Did your e-commerce survive Black Friday?

Cyber ​​Monday 2016 was the day that recorded the highest number of sales in the history of e-commerce.

If you're thinking that it's enough to sit in front of the monitor and wait to see your revenue increase, you're very wrong, because Black Friday could become your biggest business crisis ever.

My advice is to organize yourself in time to manage the next Black Friday and not miss out on great sales opportunities.

This guide will be the personal trainer of your e-commerce. Here's step by step what you'll need to do:

Know what Black Friday and Cyber Monday are.

Understand why they are so important for your e-commerce site

Define the 10 key points to make sure your e-commerce is ready to receive more sales.

Neglecting these aspects means being left out of the two most important online shopping days of the year.

When will Black Friday and Cyber Monday be in 2018? Let's start early and immediately take a look at the 2018 calendar:

Black Friday is always the Friday after Thanksgiving Day and marks the start of Christmas shopping. Next year it will therefore be Friday 23 November 2018.

Cyber Monday, invented by marketing geniuses to increase online sales, is always the Monday following Black Friday and, in 2018 it will therefore be November 26th.

Do I really need to worry about these two dates? Do I absolutely have to take part? Let's put it this way, Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday have now become too important globally to be ignored.

Traffic on e-commerce sites during Black Friday 2016 increased by 220%, compared to a normal day in November.

Giants like Amazon and Walmart (in the US market) have launched special offers during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Just because you aren't an international giant doesn't mean you can't implement a winning marketing strategy. In fact, Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday are an excellent opportunity for you to showcase your e-commerce and make yourself known to thousands of potential new customers. Play to your strengths to create an extremely personal and unique shopping experience.

Companies that use HOST.IT to host their e-commerce generated a +1087.23% increase in sales during these two commercially important days.

Why must your e-commerce take part in BLACK FRIDAY & CYBER MONDAY? Here are four reasons why you absolutely must not miss this opportunity:

Does your marketing strategy allow you to gain visibility on your website on these particular occasions?

Running a sale without having customers to sell to would be like screaming in a desert tunnel: it doesn't matter how loud you can scream if no one is paying attention.

Is your e-commerce ready? Before you get started, here are 12 questions you should answer:

Have you carefully planned which products you will discount?

Have you developed an effective marketing strategy that brings customers interested in purchasing on your website?

Are you sure your website can handle the incoming traffic? You may receive thousands of visits in a matter of minutes, your hosting service must be sized correctly.

Have you planned a communication strategy to inform your regular customers (for example with DEMs in the previous days)?

Have you optimized your checkout process as much as possible?

Are the discounts and offers you have decided to apply clearly visible on your site?

Have you checked that your website is correctly visible and navigable from both mobile and desktop?

Does your e-commerce encourage immediate purchase? For example, have you added a counter that marks the imminent expiration of the promotion?

Have you trained and sized your customer care adequately? You may receive a number of phone calls and emails equal to three times the usual load, you must check that you have adequate telephone lines, trained staff and a sufficient number to satisfy all incoming requests.

Is your e-commerce designed for cross-selling and upselling? Remember, more than any other day of the year, people are looking for something to buy at a discount. You won't have to be intrusive, you just have to propose and they will choose.

Have you thought about a discount policy on transport costs?

Are the images on your website optimized? Images that are too large can negatively impact the loading speed of the website, which could translate into fewer sales. It's proven that a slow-loading e-commerce site is more easily abandoned than a faster competitor.

I am aware that this list of things to check is very long, but there is no need to panic.

Filling gaps in your sales strategy during Black Friday and Cyber Monday may seem like a daunting task, but it's worth the effort! You can achieve a lot in a short period of time, especially if you take advantage of the help offered by those who develop and create websites, specifically e-commerce, with Prestashop, WooCommerce, Magento and many others.

With a professional by your side it's like having a full-time business partner: your success is also their success.

