According to research conducted by Finder.com, Black Friday holiday shopping customers are expected to increase by 12% over 2018, with shoppers spending an average of $397.50 each—to the tune of a projected $87 billion total!
Black Friday History
Black Friday is a business term describing the day after Thanksgiving. Since the 1960s when the term was first coined, Black Friday has been the biggest sales day of the retail year, driven by a rush of holiday shopping by office workers taking the day after Thanksgiving off. In fact, one of the origins of calling the day “Black Friday” (besides the traffic jams it creates!) is that accountants use “black” to indicate profit, as opposed to red, which signifies a loss.
Best Black Friday Strategies for Small Business
As a small business, you may feel it’s tough to gain traction on Black Friday, when large, national box chains offer deep discounts. That doesn’t mean that your small business can’t get a cut of the Black Friday action! By focusing your energies on your strengths as a small business, you can use the retail holiday to give your earnings a boost without feeling like you must compete with retail Goliaths. Here are eight easy ways to make sure you get more holiday shopping customers in the door for Black Friday!
1. Prepare marketing and Black Friday deals in advance.
You know the old saying about failing to plan—let’s flip the script instead! By planning in advance, you plan to advance! Use the week before Black Friday to decide what items you’ll be discounting. Take the time to run reports so you can plan your marketing strategy. Then bundle slower-moving products with hot items to maximize holiday shoppers looking for a good deal. About a week before Black Friday, use email marketing to build customer anticipation and awareness of your sales, business hours, and any special promotions you’ll be running. Then use SMS text marketing on the day of your Black Friday sale to boost exclusive savings for text subscribers and in-store promotions to build your subscriber lists.
2. Give Black Friday shoppers the VIP treatment!
Whether your customers decide to visit in-store or online, make sure you reward them with exclusive Black Friday discount codes, promotions, and deals on both retail purchases and appointments booked on Black Friday. Black Friday discounts don’t have to be as deep as chain retailers and can add up to customer loyalty at the end of the day.
3. Prioritize gift card sales.
Gift card sales are an area where you can stay competitive with national chain retailers. Marketing strategy surveys show that 61% of consumers report gift cards are at the top of their holiday wish list. Here, your small business will be able to attract shoppers who value your uniqueness, instead of the convenience of a chain retailer.
4. Is your POS hardware ready for Black Friday?
WIRED magazine reports that credit card fraud and malicious cyber scams reach peak levels on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This is because during the Thanksgiving shopping weekend, consumer spending patterns deviate from the norm and fraud tends to go undetected longer. Give customers an added level of protection with up-to-date credit card processing hardware. EMV chip card readers give both you and your customers the peace of mind of safe, protected Black Friday transactions.
5. Make your business mobile-friendly.
It’s never been more important to have a mobile-friendly small business! For instance, you should have a functional website, where you might also have an online store and online booking capability. You may also want to include email marketing and SMS text marketing, or even a branded app in your overall Black Friday marketing strategy. Whichever way your business does mobile, it’s a critical part of your Black Friday plan!
6. Social-ize with Black Friday shoppers.
Social media is a great way to advertise your business and drum up more business for Black Friday. Use each platform to your advantage and create unique promo codes for Black Friday social media deals, so you can see which social platform gives your business the most engagement. Use photos, streaming stories, and Black Friday 2019 hashtags to help new shoppers find your business, and reward your established client base, too!
7. Extend business hours for Black Friday shoppers.
As a small business, you may feel pressured to open on Thanksgiving Day to stay competitive with retail giants offering door-buster sales. Instead, try extending your Black Friday business hours—open an hour earlier, stay open an hour later, or both. This way, your employees still get to enjoy the holiday with their loved ones, and you may snag a little extra Black Friday traffic.
8. Provide the personal touch with customer service.
There’s another crucial difference between your small business and a national chain store: the human element. Here, it’s important to remember that Black Friday is just one day every year. Whether your Black Friday shoppers visit in-store or online, every personal touch you can give their transaction improves their brand esteem for your business. Brand esteem, in turn, can turn a one-time Black Friday sale into a loyal customer!
Black Friday Hashtags
To boost your social
media presence and make your Black Friday deals, discounts, events and
promotions more discoverable to new customers, use this list of hashtags for
your social media posts.
Remember, to get the most visibility without having your posts flagged as spam, try to use 10 or fewer well-selected hashtags with your posts.
#blackfriday #blackfriday2019 #blackfridaysale #blackfridayshopping #blackfridaysales #blackfridaysales #blackfridaydeals#blackfridayweekend #blackfridayweek #blacknovember #blackfridaybonus #blackfridaycoupon #blackfridayoffer #blackfridayready #blackfridaymadness #blackfridayfun #blackfridaysavings #blackfridayready #shoppingday #shoppingtime #deals #sale #bigsale #shoptilyoudrop #freeshipping #discounts #newdeals #retail #holidaysale
Kick off the Thanksgiving retail weekend with a Vagaro Daily Deal! It’s free to create one through your Vagaro account, and you’ll be able to make the most of holiday shoppers in search of a deal just like yours!
Header Image: Lucrezia Carnelos via Unsplash
Infographic: Mia Montemayor via Vagaro
Sale and Lightning Icons by Icons8
Black Friday Icon made by Freepik from www.flaticon.com