How to Prepare your Online Store for Black Friday

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving is the day when retailers earn more profit for the year. The holiday shopping season is said to be very important for retailers as holiday sales are estimated to make up as much as 40% of annual revenues and 50% of their annual profits.

It is therefore very important for online retailers to pull out every trick from the bag to get shoppers out and buying during Black Friday sales.

1. Matching Sales with your Inventory

Retailers often walk a fine line in deciding how to present their offers on Black Friday. They order their holiday inventory in Spring and must be careful to match their sales with the inventory levels beforehand to encourage their customers to make more purchases, however not in a way that destroys their profitability.

Timing also plays an imperative role in how Black Friday sales are executed as the pricing strategies are designed to create a sense of urgency among customers. Limited time offers force consumers in making purchase decisions faster, making it more difficult for them to compare prices with competitors. Also, providing an exclusive time frame for shopping, for instance, the midnight sale deals creates a sense of exclusivity for shoppers. Driven by the sense of urgency, customers aren’t quick to consider exactly what kind of deal they are getting.

2. Planning your Inventory Stock

Having the right assortment of products handy when the demand arises makes the shopping experience of customers successful. And having inventory visibility is essential to support this process.

While working out on the inventory stock, consider the following pointers in mind.

• When creating an inventory financial plan, you have to figure out what stock you are carrying into the season before the season starts.
• You must ensure that you are planning inventory in advance, increasing for anticipated demand and decreasing for anticipated lows.
• You must also flow the inventory to keep the assortment fresh and new to attract customers and keep them coming back for more.
• As inventory sells down, you will require additional items to be added in stock. To arrive at the target inventory plan, determine the projected inventory to reach out to vendors and plan an execution plan for procuring the inventory to be added.

Once the plan is in place, the next step will be to start procurement for the inventory.

o As the customers are forced to shop during the limited offer period, a surge in demand occurs. It is very important that you have sufficient inventory on hand to meet the high demand.

Shipping and delivery play an important role in getting the orders fulfilled successfully and completely. You should ensure that there is a sufficient number of customized boxes in stock to cater to the shipping needs.

3. Running Promotions to Sell More

Online retailers run promotions during holiday seasons in an attempt to sell more products, get more store traffic and reduce the excess inventory on hand. During the promotion event, sales normally increase for the stipulated time which may not occur in the near future until the next event.

Some tips to consider for organizing your marketing campaigns:

• Start email campaigns to get your voice heard among the consumers world as it is a great time to plan special offers and people also expect to receive marketing messages during this period and have prepared to spend a little extra for their shopping online.

• Schedule your emails in advance so that you need not have to wait until the last minute to send your email campaigns.

• Add deadlines to your emails to increase the urgency for purchase. This will improve the demand for the sale.

• Test and improve your email campaigns by trying different attractive headlines and different calls to action to get different clicks and different promotions that are attractive to customers.

• You can make exclusive content for your most loyal customers by offering a sneak peek view of the offers on sale or the product range on offer. This will make your customers feel special and be enticed to spend more money on the sale.

Arka can help you create the custom boxes you need to boost sales! Check our custom shipping boxes, mailer boxes or custom folding cartons and design them the way you want!