Black Friday / Cyber Monday Shopping Behavior All eCommerce Owners Should Know

Thursday, January 19, 2017Lindsay Hampson

Last night, I went to an eCommerce Meetup about Black Friday/Cyber Monday Behavior, and I learned some things.  Imagine that.

Shopify graciously loaned their space to eCommerce Toronto, a Meetup group and about 100 of its members.  The topic was Black Friday / Cyber Monday (BF/CM) Shopping Behavior All eCommerce Owners Should Know.  The house was full.  

Unfortunately, I cannot replicate the refreshing beer I had while at the workshop.  But, I have tried to replicate the tips shared.  Some are from the presenter, some are from my conversations with attendees, and some are from my own experiences. 

27 tips and insights about BF/CM buyer behaviour and your business

1. Your customers are shopping earlier and later than just on BF/CM

2. Discount your products a few days earlier to outsmart them

3. Scarcity encourages buying ("3 dresses left, only 3 dresses are left!?")

4. Discounting all of November and December is not smart – pick your days to shine

5. Don’t discount too early or you’ll score the same number of orders/day and get less in the bank

6. Discounting matters on high volume days

7. If you don’t have a Black Friday Sale, you won’t have Black Friday order spikes on your books

8. BF/CM make up about 5.4 extra days of order volume for an average business

9. BF/CM makes up, on average, about 4% of your yearly revenue

10. You **could** be better off growing your business by 10% in other ways: adding more channels, spending more on advertising to get more customers (Check out Vantage – they optimize and provide real time marketing for platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce and Magento)

11. Focus your efforts during BF/CM on getting NEW customers

12. On average, a lead needs to see something 19 times before they buy it – advertise (thanks for that tip Paige!)

13. Your dedicated customers will buy anyways

14. Be warned: Your customers may be delaying their buying from Summer/Fall to BF/CM

15. ...but your growth could continue to flat line if you don’t get new customers

16. Optimize 'cost per conversion', and get new customers

17. Chant that last note daily to yourself

18. I’ll wait…  

19. Make sure true inventory numbers are kept up to date, every few minutes

20. Offer expedited shipping to grab some extra sales just before Christmas Day

21. To compete with Amazon, expedited shipping and smart inventory is a MUST

22. But, why not also join Amazon?  Sell on Shopify, but add other channels for extra exposure

23. Fun fact: Black Friday is MORE lucrative to Canadian retailers overall than Boxing week

24. Death, taxes and returns – with extra orders come extra returns over the holidays so be ready

25. Get customer and order data into your accounting system ASAP

26. Get tracking numbers and return slips to your customers ASAP

27. Adding 1 or 2 new channels (like Amazon, or in-store at Target) can make a world of difference in
    getting new customers and growing your business

Thank you again for the great meetup.  I'll certainly be back eCommerce Toronto!  

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