For many brick-and-mortar stores, Black Friday is one of the biggest revenues days of the year.
It’s the perfect consumer storm. People are eager to shop, excited about deals, and ready to jump start their holiday shopping.
So it is a great opportunity for a brick-and-mortar business to use Black Friday promotions and hype to get customers — both old and new — through the door and spending money.
Plan for Black Friday now.
When plans are put into place, Black Friday can be a big win. But when things are left to last minute, the busiest shopping day of the year can cause more headaches than sales.
To ensure that your brick-and-mortar gets the most out of Black Friday, use these tips to start preparing today.
Be strategic about your discounts.
Start thinking about what you want to offer as your Black Friday specials up to a month ahead of time. Look at your product line (or services) and put promotions on items that are overstocked, best-sellers, and/or sold at a high-margin.
Discount Ideas:
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Give a low-priced item for free when customers spend a certain amount.
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Discount a price by percentage.
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Discount a price by a particular dollar amount.
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Create time sensitive offers. (Discounts can be hourly and rotate in and out through the day.)
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Give coupons to use on later dates.
Once you decide on your deals, create a clear database that includes all sale prices and times for easy reference and implementation.
Promote your specials.
Don’t rely on your customers knowing or assuming that you are having a Black Friday sale.
The week before Black Friday, begin to advertise your offers locally. Also, share the deals on your website and through your social media platforms.
To spark even more interest, consider adding a hashtag or theme to your Black Friday campaign. Or think about promoting an early giveaway or contest to increase engagement and get your customers excited about the deals to come.
Plan your store blueprint.
Don’t wait until the night before Black Friday to rearrange your store to make room for the influx of customers and new sales displays.
Use these tips to plan the layout of your showroom or shopping area:
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Put Black Friday specials in easy to access areas such as end caps and center shelves.
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Stack extra products (that are a part of a promotion) in a nearby location so you and your staff can easily refill shelves.
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Spread items that are on sale throughout your store to prevent congestion in certain areas of your store.
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Set up extra cash register stations.
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Set up clear line-boundaries so customers know where to stand to wait in line for cash registers, customer service, or fitting rooms.
Guide your customers.
As you make a blueprint for the new layout, create a map that you can display to help guide customers through your store.
Consider using digital signage and wayfinding kiosks as a way to help customers navigate your store. Designate points on the map where customers can find promotional items and special holiday features (such as a Santa meet-and-greets, featured holiday displays, or additional cash registers).
Create promotional videos.
If you want to attract extra attention to deals, products, and holiday features, add video displays throughout your store.
You can add an extra element to the shopper’s experience by:
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creating videos that highlight holiday products that customers may not know about
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sharing gift ideas for certain demographics (gift for mom, dad, etc.)
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highlighting your promotions and discounts
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providing product demos
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running a social media promotion and promoting it throughout the store
Find a creative team that will take care of your video project from start to finish. When you work with Spectrio, you tell us your vision and our Agency Level Creative Team brings it to life with rich graphics, actors, audio and animation.
Decorate and set the mood.
For many people, Black Friday is the start of the holiday season. So be sure that your store matches the occasion.
Prepare an overhead holiday music playlist that will help your customers can get in the holiday spirit. As you compile your playlist, consider the type of shopping experience you want to create in your store.
If you want to create a sense of urgency in your store because you are promoting fast-action sales, consider playing up-tempo music. Fast paced music can make shoppers move through a store more quickly and accelerate their purchasing process.
Low tempo overhead music, on the other hand, makes customers spend more time casually browsing and slowly shopping (although they spend the same amount of money). If you want your customers to relax and take their time while shopping, play music that is a lower tempo.
Prepare your staff.
It’s important for your employees to be prepared to handle the influx of customers that come with Black Friday.
If you have new or seasonal employees, be sure to spend extra time reviewing procedures and processes with them. And make sure all employees know which manager to contact in the event that they need assistance.
Black Friday can be stressful for employees and shoppers. But it also an excellent opportunity for you to increase your revenue, introduce new customers to your offerings, and reward your loyal shoppers. So you want to put a plan in place that will make the experience smooth for both sides of the shopping experience.
If you aren’t prepared to get the most out of Black Friday this year, contact Spectrio to see how we can improve the environment of your store to space that customers love.