Prepping Your Business for Black Friday 2024

This year, the Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotional period has been extended from last year’s 8 days to 12 days. This longer promotion time provides sellers with greater sales opportunities but also raises higher requirements for inventory management and planning. If shipments are too low, it could lead to stockouts, resulting in decreased product ranking and lost orders. On the other hand, if shipments are too high, it may lead to excess inventory and increased storage costs.

Therefore, it is crucial to have a reasonable inventory plan during the peak season to avoid unnecessary losses. Detailed analysis and arrangements should be made based on product historical data, market expectations, and Amazon’s policy requirements.

For non-seasonal products, performance during member days can be used as a reference. For seasonal products, last year's promotional season performance and this year's overall growth trend can serve as guidelines.

• Early Bird Offers: Start an early bird campaign to let some customers enjoy discounts before Black Friday. This can help ease the pressure on the big day and attract more people through word-of-mouth.

• Pre-promotion: Announce your sale times and discounts early to get customers excited. You can also use urgency strategies like countdowns and flash sales to create a sense of urgency.

• Limited-Time Discounts: The key to Black Friday is discounts. Offering limited-time deals creates urgency and pushes customers to buy. You can set up different discount types, such as percentage discounts, buy-one-get-one-free deals, or special bundles.

• Email and Social Media Marketing: Success on Black Friday relies on effective pre-marketing. Use email, text messages, and social media to inform customers about upcoming sales.

• Text Message Marketing: This marketing method may seem old-fashioned and outdated. Do consumers still make purchases through text messages? The answer is yes, but only if the promotional text is relevant to them. Consumers won't bother opening a message about a product they don’t need, but if it’s something they happen to need and the offer is tempting, they will definitely open it. Think about it—when your data is running low, and your mobile carrier sends you a promotion for a cheap data plan, you're likely to buy it. For businesses with regular customers, text message can more easily capture their attention. If you consistently send text promotions before Black Friday each year, you can also help develop a habit for your customers.

When items are limited, people value them more. Scarcity can drive strong buying desire. Although this tactic is quite old, it is highly effective. Here are some simple and effective ways to create a sense of urgency that drives customers to make purchases.

• Run flash sales for a few hours or a day.
• Send reminders about expiring offers.
• Offer progressive discounts within a limited time (e.g., 20% off for the first hour, 15% off for the next two).

According to a 2021 report by Mercator Advisory Group, 61% of consumers who have used "Buy Now, Pay Later" gave it a "satisfied" or "very satisfied" rating. "Buy Now, Pay Later" is expected to grow at a rate of 24.3% from 2023 to 2030. Businesses that adopt this option are likely to receive more orders, as it reduces customers' hesitation to pay and give customers extra time to pay without using credit cards.

Customers expect not only good deals but also safe and fast delivery. Due to the surge in orders during Black Friday, the pressure on logistics increases significantly. If packages are lost due to damage or issues with shipping labels, it can lead to customer complaints, adding extra strain to an already overwhelmed customer service team. Invest in packaging and shipping materials such as high-quality shipping labels and warning stickers will reduce this pressure greatly.

Strengthen Customer Support: The volume of customer will rise during Black Friday. Make sure your support team is quick to respond and solve issues. Train your staff in advance to handle common problems and emergencies.

Return and Exchange Policies: Set clear return and exchange policies before Black Friday. This gives customers confidence and ensures a smooth shopping experience from order to delivery.

After Black Friday, analyze the entire promotion to understand what worked and what can be improved. Review customer feedback, sales data, and team performance. This will help you plan better for next year.

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