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
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Your customers are shopping earlier and later than just on BF/CM
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Discount your products a few days earlier to outsmart them
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Scarcity encourages buying ("3 dresses left, only 3 dresses are left!?")
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Discounting all of November and December is not smart – pick your days to shine
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Don’t discount too early or you’ll score the same number of orders/day and get less in the bank
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Discounting matters on high volume days
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If you don’t have a Black Friday Sale, you won’t have Black Friday order spikes on your books
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BF/CM make up about 5.4 extra days of order volume for an average business
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BF/CM makes up, on average, about 4% of your yearly revenue
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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)
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Focus your efforts during BF/CM on getting NEW customers
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On average, a lead needs to see something 19 times before they buy it – advertise (thanks for that tip Paige!)
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Your dedicated customers will buy anyways
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Be warned: Your customers may be delaying their buying from Summer/Fall to BF/CM
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...but your growth could continue to flat line if you don’t get new customers
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Optimize 'cost per conversion', and get new customers
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Chant that last note daily to yourself
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I’ll wait…
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Make sure true inventory numbers are kept up to date, every few minutes
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Offer expedited shipping to grab some extra sales just before Christmas Day
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To compete with Amazon, expedited shipping and smart inventory is a MUST
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But, why not also join Amazon? Sell on Shopify, but add other channels for extra exposure
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Fun fact: Black Friday is MORE lucrative to Canadian retailers overall than Boxing week
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Death, taxes and returns – with extra orders come extra returns over the holidays so be ready
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Get customer and order data into your accounting system ASAP
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Get tracking numbers and return slips to your customers ASAP
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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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