5 Tips for Setting Up Your Black Friday & Cyber Monday Promotion

The Black Friday/Cyber Monday (BFCM) period is certainly intense for eMerchants. While Shopify merchants made nearly $2.9 billion US in sales in 2019, it’s a safe bet that the numbers will be even more striking for the 2020 edition, considering the context of the pandemic. As shopping in physical stores remains very limited, consumers will turn to eCommerce to do their long-planned shopping.

To properly prepare for this crucial period, which will take place from November 27 to 30, Novatize has come up with 5 recommendations to help you create a promotion that will attract your customers.

1.Extend the length of your promotion

For some merchants, the latest editions of BFCM generated such a high level of traffic that they wound up being more costly than profitable. To counter these effects and adapt to the context of the pandemic, large Canadian and American brands such as Walmart, Best Buy, and Target have announced “cyber week” for 2020; some are even going as far as “cyber month.” Various extended discounts are promised here over a longer period of time: available online only, accompanied by daily stock updates, on-time deliveries, and much more!

The benefit of extending the length of your promotion is mainly that it allows you to offer your customers an optimal experience, in terms of both customer service and delivery. This year, you can expect decreased traffic in your physical points of sale and an increase in your online sales. You are dependent on your carriers to ensure service quality, and they will certainly be overworked, so plan ahead by spreading out the duration of your promotions. This will allow you to ensure effective internal management of the shipments and decrease the likelihood of delivery delays.

In short:

• Extend the length of your promotion to reduce congestion for the carriers and avoid delivery delays. You will also prevent possible logistics problems and be able to offer better customer service.

2. Offer a unique promotion

Be creative and offer a discount in line with your financial and operational capabilities. Your customers have high expectations during this crucial time, and the competition is fierce. Offering a discount that has a minimal financial cost but which will offer a high added value to your potential customers is a great opportunity to stand out. Offering a different promotion from what you normally do also lets you create a sense of exclusivity and urgency in returning customers. There’s no shortage of options! Here are a few ideas:

• Create a BOGO/B2GO-type promotion (buy two products and get the third free, etc.).
• Create a progressive discount (20% off a $100 purchase, 30% off a $150 purchase, 40% off a $250 purchase, etc.).
• Boost the value of the gift cards (e.g., a $100 gift card worth $150).
• Offer exclusive products that are only available during your promotion.
• Add a surprise/sample to the order.
• Offer free gift wrapping.
• Set up a draw for the day’s customers.

However, make sure that your visitors can quickly understand and use your promotion. Clear language and communication are key factors in the success of your promotion!

In short:

• Plan your discount in advance and the way(s) that your customers can take advantage of it.
• Ensure clear communication and a promotion that is easy for internet users to understand and use.
• Plan a strategy consistent with the one planned in store.

3. Seize the opportunity to cross-sell and upsell

These are two key factors to promote different products from your store while considerably increasing your average cart value. These strategies are also useful for introducing your customers to new product lines, and they can help you deplete the stock of a less popular product. Bundle complementary products (instead of selling them individually) or offer additional items to the products purchased by your visitors. For example, offer a bestseller from a similar category. Apps such as Product Bundle from Bold or Free Gifts from Secundo, available on the Shopify App Store, let you easily configure upsell and cross-sell strategies that will fit directly into the buying journey of your visitors.

In short:

• Prioritize certain strategic products and feature them.
• Offer product sets.
• Seize the opportunity to increase your shopping cart value by encouraging customers to upgrade.
• Propose a “discovery” package targeting consumers who are unfamiliar with your products or brand.

4. Focus on your returning customers

Mutesix, one of the largest web advertising placement agencies in the United States, reports that the BFCM context has the typical consequence of greatly increasing the CPA (customer acquisition cost). Consider the fact that it will cost you much less to reconvert an existing customer or to convince a visitor who is already familiar with your brand. Offering a special promotion for your returning customers or your loyal or VIP customers is a great way to generate sales. The feeling of exclusivity and rarity offered to these customers will be enough to convince many of them to buy immediately. You will also create an even stronger relationship with your community of buyers.

In short:

• Be aware of the typical increase in the CPA during BFCM.
• Target existing customers or people who are familiar with your brand or products. You can start your targeting well before the BFCM weekend.
• Consider offering a unique and different promotion to your existing customers to create a feeling of rarity and exclusivity.

5. Don’t forget about gift cards

The gift card is an underestimated asset in eCommerce and can easily become your greatest ally in times of excessive traffic. It is particularly attractive for seasonal businesses that want to take advantage of BFCM opportunities or expand their production.

First of all, from a financial standpoint, gift card sales let you generate immediate cash flow while pushing back the purchase.

Secondly, selling gift cards is a great loyalty tool and guarantees a future purchase. One attractive option is to add a complementary gift card to your sales. For example, slip a $40 gift card into your deliveries for any product purchase over $200. That way, you will increase your average cart and ensure that your customer will eventually spend with you again.

In short:

• Add a gift card section to your website (now free on all Shopify plans) and highlight it.
• Generate immediate cash flow while limiting possible delivery and production problems by pushing the purchase back to a less busy period.
• Boost the value of the gift cards purchased or offer them for free with large purchases.

If you have any questions, or if you would like to be supported in the design or implementation of your eCommerce strategy, contact us.

💻: info@novatize.com

📞: +1 844 932 6682

This article was written by

Sébastien Cliche-Roy, eCommerce Strategist

In collaboration with:

Pascale Turpin, eCommerce Advisor

Marc Anthony Lemieux, eCommerce Strategist

Anabelle Dubé, eCommerce Strategist

Anabelle Dubé, Stratège eCommerce