10 Steps to best prepare your e-commerce The best way to face a commercial commitment as important as Black Friday is to be prepared. Act well in advance, analyze historical data and implement this list of 10 steps to best prepare your e-commerce for Black Friday 2018:

APPLY DISCOUNTS THE RIGHT DISCOUNTS TO THE RIGHT PRODUCTS

IMPROVE THE SALES EXPERIENCE

IMPROVE YOUR CHECKOUT PROCESS

USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO DRIVE TRAFFIC TO YOUR SITE

SEND QUALITY EMAIL CAMPAIGNS

OPTIMIZE YOUR SITE'S IMAGES

DON'T FORGET ABOUT SHIPPING COSTS

PROVIDE PERFECT CUSTOMER SERVICE

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE PROPER HOSTING

1. OPTIMIZE YOUR PRODUCTS

7 out of 10 buyers are undecided about what to buy and where to buy it. So it's essential to give your products the chance to stand out from those of your competitors.

If you've taken part in Black Friday and Cyber Monday in years past, the first step is to analyze your sales data to see what went well. Use the information to make changes to existing product layouts and product descriptions.

Plan the actions to be taken in advance by creating, for example, a calendar that determines when a product is on sale and its price. Be proactive and make small changes to the selling price, rather than recovering a sale at the wrong price. The professionals who create e-commerce sites can enable you to modify products and their prices in just a few minutes, giving you complete management autonomy.

Product descriptions should instill a sense of "urgency". Remind people that they only have a certain time window to purchase the products they want by taking advantage of the deals offered by adding phrases like:

Add special mentions of Black Friday and Cyber Monday in your product descriptions to signal their relevance to the shopper.

If you are selling products from well-known brands (whatever they are), make sure the brand names appear in a prominent position. This allows you to obtain a double advantage:

Improve your position in organic search results (which equates to getting more traffic and therefore more sales);

Add credibility to your e-commerce to turn occasional buyers into repeat customers.

You might also think about doing a keyword search on Google and using Google Trends to find some Black Friday-related keywords for your products. Including these elements in your descriptions could give your site a boost in SEO (search engine optimization) – by climbing the Google rankings for relevant terms, you'll get more traffic on those days and hopefully more sales.

It's also worth doing a quick check of your categories and product listings to make sure they're up to date. There is nothing worse than advertising a product that you are unable to offer.

TIP: The products displayed don't have to be set in stone. Dropshipping means you can launch into new markets with a drop of a hat, so it's always worth being flexible in case you find an opportunity. RETURN TO INDEX

2. APPLY THE RIGHT DISCOUNTS TO THE RIGHT PRODUCTS Black Friday and Cyber Monday shoppers are bargain hunters.

Be prepared: you will need to guarantee a discount of at least 20% on products to be competitive. You might consider offering a free gift with every purchase, in addition to the discount.

When it comes to discounts, get creative!

Many sites will offer a 20% discount, but how many will offer a 50% discount for a first time buyer or 30% discount if a customer buys more than 5 pairs of shoes? Unleash your imagination and creativity.

TIP: An incredible discount on a product, say 80%, can be a great way to attract a high volume of shoppers to your online store. Once on your site, make them look around to purchase more products. If you have a product that you're struggling to sell, this might be a good candidate for a super discount. RETURN TO INDEX

3. IMPROVE SALES EXPERIENCE Everything about your store design on Black Friday and Cyber Monday should be sales-oriented and turn users into buyers.

Have you included extensive cross-selling and upselling opportunities? Let's take an example to clarify these concepts:

Cross-selling: you have a pair of shoes at a very discounted price, you also sell the socks to match the shoes at a reduced price to make a combined purchase of both products;

Upselling: taking the example from before, on the same page, advertise a model from a more recent collection of shoes (which will have a slightly higher price but still discounted).

Achieving these types of strategies is easy if you create complementary product categories that fit together naturally (like the shoes and socks example).

A customer should land on your store's homepage and have no doubts about where to go.

