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Personal Story
I received an email ad from a contact lens retailer offering me a discount to re-order.
So I did. Thinking: What luck. Just what I needed. Super convenience. How did they even know I was thinking of restocking my contact lenses?
Except the checkout was a disaster. I selected Swish (in Sweden, this automatically deducts the bill from my bank account). The first time I tried putting the order through, via the default payment-provider-who-shall-remain-nameless, I received an instant message during checkout that stated the Swish payment did not go through. OK. So, I repeated the order which was already a pain. Success. But not really. As I never received an order confirmation. Though I waited patiently.
So for kicks, I checked my Swish app history. Low and behold, I was charged twice by the payment provider I would never willingly choose if I had my say. Which then prompted me to look for (a hunt in itself) the contact lens retailer’s customer service number and manage to call them before their contact center closed at 16:30. Yes, one order went through and they were sorry I was charged twice. They weren’t able to find the second confirmation.
So, you guessed it. This impatient American, cancelled absolutely everything and gave them a lecture about lousy customer experience- because I’m a business school nerd and I do think like that. (Between you and I, I didn’t really need the contact lenses. I just wanted to enjoy the discount. So no great loss for me. There are other contact lens retailers out there.)
Let this be a lesson this Black Friday. Your customers don’t need to shop. But they will be tempted to, based on the overall hype and excitement; a Fear of Missing Out; a stockpile mentality; and of course— the pressure of early holiday shopping.
Don’t skip these 4 Black Friday tips
Here are some tips to keep customers happy so they will not abandon their orders and will continue holding you in high regard.
Tip 1: Secure the operation of your site
You might think that it is obvious that an e-commerce site should be up and online, but every Black Friday it is clear that it is not so obvious. Every year there are reports of sites going down under massive consumer pressure. And this means that the checkout works— including all the payment methods attached to it. Pre-filled customer data… a big plus, too!
Tip 2: Coordinate all departments in the company
There are several clear risks if your coordination has broken down. Your deliveries are delayed because the warehouse did not bring in extra staff, the goods run out because purchasing did not understand how big a campaign the marketing department ran and so on.
Tip 3: Be generous with the discounts
It is of course important that a discount weekend is not the same as a loss weekend. Selling certain hot items at a loss can be a good idea if you are sure you will get more sales of full margin items. Consumers also expect a hefty discount so make sure you can give them that. But as you know, do the calculations; a discount of 40% can mean that you need to sell for 218% more to earn the same amount of money (calculated on sales price incl. VAT 300, purchase price 100 ex VAT).
Tip 4: Remember to create loyalty
Shoppers during Black Friday may or may not be acting on impulse, but it’s a valuable relationship building moment regardless. Ensure you offer ways to stay connected. Can they sign up for a newsletter, for example? What about e-mail alerts for specific products they follow? Offer them a chance to follow your Facebook and/or Instagram account. Turn them into fans.
Remember: Keep your wits about you
In your quest to constantly increase your sales, put some thought into the customer experience. Check and doublecheck that you are prepared for the web traffic and that your checkout is ready for the onslaught. As well as your customer service department and shipping functions. All of it. Because yes, you want the sales.. but more importantly, you want to ensure you keep the customers coming back. And also relaying to their contacts that you’re a joy to do business with. In other words, don’t mess up the basics during Black Friday. Because if there is a failure somewhere in the chain, you are the one who will lose a customer. Now and maybe even forever. (I for one am not going to order again from the above–mentioned contact lens retailer. Even though admittedly, their customer service agent was a delight.)
Samara H. Johansson
Content Manager, Nets E-Commerce
With 15+ years of experience in strategic marketing and communications roles, for Nets I focus on presenting e-commerce market insights in a way that is easy to understand and practical.
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