Is your eCommerce website ready for Black Friday and Cyber Monday?

Like clockwork, online businesses look forward to the season of holiday shopping.  Consumers look forward to taking advantage of Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals following thanksgiving. More than ever, shoppers are turning to online venues to snag the best deals before Christmas. This trend toward online shopping continues to rise year after year. Shopping with bulging stomachs in is becoming a thing of the past – unless of course you count shopping from your couch while recovering from a turkey-induced coma. In this article I’ll cover some tips to ensure your eCommerce website is ready for Black Friday and the Cyber Monday.

Deal or no deal?

Obviously deal. Shoppers don’t wait until this time of year to shop without reason. Do not assume you’ll enjoy increased traffic during this time of year – at least not without incentivizing your customers. Plan ahead and create deals on your items or services. Market these deals ahead of Black Friday so that your customer base is well prepared to shop with you. Nothing is more embarrassing than expecting a large turnout without a single deal in site.

Through WooCommerce, Shoppify or other eCommerce website solutions you can set up coupon codes to send to your devoted customers. Or set a discount for one day only or through Cyber Monday to give a sense of urgency to your web visitors. Knowing that a deal will end, or that there is a limited amount of product will encourage your visitors to buy now. If you need help setting up these discounts on your eCommerce website, let us know. (910) 392-7778

Reinforce the flood gate

Having a large influx of customers during Black Friday or Cyber Monday can create a lot of stress for your website and its host. Touch base with your web provider or administrator to ensure that enough resources have been allocated to allow for several shopping instances to occur at once. It would be a shame to lose customers because your website is either offline or completely bogged down from web traffic. Although small businesses should not fret, this is still a great precautionary step to take.

Market yourself

There is no better time to market your deals than when your audience is actively looking for them. Shoppers know what to expect for after-Thanksgiving sales – that’s why you must be well-prepared in your marketing to introduce these sales well ahead of the game. Consider a holiday ad campaign on social media or through pay-per-click options like Google AdWords. Advertising online targets only those looking for your exact product or service and is the most efficient marketing venue for online retailers.

WebWorks89 can help prepare your business for holiday shopping sales. See our Digital Marketing page for more information, or contact our developers for a free eCommerce site audit.