Yes, today you woke up with the thought that everything is over because yesterday you’ve sent the last Cyber Monday orders. Basically, that rush starts to settle down as soon as the clock strikes midnight on the 26th of November. Then all the spells cast by Black Friday and Cyber Monday fade away. Afterwards, you are most likely left with an endless mound of unsent orders and an almost empty inventory. That could put another frightening thought in your head – after this high demand your sales will stop.
Despite the fact that Cyber Weekend is over, this is still the best time of the year for all online sellers. Take a quick look at the calendar – there is less than a month left until the most anticipated holidays. As we all know, you can always find direct correlation between festivals and purchases. Everyone needs to buy presents for their friends, family, colleagues and most certainly – themselves. That is where you need to show up and save the day. In other words, welcome your customers with great deals. This way you will be able to boost sales during the holiday season and keep the flow going.
The main reason why you should take advantage of this time is that now people are still in the mood to buy. Basically, because of Black Friday and Cyber Monday they remembered all their passwords for each marketplace, credit card info and are filled with the holiday spirit. Also, there’s always someone who didn’t have enough time to do proper shopping during Cyber Weekend. However, they still need to find presents for the upcoming holidays, so they will be desperate to complete their shopping list over the next month. As a consequence, this is a great opportunity to boost sales during the holiday season and enjoy new business opportunities.
At this time of year we are filled up with kindness, so we decided to share a few of our spells on how to keep the rush going after Cyber Monday. As soon as you read and make use of these tips, you’ll see how magical your month will become – endless orders, happy customers, merry online store…
Look at your shop!
It is obvious that the rush caused by Black Friday and Cyber Monday did some temporary destruction. Your stock levels are most likely dwindling and your accounting records need to be reviewed once again to see if balances are in order. That is why the first thing that needs to be charmed is your store.
1. The content
- Stock levels
- Warehouse
- Titles
- Pictures
Right after Cyber Weekend inventory is the first thing that needs to be checked. Know how many products are left in your stock and contact your manufacturer if needed. There is nothing worse than disappointing your visitors with phrases like “not currently available” or “out of stock”. Once they find these they might start checking other marketplaces for similar products. Also, if you own a warehouse, check the packaging material leftovers because you will surely have to re-order some of it. Keep in mind, that you should offer some new products, especially new deals. Surprise your customers with new discounts or best-priced product bundles.
This time of year, your online store should be in top shape. Starting with product titles, pictures and product quantities. These modifications need to be made as soon as possible! Mainly because in the first week after Cyber weekend, everyone who didn’t have enough time to take advantage of those sales, will come looking for newly available offers. That is why you need to prepare your store’s looks. Try to focus on the holiday spirit and remind your customers that some purchases are simply necessary because they need to buy them for gifts.
2. Analytics
- Examine your analytics
- Inspect your best products
The second best thing that comes after profit is knowledge. Black Friday and Cyber Monday can help you determine your best products, where your customers are coming from and how many products they are willing to buy. Basically, after these days, it is necessary to examine your analytics. Also, it will show you what kind of marketing strategies were beneficial and it will help boost sales during the holiday season and prepare for next year’s sales.
This tip is essential and will help you create an accurate business plan. To put it simply, you need to take notes and base your new strategies on them. That way you won’t be wild guessing anymore and can start focusing on the things that will really make your business prosper.
3. Highlighter!
- Show off your best products
- Add best deals to the front of your store
Most women have heard how adding a highlighter can perfectly round out your makeup. The same goes for your online store. Highlighting your best products can be compared with that cherry on your cake. If you have some exclusive products that could stand out or a deal that is simply irresistible – you need to put them in front! Highlighted products will definitely attract customer’s attention and boost sales during the holiday season.
As mentioned before, people are still in the mood to buy, so that creates the best opportunity to showcase your new inventory. During this period, you will get an enormous amount of visitors so you should take every advantage of it. Put your new products at the front of your store, mark them with bright colours and highlight them in the best way you can.
For marketing
Despite the fact that winter holidays made people more interested in purchasing, you still need to work on promotions. Reconnect with previous shoppers, create effective ads and renew your marketing strategies. Basically, now you need to put as much effort into marketing as you did before all the Cyber craziness.
