November has become synonymous with Cyber Week and its centerpiece– the biggest shopping event of the year: Black Friday. Black Friday 2024 falls on November 29th, with Cyber Monday on December 2nd. Each year, preparation for this high street and online shopping craze begins earlier and earlier, with some big-name retailers and brands offering month-long discounts.
For small business owners debating whether Black Friday is the right move for you, we’re taking a deep dive into what this shopping season means. Our Black Friday survival guide for small businesses explains whether this event could benefit you, and how. If you’re a small fish swimming in a pond of giant competitors, read on.
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What Is Black Friday All About?
Before you decide if it’s the correct business move for you, let’s go over the origins of this famous retail event. Black Friday was coined in the 1950/60s by Philadelphian traffic police to describe the dread they felt at the never-ending traffic jams and pile-ups caused by the opening of the Christmas Shopping Season.
Black Friday commenced as an offline event that sent brick-and-mortar stores into a frenzy with irresistible offers. Yet, while footfall remains high, traffic has expanded online, making it one of the most anticipated days in the retail marketing calendar. Cyber Monday evolved into one of the biggest days for online sales since its inception in 2005, and now surpasses Black Friday each year!
Know the BFCM Stats for Your Small Business
According to BFCM (Black Friday & Cyber Monday) statistics, spending has long since bounced back to, and now outstrips, pre-pandemic levels, with a record-breaking $9.8 billion spent on Black Friday in 2023 alone. The same year, Cyber Monday raked in around $12.8 billion.
So, is it something that you should be gearing your small business towards? Let’s discuss some of the Pros and Cons of Black Friday for Small Businesses. Later, we’ll analyze some Black Friday promotion ideas to get you started.
Pros of BFCM
Clear Out Stock
One major pro of BFCM for small businesses is the opportunity to shift slow-moving stock. For retailers, this is great news as you can focus your discounts on these products, entice people to your store, and then update your inventory in time for Christmas.
Expand Your Customer Base
Another clear advantage of BFCM sales is the opportunity to expand the customer base of your retail business. Once your new customers see the fantastic deals and unbeatable customer experience offered, you are in with a high chance of encouraging repeat business during the Christmas season and beyond. Having a select few, highly-discounted products can help maximise this effect, as it causes people to break their regular shopping habits.
Cons of BFCM
Visibility Issues
There are tough competitors in the retail landscape. For small businesses during Black Friday, it can be challenging to go toe-to-toe with some larger enterprises that dedicate a large portion of their budget to aggressive Black Friday marketing campaigns. This is another reason that fewer, but larger discounts, can often be the best tactic– you bring in people looking for a specific product, and then they get to see everything else you have on offer.
Long Live the Discounts!
Deep discounting is the heart-stone of Black Friday. It’s a Deal or Better Deal situation. As customary, shoppers will expect discounts and special offers in the lead-up to and during this shopping event. If you’re a small business, you may not be able to affford outlandish discounts like your larger competitors can.
You’ll have to work out what your budget is, and if you can’t afford to offer more than token discounts, you might decide to have your big marketing push at another time of year, when your competitors are charging full price.
Black Friday Ideas For Small Businesses
If you’ve decided that BFCM offers are the right move for your enterprise, it’s never too early to begin promoting– he sooner the better in our opinion. You might not have the budget to advertise weeks in advance, but you at least want your website ready to go early for SEO and publicity reasons. So, here are some Black Friday promotion ideas to ensure your campaign gets off to a winning start!
Generate Excitement
You’re excited about your upcoming sales and you want the world to know about it, so how to go about it? Post teasers of upcoming products or discounts that will be available during the Black Friday sales across multiple channels. Creating social posts for different audiences also allows your brand to tailor your messaging, creating a more direct impact on your potential customers.
Nothing says the clock is ticking like a countdown on your website! Fueling anticipation will result in more conversions. For your Black Friday email marketing strategy, consider segmenting your audience to boost re-engagement or supply loyal customers with discount codes and exclusive offers. Personalized messaging can then meet them at every touch point!
Can Your Website Handle the Heat?
Customer experience is more important than ever during this week. With that in mind, when was the last time that you checked your website’s loading speed and volume capacity?
Amidst the rush and frenzy of these Friday deals, cart abandonment rates will surge if a website does not load efficiently enough. Gen Z are especially impatient when it comes to slow loading (and, let’s face it, everything else). Optimizing your website is a crucial step in the process for small e-commerce businesses during Black Friday sales.
According to Demand Sage, 48% of online Black Friday sales in 2023 were done via a smartphone. Make sure your website is optimised to handle an influx of mobile phone visitors to give your sales a boost.
Plan, Plan, Plan
We all know of Murphy and his law. Get ready to ask you and your team the worst-case scenario and how can it be combatted. Creating contingency plans will give your small business the confidence to face whatever comes your way during Cyber Week.
Some possible situations you may run into during this adrenaline-pumping event are: shipping issues, running out of stock, increase in product returns, to name a few. So make sure you have all the stock you need, and that logistics are in order.
Ready to Go?
We hope that our mini-survival guide has helped you determine if BFCM offers are the right choice for your business, and given you some ideas on how to make the most of the moment. Once you’ve got your planning done, it’s time to sit back and watch the money roll in, on the most-anticipated retail event of the year!
For clothing stores, printers, and other business– the high-quality, low-cost apparel you can find at Wordans might be exactly what you need to prepare for the holiday season. Check out our website to find anything you’re missing, and check out our Instagram @wearewordans if you need any more ideas.
