Black Friday is just around the corner, and there’s no better time to start prepping than right now. Black Friday deliveries are important to nail down before the orders roll in, but managing them means starting early.
Famous for being the most popular shopping day of the year, Black Friday is a day sellers can expect an increase in volume. This year especially, shopping is turning predominantly digital and buyers want to see all their favorite sales available from online stores. This means deliveries need to be perfected and optimized to meet customers expectations.
Before the day arrives, you can prepare your deliveries to be fast, reliable, and especially cost-effective – all by working with the best partners.
About Black Friday
If you’re a seller, you already know about Black Friday. On the fourth Friday of November, buyers hunt for sales and find crazy deals all across the country. This started back in the 1950s in Philadelphia, and typically marks the start of the Christmas shopping season.
Cyber Monday falls on the Monday after Black Friday. It’s the biggest online shopping day of the entire year. Although it’s typically for tech products, all sellers set deals for an entire weekend of shopping enthusiasm. It’s more commonly thought of as a natural extension of Black Friday sales in the modern age of online buying.
This year, Black Friday falls on November 25, making Cyber Monday November 28. These days are great for businesses to make extra profits by introducing sales to customers. Black Friday has some surprising stats that make you realize the value of the day for merchants:
- 76% of consumers plan to shop over the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend
- 94% of consumers will shop partially or completely online
- 40% of customers spent between $100 and $400 online in 2021.
Overall: it’s definitely worth it to plan some sales and push your marketing a little harder before the day comes. There’s a big opportunity to boost revenue if you handle the holiday right. But there’s one thing you can’t forget. Online shopping only works when you pair it with successful deliveries.
Preparing for Black Friday and Cyber Monday
When it comes to preparing for Black Friday, it’s all about expecting the unexpected. How prepared can you be to deal with commotion if it comes your way? Here are some ways you can start preparing for Black Friday now.
Revise budgets
Take a look at what you’re spending versus what you’re earning. Are you making more than you’re putting out? Dive into where you can save on costs, what your most expensive fees are, and where you could cut back (or spend more for better outputs).
Find ways to stand out
Black Friday sales are all about standing out from a crowd. Everyone (seriously everyone) gives the best deals on Black Friday, and buyers know it. They’re on the hunt for the best prices they can find, so if you can’t compete, they’ll move on. You need to stand out and be the store everyone is going to buy from.
Have sales and deals
What products can you put on sale and how good of a deal can you afford to offer? The deals you can give this year will directly impact your sales, both online and in-store. Prepare sales beforehand and think about what customers are going to be looking for most.
Market in advance
Advertise, advertise, advertise! Don’t keep your sales a secret. Tell buyers what they can expect and why they should check out your store when the time comes. Be clear in your messaging and give them a reason to come back on Black Friday.
Have more buying and shipping options
Finally, having various buying options is the best way to cater to the largest audience. Let buyers purchase in-store and online and have delivery options that will fit everyone. The more, the better!
5 Delivery Tips for Black Friday
The next thing to do before Black Friday is get your shipping and delivery processes in line. Buyers are looking to shop from home and want items to be at their as quickly as possible. These five essential delivery tips will come in handy during your preparation for the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend.
1. Set your shipping and delivery processes
Believe it or not, delivery is an important aspect of online shopping, even with Black Friday sales in effect.
49% of customers say free shipping influences their Black Friday purchases. No matter how great of a deal you can offer customers, they will still be hesitant to order if the delivery is not up to their expectations.
Although most customers look for free delivery, affordable delivery options can be appreciated if they’re fast and reliable. Same-day delivery is often something customers are willing to pay for, especially when it’s cheaper than normal shipping options. Meeting expectations by offering fast and convenient delivery options for Black Friday sales will help boost sales and bring more customers to your website.
You’ll want to set these processes up before the sales begin. The best thing to do is get ready and have everything in working condition before the orders pick up. This way, you can be sure the increase in volume can easily be handled, no matter what your orders end up being. Hence, before Black Friday, find a delivery partner who can help meet you and your customers needs at the right price point.
2. Keep up on inventory
Managing inventory can’t be done without having stock to match. Inventory is (obviously) needed to complete orders, but it might be more difficult to meet during the peak season.
Black Friday falls in the middle of the busiest shopping season of the year. Christmas shopping is full fledged and all the sales attract crowds larger than any other time. Suppliers are in a difficult spot, needing to keep up with merchant needs but also needing the supply to give them.
Hence, Black Friday requires you to be in contact with your suppliers or manufacturers in order to make sure all orders can be met.
