17 Oct Black Friday: 5 Keys for your e-commerce

Black Friday 2022 is approaching!

The 25th of November is the official date of one of the most awaited online sale events.

Black Friday has gone from being just another day with a few offers, to a super event awaited by consumers. You may come across those who take advantage to finish their Christmas shopping in advance, those who indulge themselves with that expensive whim they’ve been longing throughout the year, or the ones that simply give away a present to their own. They all take their time looking at the wide range of available offers.

Black Friday has over time become an event in which brands are increasingly investing, starting their campaigns earlier each year.

Furniture sector is not immune to this trend. Furniture online sales have been steadily increasing during the last few years just like different studies reveal –  1 out of every 4 pieces of furniture is now being bought online.

Lockdown and subsequent changes in social habits have enormously reduced the concern for digital purchase.

So, if you offer e-commerce, we are here to give you 5 tips to make the most out of your Black Friday campaign.

Would you like to see them? Let’s go for it!

1. Adapt your Online Shop’s design for Black Friday

First of all, when your users land on your website they should know, at a glance, what your Black Friday offers are.

With that in mind, there is nothing better than modifying key design aspects, which help and guide users towards getting offers they are most interested in.

• Design a new opening for your homepage: an eye-catching photograph, a ticking clock counting the days until the end of the campaign, the discount percentages the user will be able to benefit from… in other words, any useful and showy information for your potential customers.

• Special section on your website: create a tab on your web menu with the name “Black Friday”, and highlight it with some colours or an eye-catching element. Also, create a list on this page with all the products on sale. If they are more than 20, make sure that the search can be filtered by key aspects such as price, colour, size, room of the house, etc.

• Change look of key elements: for instance, there are brands changing their listings or product sheets colour, turning them black. Others include stickers on the photographs to highlight that it’s a Black Friday’s offer. Some even change the colour of “Add to Cart” Buttons. There are many options, but it’s all about surprising your user with an unusual design that may keep customers’ attention and keep them browsing and discovering more.

2. Create that sense of need

This is one of the most common Black Friday strategies, reinforce that feeling any exclusive offer is about to end – if your customer does not speed up, he won’t benefit.

• Post limited stock: you can include stock counters, both in the listings and product sheets, so customers remember the product – they want –  may no longer be available next time they return.

• Time-limited offers: you can use it with products or families of products, put them on sale for 24-48 hours maximum, even if your Black Friday campaign is going to last longer.
• Countdown timer: indicates your Black Friday campaign remaining time. You should include it on your e-commerce homepage, and as a fixed element in the pre-header (the top area of your website, just before the menu). There are many plugins enabling you to include this sort of elements in your e-commerce.

3. Ensure your server is fast enough

During the Black Friday your e-commerce will receive more visitors than usual, especially if you launch an ad campaign.

There is nothing more frustrating for the user than a website that doesn’t load at all, and slows down the process of searching for products and their purchase. In fact, this is one of the main reasons for users to leave any page.

Therefore, it is essential that you talk to your web hosting provider and ensure that the website will be able to deal with a higher volume of activity while keeping up optimal performance.

4. Don’t forget about advertising

The 3 previous items are really key for your e-commerce.

However, if you do not invest in advertising, potential traffic volume will be much lower than if you try to boost website visits.

Advertising could take up a whole article and actions will vary depending on your business, goals, budget… Nevertheless, a couple things you should not miss out on:

• Use your social networks: your brand’s social media is a channel through which you should promote your Black Friday campaign. Remember not to do it just when it kicks off, but at least one week before, to start arising interest. Emphasise the % discount you have applied and products or product families on display. Promote your posts in order to get more results and take into account how each social network works so that you can cause an impact on your target customers.

• Foster e-mail marketing: tap into the full potential of your customer database using mailing. For social networks, try to start making an impact before the campaign begins. Use highly targeted emails to show the products you offer, with a direct link to their product sheets on the website. Plan your impact in advance to avoid off-hand actions.

5. Collect and analyse data

By all means, gather all relevant data about the performance of your e-commerce during this campaign, such as:

• Total number of visits
• Total number of sales
• % of abandoned carts
• Best-selling products and product families
• Traffic sources (mailing, social networks, organic…)
• And in general, any data which may be relevant

This will allow you to not only improve next year, but also optimise your campaign during the development process as well spotting out a benchmark which needs to be reinforced, modified or might undergo any other change.

Conclusions

We have just shared with you 5 keys to get your Black Friday campaign ready in 2022.

This is one of the busiest times of the year in terms of online sales, which –  as you know –  are also increasing in the furniture sector.

Have you already included Black Friday in your business strategy?

Are you starting this year?

Looking forward to seeing you in our comments section.

Best wishes!