The 4 Best Ways To Prepare Your E-commerce Store For Black Friday

Once a year, your e-commerce store can hit heights you never thought possible. E-commerce stores can make the bulk of their income from Q4 if they play their cards right. It isn’t just a case of waiting for Q4, or more specifically, Black Friday to roll around. There needs to be some effort put in ahead of time to get the most out of the shopping season. 

More and more people are turning to e-commerce stores to do their holiday shopping, especially during these times of health crisis. This leaves people that have an established store in a very nice position. But, it only counts if you take advantage and make it work in your favor. 

In this article, we will go over several tips that will help you increase your sales the next time Black Friday rolls around. 

1 – Use the right packaging

Your packaging serves a lot of purposes besides just enclosing the product to be shipped. When you think in these terms then you can use the packaging to help you increase your sales for the next Black Friday shopping season. 

For instance, if you use some really nice deluxe gift boxes then these will be appreciated and make an impression. Then, next year you should get a repeat customer because of it. If the packages are bought as gifts and sent directly to the recipient then this is one less thing the customer has to do and will be very much appreciated. 

Your packaging should also have your branding on it very prominently. This should include a nice logo with the right colors for your brand. This way, it will be recognized and remembered for the next time they want to order. Brand loyalty will then help you be the go-to e-commerce store for next Black Friday.

2 – Build an email list early

An email list is essential for marketing in the lead-up to the Black Friday sales. When you have a list that you have been growing all year then you are in a perfect position to have loyal customers ready to be marketed to. 

In the weeks leading up to Black Friday, you should be letting your subscribers know about any sales that are upcoming for the holidays. Let them know how much the discount is, on what items, and for how long the sale will last. This is so they can prepare and have enough time to make their shopping list based on what they expect to save. If there is a limit on how many products then they should know that they need to buy quickly to avoid products running out before they have a chance. 

3 – Have your shipping worked out

Months before Q4 hits, talk to your shipping partners so you know what to expect as far as shipping times when the orders start coming in en masse. One of the worst things that can happen is that you find out that your courier is not able to get the items out on time during the shopping season. 

Ask them specific questions such as how many more trucks and drivers they plan to hire for the season to meet the demand. If you aren’t satisfied that they are going to be ready for the increase in orders, you will need to look for another provider. 

This requires a few months’ notice so you have time to onboard another shipper. During these months you should be able to iron out any hiccups that would be devastating if they were to happen during Q4.

4 – Have multiple payment options

You could have people clicking away from your site when the sales are happening because you don’t offer their preferred way to pay. They may prefer to use Apple Pay or even crypto for personal reasons and will seek out the e-commerce store that gives them that option. Don’t give them any excuse to go to the competition. 

Make sure that you expand your payment processors so you are able to take a lot of payments to make the sales. 

Conclusion

Black Friday should be the day that your sales kickstart into gear and hit incredible heights for a few weeks. Unfortunately, many stores are not positioned well to take advantage of the surge of shoppers.

Don’t end up disappointed by lower than expected sales by being proactive ahead of time. The right strategy will easily put multiple percentage points onto your sales for the season.