Choose your strategy for Black Friday and Cyber Monday

It's almost time for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. BFCM has now extended to be a much longer season than just a mere weekend. The season includes Singles Day that you should also have a strategy for to boost sales. Consumers look forward to BFCM for major discounts, campaigns and experiences. What are the different ways to take advantage of Black Friday and Cyber Monday season? We listed the traditional and slightly less traditional ways to market the most of this buying mania.

Recognizable and effective strategies for BCFM

Discounts

The most traditional way to take advantage of Black Friday is to utilise different discounts. Discount percentages, discounted amounts and “take 3, pay 2” -offers are good examples of effective discount campaigns. It is noteworthy that on Black Friday, discounts are often slightly higher than normally, which tends to further increase consumers’ desire to consume.

Learn how to use different discount methods in Shopify.

Singles Day

Singles Day, November 11 began as an ironic comeback to Valentine’s Day in China. No joke Singles Day has turned into a record-breaking shopping event, not just in China but all over the world. What better opportunity to pamper singles than by offering personalized shopping experiences? This could be done through Live Video Shopping events, offering inspiration to the customers through a community and shared experience.

Free shipping

It's quite common to offer free shipping. This classic bidding method is proven to be very effective and it is likely to lower the threshold for completing the purchasing process. Usually free shipping is offered when a consumer buys products for an amount exceeding a certain limit. During Black Friday it's worth to considers should you utilize the purchase limit for free shipping or go wild and offer free shipping on all orders regardless of spent amount?

Freebies and bundles

Another classic method is freebies. “Trade giveaways” which are also used in physical trading, are a great way to share a good mood and to increase a customer's sense of getting a little more value for money. Freebie doesn’t have to be anything groundbreaking, but it’s still worth investing in personality and striving to stand out from the mass.

Or would you put together different product bundles in honor of Black Friday? This is a great way to increase sales and get rid of products in stock, for example.

Whether you decide to take advantage of product bundles, discounts, or giveaways, the workable trick is to vary the offers on different days of the campaign. This way you maintain customer interest to purchase throughout the campaign.

Try something slightly different

Launch a new collection

If organising a wild discount event doesn’t seem like a good idea, there are other options for taking advantage of Black Friday. What if you utilise the visibility provided by Black Friday by launching a new product or collection? This will allow you to offer your customers added value to BFCM without reducing margins.

Limited editions & collaborations

Publishing a collaborative product or collection is a considerable idea. Limited edition offered collaboration collection is apt to increase customers' already simmering shopping fever, while simultaneously creating added value.

Or would you like to test something totally different?

Second hand sale

If your brand isn’t new and your old products have accumulated the value and appreciation, why not hold a Second Hand sale in honor of Black Friday? This brings joy to customers and added value, especially in a case where, over the years, the brand has had time to accumulate the iconic products that consumers crave from the second-hand market. So set up an extra collection page in your online store or collaborate with another online retailer focusing on second hand products.

Gift cards

If you don't have time and interest to plan discounts or new product releases, gift cards, especially during the holiday season, are an easy and simple way to participate in the Black Friday hustle and bustle. Offer a gift card to the special service or combine a discount percentage with a gift card. In the case of a gift card, the working trick is to take advantage of the “buy 1 get 2” offer. This way, you will get twice as much traffic to your e-commerce and additional sales when customers are more likely to exceed the amount of the gift card in their purchases.

Do you want to approach Black Friday from a different angle?

Focus on strengthening your mission, brand promise and values

Rather than putting full focus on selling items, use this opportunity to build the relationship with your existing customers. Focus on delivering value with a well thought out offering to your existing customers. The golden opportunity here is to send out the same message in new customer acquisition, to find the new individuals feeling a connection to your message.

Oppose excessive consumption

Black Friday traditionally focuses on discounts and hysterical consumption. For several years some companies have closed down their online stores during BFCM to oppose the culture of excessive consumption. If your business relies heavily on sustainable values, this action is worth considering. You are likely to get attention and address especially the audience that shares your values.

Donate a part of your profits to charity

If you’re not ready for a radical act such as closing your store for a couple of days, you can utilise Black Friday by bringing out the values and other important social issues that are close to your heart. Indeed, many companies do this by allocating part of the profit to charity destination. Doing charity is a great way to share goodwill with both consumers and the online retailers themselves, not to mention how it can strengthen the brand image.

Roosa Hämäläinen, growth hacker / Woolman

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