Every year, right after the Halloween craze is over (or maybe even sooner), Black Friday campaigns mark the beginning of the most intense shopping seasons of the year. A holiday that originated in the US, Black Friday is the Friday after American Thanksgiving, and it is now celebrated through immense amounts of shopping worldwide.
For many eCommerce businesses, the time between Black Friday and Christmas is the most lucrative time of the year and can make or break a year’s success. As a worldwide shopping phenomenon, Black Friday is a major opportunity for brands and advertisers. US eCommerce sales on Black Friday are estimated to rise by 22.9% to 10.96 billion - a total of 5.3% of the total retail eCommerce sales.
The two main trends that mark this holiday are:
✅ Online shopping won over brick and mortar.
✅ Second, Black Friday is not a day - it’s a week or even a month of promotions.
So, how should you prepare your eCommerce business for Black Friday? From making sure your platform has an intuitive user interface to having multiple paying methods, attractive commercial photography, and a flawless check-out experience, this article will help you get ready for Black Friday.
Did you know that one of the most frequent reasons for cart abandonment is because the platform didn’t offer the customer’s preferred payment method? The more options you offer, the more likely you are to meet your customer’s payment habits. As a general rule, if customers see a payment method they’re familiar with, they will be more likely to make the transaction.
If your ad campaign worked, your eCommerce platform would be seeing more visitors and more purchases than ever before. This might test the limits of your hosting provider and increase the chances of your site crashing. Now it’s the right time to make sure your website is optimized and has enough bandwidth in a crucial time for your business. Your developer can run some tests and see how your website will perform under a considerable number of visitors.
Optimization examples include refining HTML and CSS elements, compressing images (for example, removing background, the size of the file drops), image retouching, and installing plugins that help manage high amounts of requests.
Your website needs to have excellent speed, to prevent losing your customers to other competitors on the Black Friday Campaign.
According to a Google study, for every extra second in load time, conversions go down by 12%. Also, up to 80% of customers will leave a site due to poor user experience.
Making sure your eCommerce is friendly and intuitive is the best way to avoid frustration and site abandonment. Also, make sure your landing page has compelling product photos and clear calls to action.
Upselling and cross-selling techniques should be a part of your eCommerce strategy all the time. Still, during the high volume spending season, it’s more likely to tempt customers by providing an increased value or convenience. You can do this by showcasing products often bought together by other customers or mixing and matching various products.
Now it’s the time to showcase your best product images and lure your customers into exploring and shopping your Black Friday campaigns and offers.
Basic upselling examples include a drink with a food order, plane tickers and a car rental service and a hotel, a phone with a pair of headphones, a jacket with a scarf, and so on. Featuring a good selection of commercial photography in a user-friendly design is the way to go.
By the end of this year, mobile devices will be responsible for more than 70% of the eCommerce sales globally. Even more so, 65% of clicks on paid Google search results come from mobile. This makes it obvious that for this Black Friday, not only that your eCommerce has to run smoothly on mobiles, but it should even be mobile-first.
A balanced mix between a strong eCommerce strategy and a social media strategy is compelling. It allows customers to discover your brand in different ways and spark consumer-to-brand conversations. Not to mention that 60% of people use social media to discover products and services.
By connecting your eCommerce to social media platforms, you enable people to shop instantly and complete purchases without even having to leave the app.
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