1. Ads
- Missed segment adds
- Clean up your store from old products
Speaking about the previous events you should learn more about “missed segment ads”. They are targetted towards those who missed Black Friday and Cyber Monday or at least one of them. Designing ads for them is a beneficial tactic most likely because they are determined to find presents for the upcoming holidays as soon as possible. Basically, phrases like “…missed black Friday? Don’t worry…” or “…missed Cyber Weekend? Here’s one last chance to save” are more than welcome in December.
It is a great strategy to sell stock leftovers because discounts will attract more shoppers. In a short period of time, you will be able to clean up your store from old products. Also, it will help you in finding new customers. Especially, the ones that have not visited your website during the cyber weekend.
2. Reconnect
- Use shopping cart info
- Inform about new deals
Despite the fact, that it is a great opportunity to reach new clients, it is also really important to reconnect with your previous customers. Basically, you need to inform them about new deals, products or last minute sales. You probably already have their contact details, so use them to send targetted messages.
We are not talking only about Black Friday and Cyber Monday shoppers, you should also contact those who bought from your store earlier. Try to use as much information as you have. If you’re saving the contents of your customers’ shopping carts, you can additionally announce sales on their selected products. Also, you can mention free samples, which will draw even more attention. Basically, you need to seduce your previous customers, in order to get them back to your store.
3. Urgency
- Convey urgency in your ads
- “Only today” / “There are only a few days left”
Everyone wants what they can’t have. Basically, you can use this phrase everywhere – in relationships, at work and when it comes to shopping. If you tell your customers that today is the only day when they could get a specific product or that only today they can get a specific discount it will encourage them to react fast. Try to put more urgency in your ads, so your customers understand that they don’t have all the time in the world. One of the reasons why Black Friday and Cyber Monday get so many attention is that they have a time limit.
Also, you can add this urgency only for a single product category or brand. Simply add phrases like “there are only a few days left” or “only this week”. Keep in mind, that during December you have enough time for several advertising campaigns that will encourage your customers.
How to create a discount?
As I mentioned before it is important to add discounts into your adds, but you have to know how to create them. That is why in this part we have two tips that will help you gain more profit. They will be suitable after the holiday season aswell.
1. Product bundles & discounts
- Bundle different products
- Get more money out of the discount
Basically, product bundling allows you to make sets of products by linking them together. This is a simple way to sell more products and get more money. When you are adding a discount on product bundles you will gain more profit rather than discounting each product separately. Keep in mind that if you use this tip you need to check quantities for every product included in the bundle. There is nothing worse than to disappoint your customer and cancel their order because you are missing one of the items.
In order to create product bundles, you need to create a whole new product or use a system that could link your products together without creating additional listings. For example, Multiorders order management software enables you to link products together and updates product quantities despite if the whole bundle or just a part of it was sold.
2. Special sales
- Special sales for subscribers!
- Festive emails
Never forget your loyal customer base. The ones that could also be called your subscribers. There is less than a month left until the biggest holidays, so why not surprise your subscribers with a special sale. Try to make them feel special and important. Exclusive sales are a way to show how you appreciate your customers.
Inform them about special sales by sending festive emails. Do not forget to wish them happy holidays and kindly invite them to your store. When you don’t focus solely on the sale, but also pay attention to your customer your offer will become irresistible.
Be different!
Standing out is one the most important things during this period. Each online seller will try to reach your potential clients, so you have to be prepared for that. You need to think about ways to stand out and show that you are different.
1. Different selling cause
- Donation campaign
- Charity
Holidays are closely related to kindness and goodwill. Once your business supports a good cause you will start getting more positive attention from your potential clients. Try to find unique ways to make them see that different selling cause. For example, start a donation campaign, when you offer 2% of every sale to charity. It will make your customers start thinking that their purchases are influenced by kindness. Basically, their shopping could have a bigger cause!
2. Retail Holidays
Do not concentrate only on Christmas, Hanukkah or New Year’s Eve. There are way more retail holidays in December. Add these to your calendar:
St. Nicholas Day — December 6th
Green Monday — December 10th
Hanukkah — December 2nd to 10th
First Day of Winter — December 21st
Super Saturday — December 22nd
Christmas Day — December 25th
New Year’s Eve — December 31st
You need to take some actions before each one of them! This is 7 different celebrations in one month. Basically, you can create different promotions each week. Try to feature each one of these holidays, because you never know what your customers are most interested in.
