Love shopping? So do we! Two of our favorite shopping days are here, Black Friday & Cyber Monday! They also seem to be the preferred shopping dates for many customers. Curiously enough, every shopper seems to turn into a morning person when these two dates arrive, taking advantage of the huge discounts to get all their holiday gift shopping done. It’s also a critical day for many businesses to move their revenue numbers from red to black, allowing them to close the year off with a BANG! The most important days for any business to get on those black numbers. In short, it’s a win-win situation. But not everything is sugar and rainbows. For these huge sales to become a reality, big preparations need to be made.
Why Are Black Friday And Cyber Monday So Important For Your Business?
The importance of these two days for every business is enormous. According to CNBC, online spending on Black Friday in 2020 surged nearly 22%, hitting a new record! This makes 2020’s Black Friday the second-largest online spending day in the history of the United States, right behind 2019’s Cyber Monday.
As Econsultancy says, eCommerce retailers report up to 240% and 380% increase in revenue on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, respectively. It’s safe to say that you DO NOT want to miss out on these important shopping dates.
“Black Friday” was initially coined by police and bus drivers, describing the heavy traffic that would clog city streets the morning after Thanksgiving. However, businesses decided to provide a more positive explanation: Black Friday is when retailers can turn a profit for the year, turning their numbers from red to black. Accountants are renowned for using red ink to show negative amounts (or losses). This holiday can help a business go from being “in the red” to having black, profitable numbers. Whatever the reason behind the name, one thing is clear: Black Friday (and Cyber Monday) is an excellent opportunity for you to sell your old inventory, introduce new stock, and attract new customers to your business. With the right marketing strategy, you can get your discount and sales information to those customers who will find it most appealing ahead of time, helping them prepare to make a purchase. Also, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are daring seasons. The fantastic discounts, installments, and bundle offers can make even the most reserved customers willing to try new things.
How Can You Prepare For Black Friday And Cyber Monday?
“Be prepared” isn’t just a boy scout motto. When it comes to your business’s success, you can never be too prepared for the huge demand that these two days bring. Below you will find critical tips that can help you get ready to make the most of Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Get Ready As Early As Possible
Planning is the mother of almost every other ability. If you want to set up for success, we highly recommend that you prepare ahead of time. You should have a clear idea of the products you will showcase, the discounts they will have, the marketing campaigns you’re going to run, the message you want to send out, and the expected revenue that will come in. Not planning ahead can lead to rushed decisions, which can turn into costly mistakes. Don’t miss out on big opportunities and make sure you have all your Black Friday/Cyber Monday strategy planned ahead of time.
Test Your Systems
Picture this: you have a fantastic deck that’s ready for you to pitch to your client. But when the meeting rolls by, you run into all sorts of issues. Maybe your laptop doesn’t have any battery, and the charger doesn’t work. Perhaps the projector fails. Maybe nobody else had the presentation, and you have nothing to show your client. This is why test runs are so important. They ensure you have everything set up and running smoothly, guaranteeing a wonderful experience for everyone involved.
Review Your Processes Start To Finish
From the moment your customers make a purchase until they get the package delivered to their doorstep every single step of the process should function smoothly. Also, from an eCommerce perspective, you need to ensure that your website is able to handle all the extra traffic that Cyber Monday and Black Friday will bring in. If your website gets overloaded and crashes, you will be losing lots of money and potential customers -even if it just stops working for a few minutes! Every second counts, especially during these two shopping dates
Plan Your Marketing Strategy
What’s more likely to bring in a potential customer? Your same old, everyday display? Or a flashy neon sign that screams SALES, SALES, SALES? Maybe it’s just us, but we would rather go into the second store and see what discount items we can snatch!
It’s the same for your potential customers. Your discounts and promotions need to be crystal clear (and preferably be flashy!) in order for you to catch their eye and get them to visit your store.
This is where your marketing skills should shine bright: plan out your discounts accordingly, and make sure you’re communicating the right message to your audience. Once that’s done, you can sit back and watch as the sales come in.
