Before Santa and mistletoe, the best time of the year 2018 is going to arrive. The time to- thank the lord, create fond memories with family, indulge in scrumptious food and of course think about the ‘Black Friday sales.’ Most of the consumers have already started planning and creating their list for Thanksgiving Day 2018. Are you prepared to capture their attention? If not, then begin now, or you might lose them to your competitors. Turn this Black Friday sales 2018 into big profits for your retail business by using the right tactics and strategies.

Short Recap- The Black Friday

Black Friday – the day after Thanksgiving is the most eagerly awaited shopping day of the year. It is an integral part of the American holiday season since the early 1980s. Several business owners witness huge profits on Black Friday. In a non-retail sense, Black Friday describes the financial crisis of 1869 while in the retail sense it refers to profitability as earlier the businesses used to detail their gains in black ink and losses in red ink. Nowadays, Black Friday marks the start of holiday shopping season.

Success attached to the Black Friday sales

The holiday season is extremely crucial for the economy; around 30 percent of annual retail sales occur between Black Friday and Christmas. Black Friday alone has proved to be beneficial for many business owners.

• In 2017, online sales rose 18% according to Adobe Systems Inc
• Shoppers spent $1M per minute in online sales
• Consumers spent $19.62 billion online over the five days period from November/23/ 2017(Thanksgiving) to November/27/2017(cyber Monday)
• Roughly 40% of Black Friday online sales were made on mobile devices
• Almost half of the US apparel market was discounted on Thanksgiving with an average promotion of 47% off on an item’s full price
• In 2016, there were 101.7 million people who braved the crowds which were more than 74 million in 2015

Black Friday Sales 2018

Consumers as well as competitors, have their eyes and hopes fixed on Thanksgiving Sales 2018. The expectations are too high this year, so plan smartly for the biggest shopping event of the year.

Here are few tips and tactics for increasing sales on Black Friday 2018:

1. Strengthen you acquisition strategies

Black Friday sales give you an opportunity to acquire new customers for your retail business. Moreover, if you manage to keep these customers happy, there are chances they might purchase again during Christmas. You surely wouldn’t want to miss repeat sales, so ensure you give extra attention to your acquisition strategies.

Track your current acquisition process and see how successful you are in getting new customers. Identify the areas of improvement and work on it to increase your customer base in Thanksgiving 2018.

2. Sales team input

Most of your sales team members must have been with you on Black Friday sales of the last few years. They must have experienced the heat, pressure, and excitement along with you. Inputs from such sales professionals are necessary to up your game in Thanksgiving 2018.

Find out where did they face difficulties and what strategies worked the best. If they have recorded any data, then refer to it to get a better sales insight. If you don’t have the right technology for keeping track of these records, then consider implementing a CRM software like Salesmate that would help you in compiling data, monitoring processes and measuring performance for achieving better sales results.

3. Use the power of social media

Make the most of the social media platforms to generate buzz about the upcoming Thanksgiving sales. Run engaging campaigns, post exciting ads, host special contests, and upload informative videos. Spread awareness about your product and deals through popular social media sites like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.

Use tools like Buffer and Hootsuite to manage all your social media accounts efficiently from one place. With such tools, you can even track the effectiveness of your social media campaigns and make required changes accordingly. Don’t forget to use popular (trending) hashtags such as #blackfriday, #thanksgiving, #retail, #sales or #blackfridaysales2018, #thanksgivingsales2018 for your posts.

4. Keep an eye on the competitor’s activity

To step ahead of your competitors you need to know what they are doing to attract customers on Black Friday. It’s great if you are acquainted with all your competitors, if not then research and create a list without delay. Browse your competitor’s website and follow their social media activities. Check, what kind of message they are trying to convey and which creative strategy are they using for driving engagement. Ensure you have signed up for their newsletter to get all the updates about their Thanksgiving sales in 2018.

5. Plan your inventories

Thanksgiving sales are the busiest days, so you need to stay organized to make sure everything goes as per your plan. Inventory management is of pivotal importance during Black Friday sales as it directly affects your revenue. Plan your inventories, load enough stocks to ensure you don’t fall short of supplies. Take a closer look at your sales numbers of the previous year to manage your inventory efficiently as you wouldn’t want to have shelves filled with unsold product after Christmas.

6. Learn from the previous year

You wouldn’t want to repeat the same mistakes of 2017 for Thanksgiving sales in 2018. So look back, there is a wealth of valuable information in the previous year’s sales data. If you have consolidated reports, then study them minutely to find out your best-selling products and get a better understanding of your consumer needs.

• See which products are preferred more by the customers and which you need to bundle
• Analyze what kind of promotional content drives traffic
• Assess customer behavior and understand their buying patterns

If you haven’t been using reporting tools, then start it right now so that you don’t have to face similar difficulties while planning for Black Friday sales 2019.

7. Plan your discounts wisely

Thanksgiving sales are filled with deals and offers from your competition all over the US. To surpass your competitors and win more profit, you need to be careful as well as creative while planning your discount. Slashing the price to half isn’t the only way to attract customers.

You can give them a discount coupon that they can use for future purchase or offer a less-popular product for free. It is all about adding value to your customer’s purchases. Even with the discount, the chances of earning profits is higher as there is a massive volume of people who are willing to spend happily on Black Friday sales.