3. Have modern tracking options
Transparency through delivery goes a long way – especially when customers are shopping more than usual. Black Friday sales push consumers to spend more, especially when buying gifts for the upcoming holidays. But late or unclear deliveries can make them more frustrated than usual when they’re anxiously waiting for deliveries.
Transparency in delivery means two key things. First, the delivery time is clearly indicated and it doesn’t change. If you say that the package will be there today, it should arrive today. Second, the delivery process needs to be accessible to the customer. Meaning, they should know where their parcel is, where it’s been, and how long it’s been there for.
Even as a seller, you probably know the frustration of seeing a delivery be “in transit” for days on end. Few updates along the way can really upset customers and force them to wonder what’s taking so long – or at least why they haven’t seen a change in status.
Live tracking and real-time notifications save your customers plenty of stress and you plenty of time. When customers wonder what’s going on with their parcel, they call you. If you want to avoid these added problems, tracking needs to be improved.
Delivery tracking is a problem as old as time itself, and few companies have done anything to change it. That’s why FlashBox has modernized the tracking experience of deliveries to give customers the visibility they both want and deserve. Gone are the days where packages are left in warehouses for way too long!
4. Be transparent with customers
When it comes to online shopping, customers don’t like finding things out after the fact. This goes for everything, from prices, to delivery time frames, and even inventory.
We know keeping up with demand can be difficult when unexpected spikes occur, but honesty is always the best policy. If troubles do arise that you can’t find ways around, be sure to tell your customers first. For example, identify the products in your store that go out of inventory, instead of letting customers attempt to order them and find out later.
Similarly, if you’re facing shipping delays, let costumes know before ordering as opposed to after. This helps build trust and helps them make a decision with all the information they need. But obviously, the best case scenario is one where your provider can handle the increase in volume and support you no matter what.
5. Anticipate customer support needs
Finally, take some time to anticipate and plan ahead. If you are expecting a rise in orders, you need to expect other reactions to occur as a result of this. More customers ultimately mean more questions and concerns, and you need to be able to handle this to meet expectations.
Customer support on Black Friday goes beyond just dealing with customers who want refunds or returns. Customer support is responsible for building trust with customers who might be worried about their delivery. If they haven’t been notified in a while, customer support can update them on the status. If they didn’t receive an item, support can help them find out what happened.
Overall, a reliable customer support team is your gateway to happy customers. Being able to rely on a seller is exactly what customers expect, and providing this can improve their overall satisfaction. With more orders come more complaints, and handling them well can set you apart from everyone else.
Keeping Up With Demand With FlashBox
Working with FlashBox is the key to having a successful Black Friday. FlashBox can help you keep deliveries cost-effective and fast, everything customers are looking for to get their items this peak season.
FlashBox deliveries are ideal for flash sales like Black Friday. We’re fast and communicative, keeping you and your customers in the know at all times. FlashBox can help you keep peak season sales under control.
Efficient delivery
First and foremost, deliveries are fast. With FlashBox, you can offer same-day delivery to your customers for as low as $6 per parcel. This goes for all sizes, weights, and destinations, so everyone can receive the same exceptional service at the same price point.
Customers are excited to order on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which means they want to get parcels as fast as possible. Same-day delivery is the only option for meeting the needs of modern consumers.
Complete order visibility
What customers want even more than fast delivery is visible delivery. Gone are the days where parcels were untrackable and customers went days without an update. FlashBox transforms how deliveries are made with innovative tracking options so customers are kept in the loop.
Customers can make use of the live tracking experience to follow their delivery agent live on a map once they are on the way to drop off the package. This helps customers see exactly when parcels will arrive and helps ensure deliveries will be successful the first time around.
In addition to this, real-time notifications inform customers as their orders move through the delivery process. Every time the parcel is handed off to someone else, the customer will know. This limits contact with customer support teams and reduces questions about parcel locations.
FlashBox order visibility means Black Friday orders will all end on a high note. Your customers can have their packages as quickly as that same evening.
Helpful customer support
For when issues do arise, our Canada-based customer support team is here to help. We have live support available through chat, email, and phone during all deliveries. They clear up customer issues and even solve blockers before they cause problems, like missing address information.
Final Thoughts
Securing orders this Black Friday and Cyber Monday is going to take more than just a good product. As a seller, you need to make sure your entire selling process is optimized to meet customer needs as well as your own. Deliveries in particular need to be cost effective for you and fast enough for the buyers.
In order to keep up with Black Friday deliveries, you need to find the right partners to work with and have the tracking options customers want. FlashBox helps merchants offer same-day delivery for as low as $6 per parcel all across major Canadian cities.
Make the most of Black Friday selling with the fastest delivery available. Talk to a FlashBox expert today to get started!
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