Consider creating separate pages for Black Friday and Cyber Monday to clearly indicate where your customers need to go to get the deals. Basically, what you want is for your customers to reach your discounted products in as few clicks as possible.

So, when potential customers land on your e-commerce site, they must immediately understand where the offers are.

Just like your product descriptions, your entire site should convey a sense of "urgency." Here are two DIY steps to create a sense of urgency:

Display discounts clearly on the home page: It might seem obvious, but it's easy to get so caught up in the product pages that you forget to set up your storefront.

Add a Countdown Banner: A timer that oscillates between Black Friday and Cyber Monday can really help you build excitement.

TIP: If you already have a sales section of your website, a quick and easy fix is ​​to change the text to make it a special Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday navigation bar. Ask your friends to test your site before the hot days – chances are they'll be brutally honest about any shortcomings! RETURN TO INDEX

4. IMPROVE YOUR CHECKOUT PROCESS Your first thought might be “my checkout is working fine, why should I improve it?”.

Not asking the question would be a mistake.

Your checkout is like the last obstacle in a race: it doesn't matter if you eliminated everyone else, if you fall at the last obstacle you don't win. Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday shoppers are fickle: they have thousands of stores to visit and a limited amount of time, so they won't think twice about leaving your site, right at the moment of checking out.

Taking the time to improve your checkout process could pay off.

You can add extra payment options like PayPal or Bitcoin. The more payment opportunities you make available to your customers, the more sales you will make.

3 out of 10 purchases are made cross devices, that is, they start on mobile and end on desktop or vice versa. Providing a purchase procedure that keeps track of the user's session and therefore of his shopping cart, cross devices, could be a winning card.

TIP: A customer who has made it all the way to the checkout page is a good opportunity to attempt a higher cart: add a cross-selling offer on the checkout page to give the opportunity to add more products to their order. RETURN TO INDEX

5. USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO DRIVE TRAFFIC TO YOUR SITE Running campaigns on social media such as Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram can be a great way to drive traffic to your e-commerce; but it's not enough to just push ads, you have to do it to the right people.

Pay attention to the #BlackFriday and #Cyber​​Monday hashtags that you absolutely must use in your social communications. Using the social media plugins available on Prestashop, Woocommerce and Magento will allow you to integrate your store with Facebook or Twitter relatively easily.

In our experience of e-commerce stores, Facebook is the most effective channel for driving traffic to your site and generating sales. This is reflected in the statistics: Purchase rates increased by 42% for e-commerce companies on Facebook during Black Friday 2016. RETURN TO INDEX

6. SEND QUALITY EMAIL CAMPAIGNS For many of us, Black Friday and Cyber Monday can seem overwhelming. Email gives you the chance to make your voice heard among those of many and offer a truly personalized opportunity to your customers.

Be sure to start your email campaign at least a week in advance to whet your customers' appetite for the sales you'll be offering throughout the weekend.

A simple but effective email campaign should include:

One email per week from four weeks before Black Friday.

An email both the night before Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

An email on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

You might also consider offering your long-time customers a special VIP offer via email. For example, you could give them a preview of Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday discounts and offer them the option to purchase them in advance. This can be a great way to build brand awareness. Remember that repeat customers are more valuable to you, so it makes business sense to give them more importance.

But winning email campaigns don't end there. Be sure to follow up on Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday to ask for feedback and invite them to visit your store again.

TIP: Adding an automated abandoned cart recovery email is a great way to prevent customers from missing out. If a customer makes it all the way to checkout but can't make their purchase, they'll receive a follow-up email that allows them to go straight back to their cart. This is a useful tool for your customers and potentially profitable for you! RETURN TO INDEX

7. OPTIMIZE YOUR SITE IMAGES Black Friday and Cyber Monday shoppers are ruthless and they can be so because they are bombarded with advantageous offers from thousands of your competitors.

