Posted on 17th November 2020

‘Black Friday’, well-known as the retail event of the year, is almost here with traders already pushing out their fantastic offers to entice customers into both their physical and online stores.

This promotion can boost your business in a variety of ways…

Strategically discounting choice products can increase footfall and online presence tremendously and boost the prospect of secondary sales by raising awareness of other ranges that are stocked.  So advertise your Black Friday deals today and demonstrate that smaller, independent businesses can compete with larger chains!

Top Tips:

• Be realistic about price, if it is ageing stock that will carry on sitting there taking up space, this might be the right time to drop the price and clear the products.
• Drip feed details of the offers to encourage your customers to keep checking in
• Extend your deals until the following Monday
• Give plenty of notice and market your deals through all channels: online, e-bulletin, in-store
• Offer flexible returns
• Plan your offers in advance, but be prepared to make a change if something else looks a more popular deal.
• Position offers in proximity to ranges that you’d like to push (both online & in-store)
• Reward your loyal customers. Black Friday deals are for all customers, but is there a way you can look back and see if a customer shopped with you in the last year and give them a little something special? 
• Train your staff to talk about the deals and build awareness well in advance.
• Use a range of offers: ‘Get 40% off’, ‘Buy-1-get-1-free’ & ‘Free product with every purchase’

Finally Black Friday and the frenzy around it is not for everyone, and understanding the long-lasting impact of Black Friday is important to make a decision on if it is for you and your business. By participating in Black Friday your customers might hold off buying from your business as they wait for your substantial discounts which could harm cash flow, you could even stand out by refusing to get involved in Black Friday. 

Remember, you don’t need to offer a flat discount on all your stock, a few key products can make a huge difference to your sales. If you feel uncomfortable about the mass consumerism linked to Black Friday, you could consider associating your brand with a good cause and give a portion of the discount to charity.

Posted in Members Only News