Black Friday and Cyber Monday are fast approaching, and it would certainly make sense for businesses to prepare themselves ahead of time so they can cash in on people’s readiness to spend their pennies between November 24th and 27th.
New research from GoCompare Credit Cards has found that the average household in the UK will spend £108 in the upcoming sales, with toys and games, clothing and accessories, and health and beauty products all leading the charge this year.
It would also be a wise move to make sure your website is up to scratch, easy to use and fully operational since 49 per cent of people say they plan to shop online, compared to 21 per cent who intend to visit the high street. And nine per cent will be shopping using their smartphone, so make sure your website is mobile optimised as well.
Head of consumer affairs at the price comparison site Georgie Frost said: “There is a huge amount of hype around Black Friday in the UK now. Get ready for all manner of retailers urging you to ‘act quickly’ before ‘unmissable deals’ on ‘must-have’ products end but be careful not to get caught up in the frenzy. Think about what you actually want and can afford before you buy and set yourself a limit.
“There are some genuinely good deals to be had but make sure you do your homework. With sales on all year round, check other websites to see if you can’t find the item for a cheaper price elsewhere.”
As well as the aforementioned products, other items on people’s wish lists this year include laptops, TVs, smartphones, tablet computers, white goods and appliances, and headphones… so if you sell any of these, it would be worth focusing on your marketing strategies right now to draw customers in.
Businesses relying on their websites to maximise Black Friday sales should make sure they’ve done all they can to avoid shopping cart abandonment. Website usability is a huge factor in this and if it’s hard for people to navigate the site or input their details, they’ll likely go to a competitor whose site is quicker and easier for them to make their way around.
Other ways you could encourage people to spend their cash with you is to offer free shipping or being upfront about charges and fees before your customers reach the checkout desk. It’s also a good idea to enable a guest checkout facility so that people don’t have to register with your site or create an account in order to purchase from you.
Another good way to ensure that sale is to offer a shopping cart saving facility so that people can be targeted if they’ve added a product to their cart but haven’t checked out. Online shoppers spend a lot of time comparing products and prices so stay competitive by allowing people to save their carts and come back to them later on.
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