6 Ways to Get Ready for Cyber Monday
Cyber Monday was the most important shopping day in 2018, bringing in over 67.4 million U.S. shoppers who spent $6 billion on Cyber Monday alone.
Here’s the thing—Cyber Monday isn’t just for retail enterprises and big box stores with loads of inventory and every possible thing that a shopper might want.
Small businesses can and should get in on the action, too.
Are you ready to implement a few tips and tricks to boost sales and gain new customers this Cyber Monday? Buckle up and click in. We’ve got a few success tips to get your small business ready for your best Cyber Monday yet.
OPTIMIZE PRODUCT PAGES
If you took part in either Black Friday or Cyber Monday last year, take a look at your sales data to see what went right and use the information gleaned from that data to strategize on existing product. Are your product pages optimized for Cyber Monday with descriptions that not only describe what you’re selling, but signpost consumers to offers and deals?
Ensure that product pages drive urgency to your Cyber Monday event with language like:
One day only!
Cyber Monday Deal
Limited time offer
IMPROVE THE SHOPPING EXPERIENCE
For a sale event like Cyber Monday, customers should know exactly where to go from your homepage. They should also get a rundown of the best offers and discounts from the homepage, which is your store’s main shop window.
Design and create a visually stimulating homepage and Cyber Monday landing page that outlines all of the best promotions and offers for the day. This could mean a complete redesign or top-of-fold takeover of your home page, an attention-grabbing pop-up, and even an announcement bar that appears on the top of your homepage and every category page that signals your Cyber Monday event has started (or how many hours left until it ends).
OPTIMIZE FOR MOBILE
Did you know that this year, 57% of Cyber Monday visits are expected to come from mobile phones? And 36% of total sales are expected to come from mobile. Optimize and continue to test your website by making sure your e-commerce site is easy to browse and shop from mobile browsers. Ensure that load times are fast and “shop now” buttons are big and easy to find. And make sure your site can handle the flood of traffic without complications—or crashing.
DRIVE TRAFFIC ON SOCIAL AND EMAIL
Every business owner should, at the very least, use their social platforms to let shoppers know about their best Cyber Monday deals. But to be truly successful on Cyber Monday, optimize sites like Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest with paid ads that drive traffic and convert with strategic ads for customers who don’t know about your brand, know about your brand but have not purchased, or to get current customers to make another purchase.
Social is a visual platform and email is a visual channel, so make sure your ads and content have enticing product and lifestyle imagery with clear copy and action-oriented calls to action. You’ll be vying for customers’ attention on Cyber Monday—stand out in all the ways you possibly can.
Email marketing campaigns are a great way to stand out from the crowd. Start by doing the following things:
- Whet your customers’ appetite with timed drip emails weeks, days and a few hours before Cyber Monday actually begins
- Reward loyal customers with early access to Cyber Monday offers and discounts
- Personalize and customize your subject lines and main promo headlines
- Add an automated abandoned cart recovery email to catch any customers who may have slipped through, and give them the convenience of going straight back to their cart
TAKE CUSTOMERS THROUGH A FLAWLESS CHECKOUT
Improve your checkout process by making it quick and reducing the number of clicks by providing pre-populated forms and saved payment information for returning customers, and auto-filling billing and shipping addresses.
Be strategic about the payment options you offer. Take note: Millennials and Gen Z consumers make up 60% of the global population—and many of them don’t own a credit card (and here’s why). Businesses who want to appeal to this influential group of shoppers must offer other ways to pay (like buy now, pay later) for consumers who prefer to use newer types of payment.
PROVIDE EXCEPTIONAL CUSTOMER SERVICE
Make sure your FAQs has a section dedicated to questions and issues that are specific to Cyber Monday, like your refunds and returns policy, delivery times, shipping options, and sale start and end dates/times.
Consider joining efforts with partners who share your commitment to 5-star customer service.[See how this business switched to Afterpay because our level of customer service exceeded their expectations]
Communicate with your partners and prep them with valuable and pertinent Cyber Monday sale information that may be unique to your business and customers. Your partnerships can help you stand out, convert, and get new customers this Cyber Monday sales season. Connect with partners early and get the technical details buttoned up for your best sale season yet.
Did you know that it only takes 1-2 business days to launch Afterpay during the holiday sales season? Contact our Retail Team to learn more about giving your customers a great way to buy now, pay later with Afterpay.
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