Last Minute Black Friday Tips for Busy Small Business Owners
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are officially less than two weeks away. Despite these two major shopping days (and the weekend between them) having been endlessly hyped since their respective inceptions, they remain incredibly important days for retailers. While the big box and larger retailers have been able to devote resources towards planning for these days, small businesses have been struggling to keep the doors open during the rollercoaster of Covid-19 related openings, closings, and regulations.
Even if your small business has been unable to prepare as you normally would, that doesn’t mean that it is too late to take advantage of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. There’s still plenty of time to put together a plan and get in on the action. Here are some last-minute Black Friday ideas you can quickly and easily implement in a short amount of time.
- Offer Tiered Discounts Based On Customer Spending. Want to encourage more spending? Offer discounts tied to the amount a customer spends. For example, you can add a 5% discount for every $50 spent up to a certain threshold (e.g. 5% on $50, 10% on 100%, etc). With the discounts increasing based on the amount spent, this is a great way to encourage customers to spend more.
- Ship For Free! Customers love free shipping, especially around the holidays. Whether you choose to ship for free on all purchases or just those over a certain amount, this is an easy perk to offer customers that require little preparation. There are even indicators that an offer to ship for free can encourage sales.
- Give A Gift For The Holidays. If you’ve got back stock you’ve been trying to get rid of, this is a great opportunity to do so. Offering a free gift to customers for spending a certain amount is a great incentive to encourage sales. When offering a product, be sure that it is something that appeals to a wide audience, or it may not attract interest.
- Consider Creative Incentives to Reward Future Business. Black Friday and Cyber Monday discounts are typically built around rewards during the holiday season. Why not find ways to encourage future purchases? Offer a book of coupons to be used in other months, enter customers into a raffle for a big gift card (to be given out after the holidays), or offer them a first-look opportunity at an exclusive product in the upcoming year.
- Promote Exclusive Offers On Different Communication Channels. This is a great way to both provide a Black Friday or Cyber Monday discount and see how your communication channels are being utilized. Give different discount codes on each of your platforms – on your website, on social media, and through a special phone greeting – and see which ones your customers use.
These are just a few easy ways your small business can participate in Black Friday and Cyber Monday with minimal preparation time. With billions of dollars in consumer spending on the line, even the smallest incentive can mean a significant boost to your bottom line. Making sure you communicate these deals clearly and in enough time for your customers to take advantage of them is key.
Communicating and promoting your business is exactly what AccessDirect knows how to help small businesses with. If you are looking to sound better and more professional, we have the phone system to help you do it. Contact us today and find out how we can help your business during the holidays and beyond.