8. Retarget past customers

Customers who have purchased from you in the past have the possibilities of buying again. So, approach these customers. I hope you might have saved their contact details in your database, if not then do it this year without fail. Saving your customer details can help you in reaching out to them before the big sales days.

You can send them texts or emails to inform them about the upcoming sales and offers. For making the work easier, you can opt for a CRM software that offers text feature too. So, besides streamlining your high-value client’s contact details systematically you can even send bulk messages in seconds and inform maximum buyers about your special offers.

Not only this, Salesmate CRM offers you to set reminders as per your requirements. For example, if you have an old customer database, or for those who visit you regularly, you can set reminders to send them emails or call them for your offerings. It will automatically create an activity or if you set the condition, you can send automated emails, track emails, and send automated follow-ups. Do this and more with Salesmate CRM.

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9. Create a sense of urgency

Instilling a sense of urgency is the best way to boost conversions during Black Friday. It is necessary to develop the fear of missing out something good. While running advertising campaigns, don’t forget to mention how many days are left. Count the minute with them by displaying online timer and build hype. Create the urge to take immediate action by mentioning words like

• “Shop now”
• “limited time offer”
• “limited number available”
• “Don’t miss it”

10. Send out excellent emails

Emails are a great medium to reach your buyers and spread awareness about your special discounts. Try to create a bond with your customers by personalizing these emails. The more you advertise your deals through these emails, the better are the chances of increasing sales on Black Friday.

Make the emails as engaging as possible to get and keep your customer’s interest. Ensure you track the sent emails to find out if your potential buyers are reading or ignoring your emails. Even the competitors might be trying to reach your customer’s inbox. So, you need to create a visually appealing email that stands out amongst the other emails.

• Create an impactful subject line
• Keep the main body of the email precise yet interesting
• Add an enticing call to action (CTA)

For more tips to creating an email that drives conversion read the blog” Effective sales email tips for getting response”.

11. Promote

Spread the news about your deal far and wide with the right promotion. Use all the medium available like social media, emails, website, e-magazine or newspaper. Wear the creative hat and come up with unique content. Buyers shouldn’t only be aware but also excited about your ‘Black Friday’ sales. Focus more on targeted advertising to reach a niche audience. Create GIF or video about the product you are about to offer on Black Friday sales 2018 to generate buzz and develop an interest in the upcoming discounts.

12. Reward loyal customers

Customers who have been purchasing from you for a long time deserve special treatment. If you offer a reward to your loyal customers during the seasonal spike, they will get more reasons to return during any other time of the year.

“Once you create a loyal customer base, it’s tough for a competitor to take it away” – Joseph D Mansueto

Provide extra points or discount coupons after the first purchase that’s only valid for the holiday season sales. In this way, customers will shop again to redeem the reward and thus add to your profit.

13. Automate your sales using CRM

Every customer expects an instant response. Studies proved that responding within 24 hours of emails increase 60% chances of sales.

Whether you are a solopreneur or a small business, use CRM software for automating most of your sales tasks, email responses, follow-ups or other tasks like feedback or lead assignment. It will assure you that you will never miss a single inquiry.

Salesmate CRM is the best CRM software which is designed for solopreneurs, freelancers or small businesses to help them increase their sales revenue. You can try it for free for 15 days and check out how it improved overall productivity and sales.

14. Get into the charitable spirit of the season

Win your customers heart with an act of kindness during the season of Thanksgiving. Advertise that you are going to donate a part of your profit to the charity. This will not only create a good image of your company but also attract buyers as people would love to support a good cause. A unique approach to Thanksgiving sales 2018 will not only benefit you but also help others. Most of the companies have already walked on the path of kindness last year; for instance, Great Outdoors Galway donated 10% from every sale to local charity Ability West last year.

Maximize your profits by extending your Black Friday deals

Buyers can’t pick all they want in one day, they expect for more. Spread smiles and increase your sales by extending your deals to Saturday with greater discounts. If you are offering a 20% discount on Friday, then move a step ahead and offer an extra 10% on Saturday. Don’t stop there, stretch the sales to cyber Monday to draw in more customer and expand your profit margins.

Wrapping up

Black Friday has been beneficial for many retailers in the past, and it can boost your retail business as well provided you take the right steps. Research thoroughly and keep yourself abreast of all the market activities related to Black Friday Sales 2018.

Know what is happening and optimize your promotion strategy accordingly. It is never too late in sales. If you haven’t started, then begin your promotion now. Customer engagement before the big event is a must to gain the trust of maximum buyers.

Don’t take your customers for granted thinking that discount will attract them. Do remember, even your competitors are walking parallelly and offering enticing discounts. Put in extra efforts and try to be as different as possible to make 2018 Black Friday sales a successful event for your retail business.

Share insightful content and implement a smart tool like Salesmate. With this high-end sales tool, can collect all the vital details related to your buyer and organize it one place, so you don’t need to struggle to find information when required. Moreover, you can even schedule your promotional emails in Salesmate to connect with your customers in real-time.

With the insightful reports, you can track your performance and plan better strategies for your Black Friday sales. Try this software for free to find out how can it be useful for your business.

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