The Do’s and Don’ts
There are a few rules that each online seller should stick to. Let’s call them “The Do’s and Don’ts”. Despite the fact that this holiday season is full of joy and happiness you should not start thinking that customers will graciously accept any business idea. There are some certain things that should be forbidden to do during this period. On the other hand, there are actions that are highly recommended and you should take care of them as soon as possible.
The Do’s
- Contact influencers
Social media presence is always a great idea, so you should definitely use it during this period. Try to contact influencers that could help you reach your target audience. You can send free samples and they will presumably mention it in some kind of social media platform. This way you won’t have to lose any additional money for ads.
- Create surveys
Sending surveys is a great method to get an honest opinion from your customers, so you can simply know what’s wrong or what is right with your store. This is a great way to find out what your customers think about you. Basically, there is no bad time to send them. Surveys will help you bring out the best in your store.
- Communicate in Forums
It is really important to participate in online discussion forums. You should be active there at any time of year, so answer questions and share some advice. If you do not know where to find these kinds of forums, you can use Google to search for them. Contribute to those that are directly related to your niche. Also, before writing your answers, make sure that you know all the necessary requirements and you aren’t breaking any forum rules.
- Create a contest
Everyone loves free stuff, so during this holiday period, you should offer a contest or giveaway. Basically, it will help you in promoting your store and reaching more customers. Also, it shows that your online store is fully commited to the holiday spirit as well. Contests will help you cheer up your customers and create better communication between them and your store.
The Dont’s
- Don’t tinker with your website
Despite the fact that after Black Friday and Cyber Monday you might think that optimising your online store could be the smartest move, you should stop yourself from doing it. Basically, that is one of the biggest mistakes you can make. As mentioned before, during this period people are still in the mood to buy, so there is a high possibility that they can visit your store at any time. As a consequence, if you start doing some technical changes and, at the same time, your customer feels that it is not working properly, they will simply leave your store. Also, if some errors come up, they will take even more time to fix. Basically, you can’t afford to waste time on additional modifications.
- Don’t overcomplicate checkout
Keep in mind that holidays are always accompanied by a sense of urgency. You, as a store owner, should not add to that feeling. Basically, a customer shouldn’t feel burdened while shopping in your store. It is important to reduce the number of steps that your checkout process consists of. There are customers, who could get overwhelmed by the complex checkout and leave your shop without purchasing. Think about ways to avoid distractions once they are ready to pay.
- Don’t neglect January
Do not forget or underestimate January! This is the first month of a new year. That means there will be a lot of New Year’s resolutions. Basically, if you are working in health, self-improvement or fitness industries, this month should be even more beneficial for you! After the New Year celebration, people will be all over your shop, following up with those high hopes in their heads.
Also, remember that not everybody will appreciate their gifts. That means, during January you might get a lot of returns, so there is no time to rest!
One last advice from our side…
We mentioned that you should not optimise your online store or add some new features because basically, it could cause some technical issues. However, if you think that your store or, especially, order fulfilment at some point is slow you should definitely try to simplify it. The easiest way to do it is with the help of third-party management software.
It has to offer you:
Product bundling
Inventory updates
Inventory tracking
Automated shipment
If you read all our tips then you should already know that this solution should have a product bundling feature. The bundling system in Multiorders enables you to link products together without having to create a whole new product. This makes managing inventory a lot more convenient.
Also, the inventory management system can be directly connected to the most popular sales channels. That way, all changes made in Multiorders automatically appear on your sales channels. Therefore, it only takes seconds to modify stock levels, pricing, etc. Moreover, as soon as you sell something, the system automatically adjusts your stock-list. That way, you don’t need to go through all that work by changing it manually.
We offer multiple integrations with the most popular sales channels and shipping carriers, so you can fulfil any order in a few seconds. This tool helps you make your business more time-efficient because order fulfilment will be four times faster. Setting it up only takes a few minutes, so you can do it during Black Friday and Cyber Monday as well as after all this cyber rush.
