The highly anticipated Black Friday sales weekend is nearly upon us, and if you haven’t started your Black Friday prep now then you’re already missing a beat.
This year, things just feel different, and everything seems like it’s coming sooner than ever before. Like we’ve already noticed, Christmas sales started picking up in July.
As crazy as that sounds, it’s just a reflection of the times where uncertainty has caused people to be a lot more motivated in the moment, unwilling to wait around for the future, but rather take action today and be prepared.
This is why early Black Friday prep for eCommerce stores is so important, as it allows you to connect with your audience, get to know them, speak to their friends, until you know exactly what they want come that fateful day, the 26th of November.
eCommerce Stores and Early Black Friday Prep
The role of eCommerce stores in the retail space cannot be understated, especially since the COVID pandemic altered the way we shop and, in ways, revolutionised the eCommerce space.
While people will still use regular brick-and-mortar stores, it’s hard to imagine a throng of thousands of people forcing their way into a store packed like sardines for hours keeping their place in front.
Rather, these spaces will be contested in a less physical but equally competitive space, online. Last year alone, eCommerce stores on Shopify brought in close to $30 billion over BFCM weekend worldwide.
Early Black Friday prep is important because the space is so hotly contested by many brands who, even with their variety of unique selling propositions, sell similar products to similar audiences, all vying to hit their record sales days.
While in 2020 Yotpo reported that 69% of our surveyed brands said their Black Friday campaign plans have not changed due to COVID, despite the promise of eCommerce growth, it’s hard to believe that will be the case this year.
As the entire outlook of the world has become more positive and eCommerce stores have rolled out a variety of tech innovations and new marketing strategies, you have to believe that brands and agencies have been looking at Black Friday 2021 as a big year full of opportunity and growth.
Generating Interest Leading up to Black Friday
The main goal behind generating interest early and getting a headstart on your Black Friday prep is to engage your audience well in advance so it is easier to convert them over the biggest sales weekend of the year.
There are a few crucial elements always at play, but for the most part you ideally want to build your following by retaining customers throughout the year, meaning upping that returning customer rate (RCR) while adding new ones in the process who love your brand just as much.
A few ways you can do this is through:
- Connecting with customers so they do your marketing for you, or, in other words, user-generated content.
- Getting positive reviews and telling people about them
- Implementing strong lead magnets to grow lists
- Offering early access discounts
Whether you’re doing all or just a few, it’s important to have a focused strategy that has both short-term and long-term goals, and that’s where people like us come in.
How We Have Started Black Friday Prep
You’ll see how during our initial testing phase implementing our BF strategy in August we cracked close to $100k! Now, just imagine what we can do for you and your brand over BF/CM weekend.
Whenever brands start out they’re also concerned about the big fashion retailers, the ones with the pull and the incredible customer following that is almost cult-like but the reality is that you can be there too – and sometimes it’s even better to be under the radar and still raking in over $10k per day.
However, over Black Friday weekend this is also your opportunity to hit record sales days and make more revenue than you ever dreamed of.
With the right strategy behind you, anything is possible. So, if you want to boost your sales this Black Friday then speak to us, because time is running out to get onboarded.
