Black Friday and Cyber Monday are two of the craziest days for retailers. Throngs of shoppers are out looking for the best deals in an almost sporting fashion. It’s as if for one weekend, deal-finding becomes the most popular competition in the country. If that’s the case, then Black Friday and Cyber Monday are like the two biggest matches of the season, and it can be hard to recover from the first in time for the second. As a retailer, you know the relief felt at the end of Black Friday, when you’re finally able to turn off the lights and lock the doors for the night. But just because you get a short reprieve, it doesn’t mean the work is over – Cyber Monday is just around the corner.
What is Cyber Monday?
In 2014, online purchases from desktop computers accounted for over $2 billion in sales on Cyber Monday, reported the analytics company comScore. And that doesn’t even take into account the growing number of shoppers who do their web browsing through mobile platforms like smartphones and tablets. With such huge amounts of shopping traffic coming just days after Black Friday, retailers are bound to feel fatigued.
Unlike the origins of Black Friday, which we reported on earlier this month, Cyber Monday’s origin is much easier to track. According to the Washington Post, it began in 2005 when the National Retail Federation – an organization founded in 1911 – released data that showed that many people were waiting until the Monday after Thanksgiving to do their shopping online. Since then, it has become the most profitable online shopping day of the year.
But is Cyber Monday completely separate from the brick-and-mortar retail experience? Are the shoppers who purchase products online merely against dealing with Black Friday crowds? While those people certainly do make up a good portion of online shoppers, not all of them are. The New York Times said many Cyber Monday shoppers go out to the stores on Black Friday, but wait until Monday to buy everything online, because they believe the deals are better.
More consumers are using mobile devices to do their Cyber Monday shopping.What you need for a successful Cyber Monday
Preparing for Cyber Monday is all about removing obstacles. You want your potential customers to have an easy time navigating your website and buying your products. All of this begins and ends with your website. First of all, can your site handle the extra traffic of Cyber Monday? If you’re unsure, you might want to consider renting some extra server space to deal with the heavy inflow of visitors. A site crash on Cyber Monday could potentially lose you thousands of dollars.
Entrepreneur magazine reported that site optimization is key to a successful Cyber Monday. Is your site easy to navigate on both desktop and mobile browsers? As far as your desktop site is concerned, the visual elements should be consistent and clear. Don’t go overboard trying to make your site look fancy, it’ll most likely just end up seeming cluttered and confusing. On mobile, you just need to make sure everything fits nicely on a smaller screen. Users should never have to zoom in on an element to read it. Otherwise, many of the tips in our Black Friday Checklist apply to Cyber Monday preparation as well.
Take time to resupply
Chances are very good that Black Friday used up many of your supplies. If you find yourself running low on things like sales tags, fasteners and pins, or shopping bags, we’ve got your back. Our affordable products ship quickly, so you can be ready in time for the next rush of Christmas shoppers. In fact, consider us to be your backup whenever you need a helping hand during the holiday shopping season.
You may find yourself selling new types of merchandise at this time of year. Many apparel retailers sell add-on items such as perfume, cologne or even chocolates during the Christmas season. If you need new jewelry displays or other visual forms, we can get them to you quickly. And if you need wrapping supplies, we’ve got you covered there too. Check out our recent post on Christmas gifts for more ideas on how to prepare your merchandise for the busy season ahead. It’s never too late to spruce up your visual displays.
The Cyber Monday showroom
Some shoppers just want to do their shopping online – but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll lose their business to other predominately online retailers. In addition to the website tips offered above, you should focus on having rich, detailed photographs of your merchandise so users can inspect the products from the comfort of their own homes. Also, you can still encourage people to stop by your location and check out all of the products firsthand. The more unique your store is, the better this strategy works. Our C3 custom color mannequins and racks allow you to incorporate your signature colors throughout your establishment.
“Encourage shoppers to come look at your products in person.”
Some shoppers will make the purchase then and there, but others like to mull it over a little while before spending their hard-earned money. We understand that, too, which is why we make our products affordable and competitively priced. Consider setting up some signage around your store that reminds careful shoppers that they can go home, think about the products and make a purchasing decision at their leisure.
Need more advice? Give us a call
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are exciting, but they can also cause a lot of stress. If you don’t know what products you need to make the most of your store on this busy weekend, give us a call. We’re here to help, and our knowledgeable customer service representatives can make suggestions or walk you through everything you need to do to make your store as visually appealing as possible.
So take a deep breath and get ready for the busiest sales days of the year. With our help, your retail experience will be one that customers remember and return to again and again.
