regular customers is their eagerness to make purchases. All you have to do to get visitors to buy is press the appropriate buttons by seasoning your website with different emotional triggers. Incorporate offers that are visually pleasing wherever possible.
Limited deals, free delivery, referral specials, and freebies in the most strategic locations on your webpage are a few examples of this. A live assistance window for customer inquiries can also be included. Exit-intent popups and vouchers have been shown to be extremely successful at hooking potential customers’ interests.Â
Conclusion
A highlight of the shopping season is Black Friday, so for many merchants, particularly toy and gaming stores, a successful Black Friday is crucial. Between 2017 and 2021, the holiday period accounted for around 19% of several retailers’ yearly sales.
Keep in mind that you should be ready to interact with deal-hungry customers in advance because online Black Friday discounts might begin as early as Monday that week. But interestingly, Black Friday isn’t when you’ll find the greatest savings. Amazon is just one of the many retailers that offer bargains earlier than usual, surpassing even Black Friday itself. Because of the intense rivalry, businesses have developed novel strategies to compete for your business, sometimes beginning much earlier.
