Black Friday, Cyber Monday—any sale, really—should be an opportunity to increase sales. Whether you started planning for the big holiday sales during the summer or have done nothing yet, you still have time to generate additional revenue if you act now.
Put serious thought into what you are offering before you launch. Poorly designed offers can damage your brand by really annoying your potential buyers.
First, always protect your brand
This is one time when you do not want to be copying what the corporate stores are doing. USAToday lists tactics to avoid in its recent article “4 Black Friday Facts Retailers Don’t Want You To Know.”
All of these are common in big corporate stores on Black Friday weekend, and are definitely a bad idea if you want your customers to love you:
- Doorbuster deals are few and far between.
- Discounts are often inflated.
- Price-matching may be exempt.
- Fine print is everywhere.
Shoppers will eventually catch on to these tricks, probably sooner than later. This close to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, it may be too late to find your own version of a doorbuster to offer. And you probably won’t be doing any 70% discounts.
There are examples, though, of small businesses offering typical discounts and sometimes just regular pricing, but that still benefit from participating in these big sales days. Even if you aren’t interested in that, read on as these retail strategies can be implemented all year long.
Source: https://www.statista.com/chart/7045/thanksgiving-weekend-e-commerce-roundup/
Be proactive: ask to be added to shipping sites and posts about sales deals
Reach out to parcel-forwarding companies in countries you ship to and ask to be featured on their sites and in their Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions. They already have a target audience you want to reach.
For example, if you ship to the UK, develop a relationship with MyUKMailbox and ask to be added to their Best UK Black Friday Deals for 2017. Search for “parcel forwarding companies” + the country you’re interested in to find more of them.
Also, watch for location-specific post titles about sales events. Many sites are willing to add you to existing content when it benefits their readers to do so.
Check out this slideshow presentation “7 Best Black Friday Marketing Ideas” from Beeketing.
Expand your client base internationally
80% of small businesses that sell globally saw increased sales in 2016. Businesses located in smaller countries can increase their target audience by expanding to other countries. To keep it simple, use these tips to sell through eBay or Amazon.
Shipping internationally can get complicated quickly. Focus on one country at a time. Or skip the complexity altogether by letting your shoppers know about methods for buying internationally.
For example, there are companies that provide shipping addresses shoppers can use to order from other countries. They enable buyers to shop anywhere that ships to a particular country and have their packages bundled and forwarded to them. Do your due diligence as there are far too many parcel-forwarding services to mention in this post.