Will the sell-out holiday prove to be an eCommerce highlight in 2020?
The year 2020 is a wild one, and it's hard to deny that. The events surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic caused economic markets to flip upside down. The easing of restrictions has made it possible to get back on track, but still not everyone is reporting as good sales as they used to. One of the first serious chances to make up for the losses is Black Friday, the big sales holiday. Will it be fruitful for the eCommerce sector this time too?
Black Friday 2020 - what does eCommerce need to keep in mind?
Many people treat the last Friday of November both as a chance to get rid of the old assortment and an opportunity to present offers for holiday gifts. An effective eCommerce campaign is distinguished by activity on many fronts and includes, among others: creating a dedicated category on the website, preparing a special description, preparing a pre-sale information campaign (e-mail, banners, social media) and other optimization activities (e.g. adding a promotion search engine, search filters, etc.).
Basic packages of promotional products should be prepared several weeks in advance. Before the sale period itself, it is worth including those items from the assortment that generate more losses than profits, or are of interest to customers, but the price of the goods is the main reason for abandoning the shopping cart on your eCommerce platform. It is definitely advisable to constantly analyze your site visitors' traffic and draw conclusions from even seemingly insignificant observations.
Do not forget about the specifics of the current situation. In the post-pandemic balance of power on the e-commerce market, the online sales channel has gained in importance, and in many cases has become the main source of revenue for the company. Also because the transactions made on the eCommerce platform are considered more secure. In difficult times, e-stores still need to be transparent about the precautions they take when processing orders: taking care of standards during production, disinfecting packages before shipping, and choosing trusted carriers.
For the sake of proper functioning of eCommerce
It is expected that during the autumn and winter period the number of those infected with coronavirus may increase. Companies, having learned from the spring experience of sudden closure of stationary stores, are prepared to process orders exclusively online. Certainly, Black Friday should encourage them to test their eCommerce platform for maximum load.
A large number of visitors can cause problems displaying an eCommerce site, strongly discouraging potential customers from taking advantage of your offer. According to Veeam's "Data Protection Trends in 2020" report, 51% of companies "have experienced a loss of customer trust due to downtime," and 44% of the more than 1,500 executives surveyed "report that their brand image has suffered as a result of downtime."
Before Black Friday, it's a good idea to test your server and possibly decide whether to replace it or buy a new one. It is a good step when a company does not have its own infrastructure and uses services of an entity servicing several e-stores. In such a case, the risk of website breakdowns during increased traffic increases. Data backups should be kept in cloud systems. Diversification of security measures and betting on scaled eCommerce technologies will enable faster website recovery.
Black Friday and what's next?
It's impossible to predict anything in 2021, so any forecast is subject to risk of error. It's a good idea to apply the above recommendations regardless of the current economic climate. Black Friday will pass, Cyber Monday will come, and then you'll have to deal with the pre-Christmas boom. A wisely planned campaign scheme and stability of the eCommerce platform will surely translate into satisfactory sales results in the long run.
