10 point checklist to prepare for Black friday 2020

Are you ready for Black Friday?
Get your eCommerce store ready with our checklist of the things you need to do for a successful Black Friday. Black Friday deals typically run through the weekend until Cyber Monday, 30th November. This year will certainly bring a lot of deals for that weekend.

Due to Covid-19, the shopping habits have changed. We have been urged to keep social distancing and many stores may have limited opening hours. It’s more important than ever to have a functional eCommerce site.

1. Prepare your Customer Service

Make sure your Customer Service team is ready for what is to come. If it is needed, increase staffing in Customer Service so you can handle the sales and all the questions that your customers may have. It is a good idea to have a live chat function on your site.

2. Offer easy and smooth returns

It is important to have an easy way to return packages. If it is not simple enough, it will probably not result in a purchase in the first place.

3. Get through the noise

Send info about your offers through text instead of email, that way it is simpler to get through the noise. Consumers today are more distracted than ever. The average open rate for text marketing campaigns is 98% compared to just a 20% open rate from an email marketing campaign.

4. Don’t forget the mobile

It is extremely important that your site is working for smartphones. More than 40% of the purchases are now made from a mobile device.

5. Create abandoned cart emails

Send an email reminding the customers who left their shopping cart without completing the purchase. For example: “We noticed you left something in your cart. Would you like to complete your order?”

6. Test and ensure your website is ready

Make sure your site is ready for Black Friday by checking for potential faults. Check if the site can handle the traffic expected during the whole event. We are proud to say that eSales Black Week last year was solid and enjoyable, including a peak of 10 000 queries per second over a total of 400 000 000 sessions without a single incident.

7. Start planning well in advance

Plan and write a checklist.

What discounts should you have?
When should prices be set?
When should the text/email be sent to customers?

8. Convert visitors into email subscribers

Get your window shoppers to subscribe to your newsletter. Offer a discount code, for example. Use the newsletter to send out reminders about what happens, when it happens and so on.