This renowned term, ¡®Black Friday¡¯ is said to have originated in Philadelphia between the 1950s and 60s. According to credible sources, the term means a shopping frenzy between Thanksgiving and Christmas. At the time the term was coined to the existence, it was used to describe the pedestrian crowds and traffic congestion typical for the start of the Christmas shopping season.
In essence, in The United States, immediately after Thanksgiving, the next day is considered the official start of the Christmas shopping season since 1952.
Needless to say, 2022 is coming to an end and Black Friday is right around the corner. In fact, it will officially kick off on Friday, November,25. It is all about massive sales and booming traffic.
Black Friday is a golden opportunity to maximize your store¡¯s profit
As online dropshippers brave their way through this highly celebrated season, online revenue often witnesses a booming sales record. In 2021 for instance, as stated by Shopify, online shoppers spent $6.3 billion during Black Friday, making it the second-largest online spending day in US history. This was a sharp rise of 23% compared
to the same period in 2020, leading to an average cart price increase of $100. This year is expected to have a further increase in sales and thus dropshippers are advised to have their shops fully equipped and in high gear.
Black Friday¡¯s fundamental principles that an online dropshipper should get to know
Now that we have caught a glimpse of what Black Friday is and why your store needs to quickly act on it, let¡¯s examine the golden rules you need to consider to fully Prepare for Black Friday.
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Don¡¯t resolve in too much cutting of prices.
During this period, people generally purchase products in bulk and it doesn¡¯t matter if you run your online sales with huge discounts or not. You only need to be more tactful and strategic to thrive through this competitive festive. It sounds like a good Black Friday strategy to offer consumer discounts, but always remember that it is not only the product price that motivates people to make purchases, other factors come in handy too. Keep on reading as I have a lot in store for you.
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Don¡¯t leave your ads unattended.
As an online dropshipper, there is a growing tendency that you need to take advantage of. Year in and year out, it has been reported that the preference for making online shopping is rapidly increasing during Black Friday and special events. Therefore, seize this opportunity and reach out to a bigger number of potential customers through digital Black Friday Promotion.
As a tip, you can focus on regular Instagram posts, Instagram stories, and even Instagram shout-outs. Remember, buyers` behaviors change considerably during big shopping events. These periods offer a perfect opportunity for your store to target and reach consumers who in the past didn¡¯t take interest in these particular products before.
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Make sure everything is mobile friendly
It is estimated that the majority of online shoppers use their smartphones to place their online orders. According to the estimate, up to around 61% does this. You, therefore, need to switch to a well-established mobile-friendly store theme. This move is likely to boost your sales significantly because of the growing number of customers who prefer shopping on mobile devices. Mobile switching will also increase the intensity of the ads placement and eventually be a great blessing to your dropshipping store.
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Provide a conducive shopping environment
Since this is a very busy holiday, there is the likelihood that your customers may be very stressed by the time they come to your store. This is because they are striving to make the best deal possible, and are afraid of missing out on a good offer. It is thus highly likely that they are pressed for time, maybe short of money, and even nervous. Since they are already worried, don¡¯t make their experience at your store more unbearable! Instead, make sure you avail the following prior to D-Day.
- Integration of the major payment gateways.
- Detailed writing of the Customer Policy terms on a dedicated online storage page.
- All the messengers, chats, phone lines, and other communication channels working properly.
- The energy and patience to kindly handle even the weirdest orders.
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Do launch new products
Consider coming up with new offerings in form of products to accommodate both the new buyers and the old ones. It goes without saying that whereas new buyers are unfamiliar with your normal products and as such won¡¯t hesitate to buy them, previous customers will rarely be excited to see the same offer during this period. Launching new products will therefore be a great motivation for them. Remember, old is gold.
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Don¡¯t postpone your campaign to the last moment
There is a need for you to start making hay while the sun shines as approximately 36% of the USA residents actually plan their shopping before Black Friday. What that means is that they commence their visit to the online stores and browse catalogs way before the day comes. Also, do remarket as it plays a critical role in your strategy since you will have to remind some of your site visitors about your existence.
7 Amazing tips Online dropshippers should use to enhance their sales on Black Friday
All manner of online businesses will take part on Black Friday. Therefore, craft a fundamental holiday Marketing strategy, to win potential customers and compete with major retailers. Below are some of the best strategies to help you out.
