Are Black Friday sales worth the effort?

Are Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Click Frenzy sales worth the effort?

Get ready to cash in and get involved. Shoppers can’t get enough of one-day online sales events.
Customers love a good sale, but not just any sale. Savvy shoppers are in search of the “deal of a century” sale and will plan their life around big events like Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Click Frenzy.
These sales feed a shopper’s desire for exclusivity and drive their fear of missing out (FOMO) with one-day-only discounted pricing.

How big are these sales really?

Australians are ready and eager to buy during these one-day events. In fact, 2.2 million households participated in Cyber Monday in 2020¹ and YOY sales were up 42%.

The rise of online shopping in the early 2000s led to the creation of Cyber Monday in 2005. Online retailers wanted a share of the revenue their brick-and-mortar counterparts saw on Black Friday – the biggest Christmas shopping day in the US that has gone global.

In 2012, Click Frenzy, Australia’s first national online sales event, realised shoppers couldn’t wait an entire year before the next big sale. They recreated to the door-buster excitement by hosting 24-hour sales four times a year to keep the shoppers’ buzz going.

What you need to do to participate  

Jumping into the action takes preparation, and now is an excellent time to start.  

Here’s what you need to join the biggest online shopping events:

1. Prepare your website 
2. Pick one product 
3. Create a landing page
4. Promote your sale

1 Prepare your website now

July is a good time to make sure your website is in shape. Thousands of shoppers making online purchases in a short amount of time can put stress on your server, and if you’re not prepared, the increase in traffic could crash your site. Many customers visiting your site during big online sales events will be new, and you want it to be a smooth journey from the start.

Even the big online retailers aren’t immune to increased traffic crashing their site in the middle of a big sale. Myer, David Jones and Click Frenzy itself have all run into snags. But they’ve learned from their mistakes, and there are steps you can take to avoid sale issues for your website.

Ask your web developer to check the performance of your website:

• Check that your server can handle high traffic loads
• Test page loading speeds 
• Ensure your site is optimised for mobile devices
• Complete eCommerce platform updates
• Find ways to enhance the user experience by updating photos and content
• Use a simplified and safe checkout

Now is an excellent time to consider your buy now pay later (BNPL) provider and if the customer checkout experience is helping you attract new customers. Customer trust is important at any time of the year, but even more so during these online sales. Since you’ll likely be attracting new customers who don’t know you, you have the perfect opportunity to impress them. Any friction like a clunky redirect off your site during payment will be magnified. 

A white-label BNPL provider like LimePay takes it further. We keep our customers data secure, nor do we direct customers to a third-party website during checkout.  A better checkout experience means higher repurchase rates and fewer abandoned carts so it’s an extra win-win at sale time.

Wondering if your checkout is working for you and your customer? See if it’s up to scratch with our Checkout Checklist.

2 Pick one product 

The key to a successful Cyber Monday or Click Frenzy sale is to keep it simple and offer a deep discount. Start by offering one product during the sale and offer a jaw-dropping price. 

Every motivated shopper knows what Black Friday and Cyber Monday means in terms of deals, and they’re waiting, watching and ready for you to make your offer. Over 71% of Australians shop Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, spending over $3.9B in November alone.²

A key to flash-sale success is exclusivity (aka scarcity). Shoppers are more likely to act when there’s a limited supply of a product they want.  

Don’t be afraid to start small and test the waters. Select an in-demand product for your VIP customers and offer a special sale price. You’ll build brand loyalty, but this strategy also helps with inventory control and backorder handling. By setting the total amount you can sell, you’re increasing demand while managing supply. 

Because the margin on each sale will be lower, it's important to consider your associated costs versus long-term value. You want to avoid the quick sale that doesn't lead to repeat business. It's easy to get swept up in the excitement, but each customer's cost per acquisition is still essential. 

A smooth checkout experience can make all the difference. Look for a checkout process that's intuitive and recognises returning customers. Especially if you're starting with a VIP offer, you'll want the checkout to be smooth, speedy and secure. 

On these big sale days, customers are easily distracted. If they must register to pay or feel there are too many steps, cart abandonment rates rise. 

3 Create a landing page

A landing page is a designated web page with a single purpose. Your website has many pages and topics to share, but a landing page has one focus like an online sales event. When you lead customers to a page specifically created for the sale, they’ll feel like you’re inviting them to an invite-only event. 

Customers ‘land’ on these stand-alone pages through direct marketing. Use emails and social media channels to promote your sale and direct customers to a designated landing page.

The key to an effective landing page is to keep it simple. One product, one offer, one message. 

Don’t forget to follow the best practices discussed in preparing your website. Site speeds and mobile optimisation are critical for landing pages too. Shoppers aren’t patient and will leave a site that loads slowly.

4 Promote your sale

Start promoting your sale early. Some retailers give consumers a sneak peek in late October or early November before Cyber Monday and Black Friday sales, especially for big-ticket items like electronics.

There’s a lot of noise in the months leading up to Christmas. You don’t need to be the loudest if you're directing the right audience to the right offer. You’ll want to create a promotional campaign for your flash sale, just like you would for other promotional efforts.

Don’t forget about promoting after the sale too. Use the information from your BNPL dashboard (if offered by your provider) to connect and nurture customers who bought from you during the sale. If you use a white-label checkout, data collected during checkout is yours and that means you own the customer relationship and brand experience.  

Go all in

Are you ready? All you need is a healthy website, frictionless checkout, an exclusive product at a great price and a promotion plan to participate in the biggest shopping days of the year.
In addition to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, consider taking advantage of these other popular shopping days:

• China’s Single’s Day
• Boxing Day
• Small Business Saturday
• Click Frenzy Travel - April 
• Click Frenzy Mayhem - May
• Click Frenzy Julove - July
• Click Frenzy The Main Event - November

Take the Checkout Challenge today

Do you know the incremental profit you could drive for your business if you reduced your cart abandonment? What about if you increased your average cart size? Or your customer loyalty and repurchase rates?

All checkouts do the same thing – they let your customers and pay for purchases on your website – but  not all checkouts are built equal.

Just like you hold performance reviews for staff, you should evaluate your checkout solution to ensure it’s delivering the results your business needs (and deserves). 

But how do you evaluate a checkout?