Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) are the pinnacle of the e-commerce calendar. These shopping extravaganzas bring billions in revenue to businesses worldwide.
For e-commerce stores, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Success during this period can result in record-breaking profits, while failure may lead to missed opportunities and potential losses.
Online retailers must carefully strategize and prepare to avoid critical mistakes if they want to succeed during this period. But, how do you identify these mistakes?
We’ve got it covered. In this article, we will discuss the common mistakes e-commerce stores make during Black Friday and explain actionable strategies to avoid them. Let’s dive in.
What The Numbers Say
In 2023, Black Friday alone generated a staggering $9.8 billion in sales, with Cyber Monday following closely at $12.4 billion.
These numbers highlight the immense opportunity for e-commerce brands during the holiday shopping season, but they also signal the fierce competition and high customer expectations that come with it.
All of these shows that you need the right combination of preparation with proper knowledge and tools to help you capitalize on this lucrative period.
If you’re looking for a solution to help boost sales, improve customer engagement, and maximize profits during this season, tools like Recomaze can be a game-changer.
Mistake 1: Underestimating Website Traffic and Performance
In e-commerce, your website is the backbone of your Black Friday sales. If it crashes or lags, your sales are doomed.
Unfortunately, many retailers underestimate the amount of traffic they’ll receive and the resources they’ll need to handle it.
How to avoid this Black Friday mistake
To avoid this mistake, you need to start planning and evaluating your website’s current inefficiencies in advance – at least a few months before the BFCM season.
Look at key indicators such as website loading speed, daily resource usage, and past Black Friday website traffic to understand where you currently stand. Use all of that information to assess how prepared you are to handle a larger volume of traffic.
Next, implement optimizations to improve your website’s performance. Start by optimizing your images.
Make sure they’re not larger than the needed display size and use formats like WebP that offer high quality with decent compression.
Consider implementing a content delivery network (CDN) to cache your website’s content across multiple data centers. This will help reduce server load and improve loading times for visitors from different locations.
If your current hosting plan won’t be able to accommodate the expected traffic, make sure to upgrade at least a few weeks before your Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaign begins.
A slow or unreliable website can quickly make you lose customer trust and leads, so it’s important that you get this right.
Mistake 2: Neglecting Mobile Optimization
In 2024, more than half of BFCM shoppers are expected to engage with campaigns delivered via messaging apps. This emphasizes the importance of a mobile-first strategy.
Failing to optimize your website for mobile can make you lose sales, damage your brand image, and negatively impact your SEO.
How to avoid this Black Friday mistake
Try to follow the best practices for mobile optimization if you want to make sure your website is ready for the mobile-dominated Black Friday landscape.
Things you should be doing include optimizing for loading speed, image compression and size. You should also be adding adequate headings and section hierarchy.
Make use of white space, font size, and one-handed interactions.
Consider implementing mobile payment solutions like Google Pay and Apple Pay. These solutions can make the checkout process easier and more secure for your customers.
Overall, you can give your business a significant advantage this Black Friday when you invest in a smooth, mobile-optimized shopping experience.
Mistake 3: Offering Discounts that Hurt Profit Margins
While Black Friday and Cyber Monday are all about offering significant discounts, some retailers go too far. They go as far as offering sales that jeopardize their profit margins.
They may also underestimate the cost of returns, which are common due to buyer’s remorse.
How to avoid this Black Friday mistake
The key is to develop a discount strategy that’s tailored to your specific business model, product mix, and target audience.
This may involve a combination of percent-based discounts, bundle deals, personalized offers, and dynamic pricing. For example, a product that’s underperforming and has a low price history may be a good candidate for a percent-based discount.
On the other hand, a product that’s struggling to sell but has a high number of price changes might benefit more from being bundled with other, better-selling items.
Ultimately, your discount strategy should be grounded in data rather than gut feelings or assumptions. Analyze your past sales, price history, and other relevant indicators to inform your approach.
If you’re new to e-commerce or haven’t collected sufficient data, use industry benchmarks as a starting point.
Mistake 4: Inadequate Inventory Management
It can be very challenging to accurately forecast sales volumes ahead of the Black Friday and Cyber Monday period. Unfortunately, the effect of this challenge is often bad.
