Black Friday and holiday shopping are just around the corner— is your webshop ready? We’ve explored the latest trends and developments to bring you the best advice for succeeding during Black Week.
The Insane Growth
Denmark first embraced the Black Friday concept in 2013, when a handful of webshops experimented with discounts on the last Friday in November. It wasn’t an overwhelming success that year, but by the following year, things started to pick up. Danes began to warm to the idea, and it has only grown bigger ever since. It’s now firmly established as the largest e-commerce day of the year and has been for quite some time.
Black Friday has also become the day when most consumers kick off their holiday shopping, focusing especially on clothing and larger electronics.
A few impressive Black Friday stats:
- In 2015, Black Friday overtook the holiday shopping days to become the biggest shopping day of the year.
- In 2017, sales reached DKK 2.11 billion, the highest single-day revenue ever recorded in Denmark.
- In 2019, online sales increased by 26% on Black Friday.
- In 2020, overall sales grew by 56% as Black Friday expanded into Black Week.
Black Friday has evolved into Black Week—and it’s here to stay.
Ride the Wave
There’s no doubt that Black Friday is here to stay, but how can you make the most of it? After last year’s success, it’s clear that Danes are more than happy to embrace a whole week of deals instead of just one day. As a webshop owner, this is your chance to capitalize on the trend! That said, there are a few considerations you should keep in mind to ensure it fits your business model. Running Black Week isn’t all positive.
With a week of deals, you can expect higher expenses compared to Black Friday alone. The workload also increases—there are more ads to prepare, your inventory needs to be ready, and your customer service team must handle several days of high activity.
However, there are significant advantages beyond increased sales. Spreading deals across a week reduces risks since you have more time to generate revenue. Plus, you can adjust and improve your offers throughout the week! Read more about the advantages and disadvantages here.
Take a look at this chart, which illustrates the percentage increase in both revenue and orders per day during Black Week 2020:
The data clearly shows that spreading deals across a week encourages more consumers to take action, giving them multiple reasons to visit your webshop.
6 Tips to Drive the Right Traffic and Boost Conversion Rates
During this Black Friday research, I’ve uncovered some exciting trends and thought about how to make the most of Black Week. Here’s what I found:
Advertise – A Lot
Make sure your customers know exactly what to look for! Let them know your Black Week plans so they know to check out your webshop.
Offer Daily Deals
Impress your customers with extraordinary offers. Have a 40-50% discount on one item Monday, then switch to another Tuesday. Keep this up all week to give them a daily reason to visit your site.
Don’t Let Shipping Costs Hold You Back
Over half of your customers will abandon their carts if unexpected costs appear. You don’t have to eliminate shipping fees entirely, but consider lowering the minimum order value required for free shipping
Provide an Overall Deal
Offer a Black Week discount that lasts all week. For example, you could have a 10% discount across your entire webshop to ensure there’s always a reason to stop by.
Add Surprises
Include limited-time offers that are only revealed when they go live. This turns shopping into a game and makes customers feel lucky when they catch a deal.
Offer the Right Payment Options
Know your customers and which payment methods they prefer. If they fill their cart but can’t pay with their preferred method, they’ll abandon the purchase. Read more about this here.
One clear trend is the growing use of MobilePay for Black Friday transactions from 2016 to 2019.
Plan Your Strategy and Get Help
No matter which e-commerce platform you’re using or have had set up for you, many of the tasks I’ve mentioned can be automated. This means your focus should be on planning a strategy for the week: decide on your deals, discounts, shipping costs, and other details.