Keep Your Shelves Fully Stocked
Your inventory can make or break you. Having an accurate count of your stock is not just important at this time of the year – it’s crucial. To manage the BF and CM madness you must keep close track of your inventory. This can help you avoid disasters, like running out of stock when an item is selling like hotcakes or being the only business not offering a product your customers are looking for. So stock up, count twice, and get ready!
So, How Can Outsourcing Help Boost Your Sales This Time Of Year?
Getting an outsourcing partner can be key to your success on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. There are many ways that a BPO (like us) can help you on these busy busy days. For example, Human resources, marketing, website development, and more! Here we made a list of the ones we consider as the most important, and the ones that can give your business a bigger advantage!
These Are The 5 Most Important Ways Outsourcing Can Help Grow Your Sales On Black Friday And Cyber Monday
Hiring & Back Office Support
The increases in foot traffic, website visitors, and social media interactions mean that you’re doing amazing during this season. But it also means that your business can get stretched to its limit if you don’t have the necessary resources to deal with all the extra work. Since hiring new staff is probably not the best option since you probably only need this boost temporarily, this is when outsourcing can come in handy. When you find an outsourcing partner, you get a global team trained to suit your needs. Also, this team can scale as you need it, and focus on helping you out during one of the busiest seasons of the year.
Marketing Resources
It’s all about marketing when it comes to attracting new customers. If people don’t know that you will have huge discounts, they simply won’t visit your store. Communication is key! A reminder call for shopping lovers (old customers or new) is crucial to make the most out of these special sales days.
Google Ads, Facebook Ads, SEO, and social media will be your allies on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. But if you don’t have a marketing team, or your team isn’t very big or lacks the resources to help your company with all the extra work, outsourcing will be your new best friend.
The biggest benefit of outsourcing your marketing is that you will have access to an entire team of marketing professionals, who will be experts at using the most modern tools, acquiring the right leads, and delivering the results you need.
24/7 Support
As we mentioned before, on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, everyone becomes a morning person – or a crazed shopper! Everyone wants to catch all the offers they can as soon as they are released. This is why it’s helpful to offer 24/7 support: you can give your clients the opportunity to buy at your stores whenever they want. This means you won’t miss out on any sales opportunities.
Offering 24/7 support might sound like something only big companies with a huge budget can do, but it is actually at everyone’s reach thanks to outsourcing. BPOs focus on building global teams with support from all around the world. When you put all of these time zones together, 24/7 support becomes a reality without stretching out capacity.
Website Management
As we already mentioned, testing your systems is part of the game plan before Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Bear in mind: your website is the face of your company. It’s the first place your customers will visit when they want to make a purchase or need more information about your company. But website management is not something just anyone can do.
While managing an entire website can seem like a daunting task, you don’t have to become an expert overnight. Your outsourcing partner can help update, optimize, and maximize your website’s potential.
Accounting
Moving your books from “red” to “black” is one of the main reasons behind this shopping season. So we can safely say that keeping your books in order is very, very important.
With the end of the year drawing nearer, it’s time to start thinking about your accounting duties. This task can become tedious and time-consuming, especially if you don’t know what you’re doing. By outsourcing your accounting processes, you can make sure that the work is done without breaking a sweat.
Here’s Where We Come In
There are many reasons why you should consider outsourcing – and not just for special days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday!
Choosing Boldr as your outsourcing partner means 3 things:
- You get a global team that was built with a single focus in mind: talent and expertise. At Boldr, every team member has the opportunity to make a career and grow with your team.
- Your KPIs are our KPIs. Quite literally, your success is our success. We adapt to YOU: your tools, your processes, your ways. Always.
- You help us support our impact-driven mission. We are focused on making the world a better place, which is why a percentage of our revenue goes back into the communities where we live and work.
You also get a customized solution built specifically for your business instead of a “one-size-fits-all” approach. When you choose Boldr, you choose to uphold values, communities, and above all, amazing talent from all over the globe.
Let us become a key partner in your Black Friday and Cyber Monday journeys.
We wish you a Happy Black Fri-yay and an amazing Cyber Monday!