Overstocking can eat into your profits, while underestimating demand can result in customer frustration and lost sales.
How to avoid this Black Friday Mistake
Start by analyzing your sales performance and inventory volume during previous Black Friday and Cyber Monday periods. Look for patterns, consistencies, and correlations that can help you make more informed forecasts.
Also, stay up-to-date on current market trends and consumer behavior to better anticipate this year’s demand.
You can also consider implementing a pre-order system. It can give you an early indication of customer interest and help you fine-tune your inventory accordingly.
Also consider investing in a real-time inventory management system that updates stock levels in real-time. It will make it easier for you to make more informed decisions about ordering and fulfillment.
Remember, effective inventory management is a critical component of a successful Black Friday and Cyber Monday strategy. Get it right, and you’ll be well on your way to maximizing your sales and profits during the holiday season.
Mistake 5: Neglecting Post-Sales Marketing
Many e-commerce businesses make the mistake of not following up with post-sales marketing. Businesses that do this miss out on significant opportunities like increasing profits and building lasting customer relationships.
The truth is that Black Friday shoppers are often one-time buyers, and unless you put in the effort to engage them after the sale, they’re unlikely to shop with you again.
How to avoid this mistake
You have to organize post-sales marketing to turn those one-time customers into repeat buyers. This activity can include emails, retargeting campaigns, personalized discounts, and loyalty programs.
Note the timing though. Identifying the right timing can make or break your efforts when it comes to post-sales marketing. Act too soon, and you risk overwhelming your customers; wait too long, and you may miss the window of opportunity.
Just make sure you carefully plan your post-sales marketing activities so that you can get the best results. Always keep your brand top of mind when you’re dealing with your Black Friday and Cyber Monday customers.
Mistake 6: Missing Key Warehouse Deadlines
You need to be prompt with warehouse and inventory schedules. Failing to meet crucial warehouse and inventory deadlines can lead to stock shortages and fulfillment delays during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday period.
This includes not ordering enough stock in time or not preparing the warehouse for the influx of orders.
How to avoid this Black Friday mistake
Start your Black Friday and Cyber Monday planning early, typically by July. This will give you enough time to secure inventory, optimize your warehouse operations, and test your systems before the peak shopping season arrives.
Ensure to collaborate closely with your warehouse team to ensure they have the resources and processes in place to handle the expected volume of orders.
Mistake 7: Late Marketing Campaign Launches
Don’t make the mistake of launching your Black Friday and Cyber Monday marketing campaign too late. Making this mistake will make you miss the opportunity to build anticipation and attract customers.
Most times, these mistakes happen because e-commerce businesses underestimate the time required for campaign preparation and execution.
How to avoid this Black Friday Mistake
Start planning your Black Friday and Cyber Monday marketing campaigns well in advance. Ideally, you should do this several months before the holiday season.
You’ll have enough time to create compelling content, secure advertising placements, and execute a multi-channel strategy that reaches your target audience at the right time.
Mistake 8: Website Preparation Delays
Postponing website updates and performance optimizations can lead to technical issues during high-traffic periods. This includes neglecting to test the site’s capacity, update product pages, or streamlining the checkout process.
How to avoid this Black Friday Mistake
To ensure your website is ready for the Black Friday and Cyber Monday rush, you need to start making improvements and testing your systems months in advance.
Monitor your website’s performance regularly, identify and fix any bottlenecks, and optimize the user experience to ensure a seamless shopping journey for your customers.
Conclusion: Maximize Your Black Friday Success with Recomaze
Black Friday and Cyber Monday represent immense opportunities for e-commerce stores, but the amount of success they bring depends on how well you can avoid the common mistakes.
You need to optimize your website for mobile and efficiently manage your inventory. Other things like executing well-timed marketing campaigns and engaging in post-Black Friday marketing also play critical roles in your overall performance.
This Black Friday, why not take advantage of a tool like Recomaze? Our AI-driven tool helps e-commerce stores maximize revenue through personalized product recommendations, real-time engagement, and seamless integration.
If you’re looking to optimize visitor conversions or build lasting customer loyalty, Recomaze is your ultimate solution for Black Friday success.
Ready to transform your sales? Try Recomaze today and make this Black Friday your best yet!
