OK, take a deep breath. Black Friday is in 4 days. Breathe in, breathe out...
I used to get excited (and still do) about all the great deals I could find shopping on Black Friday. Then last year, I was surprised to see my eBay sales went up on Black Friday even though I didn't do anything different in my store.
I quickly realized that when shoppers are in a frenzy spending money, they spend it EVERYWHERE as long as they feel they are getting a deal. Even with me, whose primary product is pre-owned business clothing (not exactly the sort of thing you buy for a gift).
This means e-tailers like you and I don't have to wait until Cyber Monday for the customers to find us. Cyber Monday is the Monday after Thanksgiving, where the trend is people start Christmas shopping en masse from their offices.
This year, I am modifying my business plan to maximize sales and delight the customers in the post-Thanksgiving shopping rush.
My holiday-adjusted business plan includes the following:
- Free expedited domestic shipping with 1-day shipping options
- Free shipping to Canada (First Class Mail International), with $5-10 Priority Mail options
- Discounted flat-rate shipping to the rest of the world ($10 FCMI, $25 PM)
- Returns accepted until January 31, 2012
- E-mail blast to all former customers thanking them for their business with notice of a 25% off store-wide sale (sale runs this Tuesday - Cyber Monday).
- Effective December 10th, all domestic packages will be sent Priority Mail (even the light ones)
Through aggressive goal setting and tracking, my sales have already increased 30% Month-over-month since August. I'm excited to see if this pro-active holiday marketing helps maintain the trend!
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