Running an online business is like walking on the edge. One opportunity missed is one step closer to loss.
E-commerce businesses survive mainly on businessmen's alertness. Alertness is not only limited to onboarding new stocks or strategies but also to keeping an eye on upcoming market events.
As market events help to get maximum starlight, events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday can be high points of sales for your online shop.
Black Friday & Cyber Monday are two big shopping events that attract customers to shop till they drop!
If you are also an online business owner, utilising these two events to boost sales will be the best plan to secure more income.
Yes! Black Friday sales and Cyber Monday are a game changer for online businesses. Utilising the opportunity at the right time will unfold many benefits for the business.
In this cut-throat competition, being prepared to avail the benefits of such events will help businesses to flourish. Let's understand how to prepare for utilising BFCM.
Set Clear Goals for BFCM Sales Growth
Know what you want! There are multiple benefits of running full-fledged offers on Black Friday or Cyber Monday, but focusing on your strategy is important. Out of all the benefits available, which one are you targeting? Pen down this question, and find the answer to this question along with your team.
Once you have shortlisted the benefit - focus on it with the minutest detail.
Let's say you are focusing on increasing sales during the black Friday sale, and plan the entire strategy accordingly. Study the quarterly sales, follow the leads, do targeted advertisements and more.
Running a flourished business without an updated website is nearly impossible for an online business. Because the survival of online business largely depends on the website, the website should be able to entertain the web visitors without crashing or any technical issues.
The best way to keep up with the website is regularly maintaining it and keeping it updated.
You should plan it in such a way that it looks attractive, easy to surf, user friendly and should reduce the cart abandonment rate.
An optimised website will help to convert the web visitor to permanent customers, it will also help to utilise the website traffic to increase sales.
Yes, that's the key! Creating offers that are dedicated to you or are specially designed for you will make you feel special, won't it? That's the power of personalization.
With the help of personalization, you can offer some special discounts, add-on benefits, free delivery etc that will not only increase the interaction with the customer but will also tempt them to repeatedly buy from your website, settling them permanently as loyal customers.
Moreover, urgent deals will create an impression to buy quicker, resulting in more sales, conversions, and profit.
Ignoring leads is the worst mistake you can make as a business!
No one reluctantly ignores the lead but not taking enough follow-ups is a way of ignoring the leads. And that's not a healthy way to start the conversation with your customers.
As soon as you get a lead, the first step is to engage in a conversation with the lead, then follow up with as many follow-ups as necessary. This will help you convert the potential customer into a permanent buyer!
If you're wondering how to get leads for a particular event on your website, focus on targeted advertisement, and use social media to create digital campaigns. This will increase the performance of advertisements, helping you get better leads.
Moreover when you've got or collected enough leads and want to focus on converting those leads into a possible sale offer them heavy discounts that will make them make instant buying decisions.
Real-time customer support is not only a game changer but also creates a never changing impression of your business. It becomes very easy to gain the trust of customers by providing real-time customer support. They will feel valued and will be assured that if and when they have any problem regarding products or services customer support is just a call away.
Once a customer is sure about the support they get after the sales it is evident that they will frequently buy from your website. Thus, leading to multiple conversions from a single client.
It is challenging to run a full-fledged, real-time customer support. But if you implement it, it will become a golden card to play against all the competition in the market. And also helps you earn the trust of your customers
A lot of online business owners feel that getting online orders is the end of the story, whereas the reality is completely different. Getting orders is just getting to the start of the story. Once you receive the order, a long process is to be followed to make that particular product reach the doorsteps of your customer
Once the order is received, you have to focus on packaging, printing, labelling, shipping and ensuring that the product is delivered within the promised time frame.
While shipping the orders, you have to be prepared if there are certain returns, or if the order gets cancelled. While it sounds very easy to implement, the entire process is very tiring, and tedious and requires a tremendous amount of manpower as well as planning to execute it smoothly.
Imagine a single person running the entire show to look after managing a website, managing orders, keeping track of stock running advertisements and also taking care of shipping. Do you think it is possible to do this single-handedly, without taking the help of a 3rd party?
One might be able to manage single-handedly, but the efficiency of doing each and every step decreases with increasing workload or with increasing orders. Therefore, to stand longer in the competition, it is required to take the help of a trusted 3rd party source to at least handle the shipping duties.
You can rely on portals that have tied with multiple loading and boring platforms that can help you suffice the need of shipping immediately or delivering the products within the given time frame, managing AWB numbers dealing with cancellations, providing real-time tracking data and more & one such platform is ILS.
Managing shipping logistics during peak season like BFCM can be challenging. You can check out here our shipping and logistics guide for valuable insights on managing deliveries effectively.
The terms like free shipping or easy returns or returns within 7 days - not only sound attractive, but it actually works.
Attractive shipping deals are instant returns that will help the customer to buy without worrying much about the aftermath of the products. Even if they don't like the products, their money is secured, and they have a fair chance to either return it or buy something better within the given timeframe.
The return deals should be conveyed very clearly precisely and in a language which is easy to understand. You do not want to complicate things by writing terms that are not easily understandable by the audience at large. Providing a facility and communicating it effectively are two different steps that need to be done at the same time. Therefore put a great emphasis on the deals, plus the facilities you're providing and also mention the terms and conditions related to it in a very effective manner.
By now we know that running an online business requires great attention to detail. The person running the show must be aware of the ongoing market trends and upcoming events and should have enough tie-ups with the shipping companies that will help in the smooth functioning of the company.
For businesses looking for reliable courier options this BFCM season, exploring the best options can make all the difference in a simplified shipping process. Check out our detailed blog on Tips for Choosing the Best Courier Services and learn how to pick the best fit for your eCommerce success.
How can I set up my Shopify store without using a particular template for the Black Friday sale?
Yes, it is possible to set up a Shopify store without using a particular template And it is very easy to do so by following simple guidelines. This blog from Softpulse Infotech guides you through the process of how to set up a Shopify store without a template Check it out here.