3 last-minute tips on having the best Black Friday and Cyber Monday

1. Bring traffic to your website with email marketing

Email is one of the most effective ways of alerting customers about Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, so make sure you’re giving this channel the attention it deserves. Your customers will receive many other marketing emails in their inboxes over Black Friday weekend, so how can you help yours stand out?

You can do this by keeping your subject lines short and snappy, while bringing a sense of urgency with calls to action and countdowns. You could also show off the personality of your brand with humour or a play on words to help your subject line stand out.

2. Offer attractive incentives

Black Friday is one of the most competitive weekends of the year and your customers will be looking for the best possible deal. By offering attractive incentives such as free shipping, free gifts and add-ons to their purchase (such as buy two items, get the third for half price), you’ll be giving them more of a reason to shop with you, rather than your competitors. Make sure you shout about your offers too - from your social channels, to banners and emails. 

3. Make checkout quick and simple

According to UK Web Host Review, 7 out of 10 customers abandon their baskets after adding an item. So how can you avoid this and make it as easy as possible for them to complete their purchase?

Consider removing mandatory sign ups at checkout as this is shown to lead to customers abandoning baskets. Instead, offer a quick checkout option, where customers can create a full account with you later on if they so wish. For customers that do decide to sign up, allow them to do it in multiple ways such as Facebook, Gmail or Google. This will make it quicker and easier and they won’t need to think of yet another password. Google autofill settings can also speed up the checkout process and incentivise a sale. 

Try to also make sure that shipping costs are made clear before a customer gets to the last part of checkout, as surprising extra costs may lead to a customer abandoning their basket. Additionally, if you’re offering discount codes, make sure they are working properly ahead of Black Friday weekend. UK Web Host Review reports that 46% of shoppers abandon their carts due to coupon or discount codes not working.

Finally, make sure you offer convenient payment options at checkout such as Clearpay. Offering flexible payment options – especially during high-traffic seasons such as Christmas – can help to secure that purchase and increase AOV and basket size.