Every shopper loves a bargain, which explains the ever-growing excitement about Black Friday and Cyber Mondays in the U.S. and beyond. While these are the busiest and most profitable times for online sellers, they can also be a cause of headaches for most.
Luckily, you can always leverage a couple of tips to make this your best time of the year!
Black Friday vs Cyber Monday Basics
Before diving into the tips and tricks you should use to navigate the Black Friday and Cyber Monday madness, how about we cover some basics?
What’s Black Friday?
Traditionally in America, this is usually the first Friday right after Thanksgiving and is traditionally the busiest shopping day of the year. For most customers, this marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season, when they can get fantastic discounts and unbelievable deals.
What’s Cyber Monday?
This is the online shopping equivalent of Black Friday which typically takes place the Monday after the Black Friday weekend. Cyber Monday was started to encourage ecommerce, which makes it undeniably important for online business owners.
How, Then, Do You Prepare for BFCM
Black Friday and Cyber Monday can be the best times of the year, but if you’re not prepared adequately, the large influx of buyers can ruin your experience. On the contrary, you might miss a great opportunity to reap huge if you’re not communicating effectively. Here’s how to avoid that:
1. Ensure You’ve Got Clean Data
One of the most important tips for making it through the BFCM rush is ensuring your customers receive the deals and codes you send. Leverage Trestle Identity Solutions for high-quality data cleansing so messages reach their intended destination.
As long as the message is seen by the right audience, you can expect a higher response rate. Keep in mind that contact data is only fresh for about 90 days. Some of your contact list items will even start decaying as soon as you add them.
2. Segment Your Email Addresses
Though you want everyone in your contact list to be part of your BFCM target audience, the sad reality is that it just can’t be the case. Understand your customers and group them into various segments, such as present buyers, impulse spenders, bargain hunters, and more.
That way, you can send the right message to each group to drive them into action. Did you know that customers who receive communication spend approximately 138% more than those who don’t?
3. Pay Attention to the Checkout Experience
It’s not unusual for your web traffic numbers to soar with both new and existing customers looking for a good deal. Such demand means some high-demand items will be going out of stock at a higher-than-usual rate. Make sure you have more of those in stock, or find a way to restock them before they run out.
Also, ensure that your platform can handle the increased traffic so the users aren’t struggling at any point. Make the most of tools like predictive address/data validation services to ensure your customers enjoy the checkout process. These are the little things that your customers appreciate.
4. Avoid Failed Deliveries
With all the chaos that happens during BFCM, it’s easy for online shoppers to make mistakes when adding their delivery information. Don’t blame them, because they are probably quite excited about their new items and the huge savings. Instead, consider investing in address validation tools like Trestle’s APIs to handle this common issue for you.
Not only will this save you time and money as a retailer, but it also promotes customer satisfaction, thanks to correct and timely deliveries.
Handle the BFCM Pressure Like a Pro!
There’s a lot you can do to handle all the challenges that BFCM seasons come with, to ensure you are making the most of this huge rise in shopping activity. Proper preparation, especially as far as data accuracy goes, is key.
Not sure how to go about this? Let Trestle be your partner for data validation, cleaning, and enrichment services that will make all the difference!