If your website is slow to load, many shoppers will leave, simply closing their browser. Large, colorful product images and banners on the homepage certainly make your site very beautiful and attractive but at the same time they can affect loading times and reduce your conversion rate (the percentage of visitors who make a purchase) and your positioning on Google.

OK, but my products need images, so what can I do about it?

The easiest way to fix this problem is to use an image optimizer. These are tools that compress the image into a lighter version, without affecting the size or quality. There are hundreds of free or paid tools available on the web, you are truly spoiled for choice. RETURN TO INDEX

8. DON'T FORGET ABOUT SHIPPING COSTS Black Friday and Cyber Monday shoppers are very particular shoppers and expect free delivery.

It is up to you to weigh the cost of shipping against the discount you are offering. For example, many shoppers would rather have free shipping worth $5 than a $10 discount on the entire product.

64% of shoppers said they were more convinced to make a purchase with free shipping, so it could be an important opportunity not to be missed. RETURN TO INDEX

9. PROVIDE PERFECT CUSTOMER SERVICE With large multinationals like Amazon dominating Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, you may feel like a small fish in an infinite sea.

The trick is to turn this situation into a competitive advantage. As?

One way to do this is to provide quality, personal customer service with response times that make people say WOW. If you haven't already, write a detailed Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section specifically for Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday.

This way any questions your customers may have can be handled as transparently as possible. Make sure you cover key areas like:

The refund and return policy

How long does the promotional sale last

Estimated delivery times

Anything you can do to improve your level of customer service can have a big effect on your sales.

Make sure the support channels you advertise are active and that response times are virtually immediate. RETURN TO INDEX

10. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE PROPER HOSTING

The biggest nightmare for those who manage an e-commerce is seeing the website go down as soon as the advertising campaigns start.

You have spent thousands of Euros to bring potential buyers to your e-commerce and the website cannot handle the amount of traffic. It's exactly like opening a physical store, running a major leaflet campaign that brings in 1,000 people at the time of opening and then having a small door to let them all in at the same time. The first ones will be able to enter, but all the others will remain in queue for hours with the risk of having them leave.

How to avoid going offline at the very moment you could invoice the most? Here are 4 fundamental rules for you to follow to be prepared to manage your online sales during particular events such as Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday:

Analyze historical data I recommend using Google Analytics as a monitoring system. You will need to make a comparison between the number of unique sessions your site normally gets and, if available, the same number of unique sessions at previous peak times (perhaps following promotional activity);

Check the application update It is absolutely essential that your e-commerce software, whatever it is (Prestashop, Woocommerce, Magento, etc.) is updated to the latest version. I advise you to carry out this check well in advance, to avoid having to carry out updates too close to upcoming promotional events;

Check the update status of the service. Ask your hosting provider which PHP versions are available in your plan and check that you are using the most updated version (php 7.x) as it is more powerful and suitable for managing a greater flow of visitors;

Check your Hosting profile To manage peaks in traffic, increased sales on your site and an increasing number of unique sessions, you will need to check with your hosting provider that the profile purchased is suitable to manage the peak you think you will have during a discount campaign created specifically for Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

The last but not least important piece of advice is not to wait until you have a problem to manage, but plan ahead. You can already start evaluating your new hosting solution that can support your marketing activities for Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2018.

An example of successful e-commerce during Black Friday HOST.IT's e-commerce hosting solutions have allowed one of our clients who manages a large e-commerce portal to achieve extraordinary results:

+325.99% of users compared to a normal Friday* +1087.23% more sales compared to a normal Friday*

*the data refers to Friday 24 November 2017.

These important numbers were possible thanks to project hosting created by us at HOST.IT. The result was the result of the collaboration between HOST.IT and the e-commerce managers who shared their traffic expectations and their sales objective. In this way we were able to create an absolutely scalable hosting service that always constantly guaranteed the maximum peak of visitors obtained:

And you, do you want to give your e-commerce an extra chance to invoice +1087.23% during the next Black Friday?

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