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Optimize your website performance
Competition in online marketing has greatly increased as approximately 40% of consumers have spent more time online this year than any other year, indicating that the internet has become more crowded than usual. It is therefore very vital that your products should be given every chance of standing out. In case you participated in Black Friday last year, then the first step to take is to carry out a thorough analysis of your sales data to see what went well. From the analysis, you can make alterations to the existing product layouts and product descriptions. Your product description should instill urgency. Remind people that they only have a certain duration to bag the bargains on offer by including phrases such as:
- Only one left
- In high demand
- Limited time only
- Sold out soon
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Improve the Shopping experience
Needless to say, your ultimate goal is to win more customers for your products and in turn, make as much profit as possible. Everything about your store¡¯s design should therefore be geared toward making sales and turning browsers into buyers. So, as I had already said earlier, ensure your website is fully optimized for mobile visitors. This help not only in boosting your sales but also works in tandem with Google¡¯s new core Web Vitalrollouts to determine the search engine ranking of your store. You can also consider building distinct Black Friday pages to vividly signpost where your customers need to go to get the deals. After all, you want your customers to get to your discounted products in the fewest clicks possible.
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Make your checkout and check-in process as good as it can be
One vital thing which you shouldn¡¯t forget as a dropshipper is that Black Friday shoppers are fragile and have got limited time, and I¡¯m as sure as eggs that they won¡¯t hesitate to move to many other online shopping stores outside there, leaving you hanging at the checkout if you don¡¯t make your store in the correct order. Therefore, taking your humble time to improve your checkout process could pay off on the day.
I also suggest that where necessary, you can add extra payment options such as PayPal or even Bitcoin. Remember that the more strings to your e-commerce bow, the better because you are giving your customers more opportunities to give you their money.
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Use Social Media to drive traffic.
It would be ideal for you to run campaigns on Social Media sites like Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. This enhances your business to gain access to many eyeballs. However, it is not enough to push ads out there; you have those ads for the right people. You can do it better by watching out for Black Friday hashtags you can make your piggyback on.
To give your Social Media campaign a winning chance, choose a quality product image and add your logo and some bewitching text advertising your deals. Start circulating the advert at least a few days in advance to arouse customers¡¯ excitement. You should also note that Facebook is the most effective channel to drive traffic to your site and in turn generate sales. This is evident in the stats, which show that it has the best ROI, with 40% of online marketers voting for it as the leading Social Channel.
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Send top quality Email Marketing campaigns
The only sure way to penetrate through the overwhelming Black Friday festival and provide a high-quality personal offering to your customers is through the use of Email. Ensure you start your email campaign at least a week before the celebration day. This is meant to whet your customers¡¯ appetite for the sales you are intending to offer them, across the weekend. Be very brief and ensure effective communication in your email. Include the following tips in it:
- Make at least one weekly email from four weeks before Black Friday.
- Send an email the night before Black Friday.
- Send an Email on Black Friday.
To earn more trust from your existing customers, may consider offering them a special VIP offer through email.
You take note that there is a need to follow through with your email, seeking to know the customers¡¯ views and even invite them to visit your store.
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Sort out your site¡¯s images
There is an uncountable number of competitors outside seeking the Black Friday customers¡¯ attention. As such, they intend to be very ruthless. If for instance, your store is remotely slow to load, many shoppers will simply vote with their feet and close the tab. Therefore, immense colorful, and exquisite product pictures and homepage banner images, can make your store look extremely attractive. However, they can affect loading time and hit your conversion rate as well as your rankings in Google. You can only solve this problem through the use of an image optimizer (a tool that compresses your image into a smaller version, without affecting the dimension or quality.
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Test products early and make sure they have enough stock
You are approaching a very busy week and as such, you are expected to pick and order the products you are intending to promote as early as possible. In case your products are obtained from highly reliable suppliers like Dropshipman, be advised that they since the COVID-19 pandemic, they have been operating above capacity, and as such, they need plenty of time to get your products ready.
In terms of choosing which products to order, there is a variety of ways as explained in this video.
Wrap up
As I now come to the end of this article, I just want to let you know that the Black Friday festival, which a fat lady soon expected to sing, is a sure way of turning your business fortune into Success. Preparation, planning, and starting everything early, are sure of making your dropshipping business sail above your competitors. This article I believe has covered most of what you need to know for this season¡¯s upcoming sales events. Hopefully, it lifts your chances of success during this highly coveted holiday season.