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5 ways to prepare for Black Friday

prepare for Black Friday

As a small business, it can be tempting to think that Black Friday is the realm of the bigger brands that can slash prices freely and equip themselves for an influx of frenzied shoppers. While big brands, of course, dominate the headlines Black Friday is also a great opportunity for smaller brands to boost sales and just as importantly boost exposure.

One of the most important things to keep in mind when you prepare for Black Friday is that customers are ready, waiting and expecting to shop.

They’re willing to spend their money; your job is to let them know that can spend it with you and then to give them sufficient incentive to make them certain that they should spend it with you. Alongside January sales there is no better time offer discounts, they’re expected and they make sense, like mince pies at Christmas.

5 Tips To Prepare for Black Friday

1. Your Goal.

As a small brand, the first thing to do is decide on your goal. It may seem like the only possible goal is to maximise profit and obviously as a business this always going to be a high priority. But if you’re a small or young brand, exposure can be more important than short-term cash wins. Taking the opportunity to get more people using your products and grow your customer base, with an irresistible discount can be worth far more in the long term.

2. Your Stock.

Prepare your stock. We’re already doing this. Know what you’ll be discounting and how many of those items will be on offer. Be realistic, bear in mind the crucial point of delivery times. Stock for special offers should already be in place well before the day. For us some of our products are made to order, the numbers of these available at discount will be extremely limited and we’ll be using these limitations in all our promotions. We want to be one of the first ports of call for our buyers as when the stock is gone, it’s gone and we want our customers to know this. .

3. Your Promotions.

Ride the wave of publicity that surrounds Black Friday. There will be a buzz in the press and all over social media. Use it as much as you can. Plan your marketing well in advance and start the campaign early. Do pre-Black Friday deals, sneak peeks and previews. Combine it with other promos to maximise impact, you could do a Black Friday Twitter giveaway, for example.

4. Your Customers.

Make sure you take care of your existing customers, they want to shop too! As loyal customers, you’ll want to offer exclusive or enhanced deals just for them.

5. Your Systems.

Finally but crucially, make sure your shop, online or bricks and motor can handle the influx. The last thing you want is to do all this prep and then for your website to go down.

Every retailer should prepare for Black Friday, whether they take the above tips into consideration or not

 

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