Black Friday is fast approaching and for many it represents the start of the holiday season and is one of the busiest days in the retail calendar.
Here are some practical tips to check through before Black Friday:
Keep control of inventory
Good inventory management is key to making sure you don’t lose out on sales from stock outs or double selling. There’s a fine balance to getting your inventory right - you don't want to run out of stock or waste money on storing stock you don't sell.
Look back at trends and your sales from last year to remind yourself what sold well so you can make sure you have enough inventory to fulfill all your orders.
Staffing
Do you have enough staff to handle the holiday rush?
On days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday you might even want to think about having back up staff just incase anyone rings in sick or anything goes wrong.
At the beginning of the day make sure you’ve planned out breaks and schedules for all your staff throughout the day so the shopfloor, phones and customer services is always manned.
If you do need to take on more staff to cope with customer demand, have you made sure you’ve got enough tills? If you use a service like Brightpearl, you can take on extra POS tills for a short-term period.
Make sure all your staff are trained up and they know your products. Good product knowledge can make a sale and lead to better customer satisfaction.
Server space
Do you have the infrastructure behind your website to cope with the extra influx of traffic?
Last year many websites crashed due to demand during Black Friday. Even increased page load times can lead to abandoned baskets as shoppers lose interest mid purchase.
Stress test your websites to see if they can handle the extra strain of visitors over key dates such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Advances in cloud hosting technology make it far easier to increase capacity. Being able to cope with the expected spike in visitors is crucial for success.
Make sure your website is up-to-date
Many shoppers will opt for shopping online to avoid crowds, and those who brave the crowds are likely to check prices online to find the best deal - so make sure in-store matches your website for a consistent shopping experience.
Stationary
Make sure you have enough bags, gift wrap, cellotape, receipt paper and gift certificates in store so that you don’t run out when the rush hits!
Catch those impulse shoppers
Position promotional items and key merchandise wisely to increase sales. Having products by the door, by the tills or making best sellers really easy to find is influential.
Also grouping products together is important for easy identification as well as cross-selling and upselling. Look at what products people regularly buy together as well as dividing products up into natural groups.
A good shopping layout is about disrupting the consumer's thinking, getting them to take notice and to take their time browsing.
For more ideas read: ‘How to capture the impulse shopper effectively.’
Security
Be aware that shoplifting may increase when you have more people in your store at once.
Ask staff to be extra vigilant or think about hiring a security guard or even installing a camera to police your store.
Also be aware that online fraudsters know that the holiday season is a busy time for retailers, and as a result it’s an opportunity to attack when you’re already overwhelmed.
Read ‘3 ways to avoid fraud this holiday season’ to see how you can ensure your business isn’t vulnerable this Black Friday.
Be prepared for returns
Returns are likely to increase after a rush of sales, make sure you have enough staff to cope with this and encourage them to upsell or cross-sell when the returns are happening. An exchange is always better than a refund.
Communicate clearly and often so you customers are aware of your returns policy. With a solid returns process in place you’re giving your customers another reason to buy from you versus the competition. During the aggressive holiday season, you need all the ammunition you can get! Learn to love returns.
A lot of retailers are doing things differently this Black Friday, find out more by reading ‘Black Friday Retail Trends 2015’. If you are doing things differently this Black Friday or having more tips for the Holiday Season please leave your comments below.
This post was written by our partner Brightpearl, who provide inventory management software helping retailers manage orders, inventory, customer data and accounting all in one place.
