Every year, on the Monday following Thanksgiving weekend, online retailers experience the second biggest shopping day of the holiday season: Cyber Monday. Similar to Black Friday, Cyber Monday is an opportunity for small businesses to offer big promotions, specifically with the intention to encourage online shopping and drive e-commerce sales. The same way that brick-and-mortar stores offer promotions for Black Friday, online retailers use Cyber Monday to offer special deals and discounts to their customers. Some traditional retailers may also offer exclusive online-only deals on this day.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, online shopping has experienced a massive growth in popularity, making Cyber Monday a highly favorable day for holiday shopping. According to Adobe Analytics, the total sales on Cyber Monday reached a record high of $11.3 billion in 2022. This was 23.9% higher than the amount spent by shoppers on Black Friday in the same year.
This year, Cyber Monday falls on Monday, November 27th, 2023. If e-commerce is a prominent aspect of your business, Cyber Monday is a big opportunity for you to drive up sales. Here are some things to ask yourself as you prepare for this big day:
Are your site’s plug-ins functioning correctly?
The easiest way to lose business on Cyber Monday is by having a faulty website. Plug-ins can enhance the user experience by broadening a website’s capabilities and introducing added functionalities, but having too many of them – or using them improperly – can lead to a bulky and bloated website. Check your site for any active plug-ins that can be removed, such as any that are slowing down your website or generating an abundance of database queries. Make sure any plug-ins that aren’t removed are updated to ensure they are optimized for your site.
Do you have a reliable hosting provider?
Using a subpar hosting provider for your website’s files, plug-ins, and security can often lead to a slow-loading website or even website crashes during times of high traffic. These kinds of malfunctions on a site can easily discourage customers and drive them away from your site, resulting in a loss of business. Utilize a trusted e-commerce provider to avoid running into these kinds of complications.
Is your checkout experience optimized?
17% of shoppers ditch their purchases because the checkout process was too complicated. One of the ways that you can make the checkout experience better for customers is by making it quicker, using features such as guest checkout, 1-click checkout, or Google auto-address. You may also increase your number of completed checkouts by offering multiple payment options such as debit and credit cards, digital wallets, PayPal, and “buy now, pay later” payment features. You can further incentivize shoppers to follow through with their purchases with offers such as free shipping. All of these features can help to minimize the amount of abandoned carts your e-commerce experiences this Cyber Monday.
Is your site mobile friendly?
During the 2022 Black Friday and Cyber Monday holiday season, 42% of purchases were made from mobile devices. This means if your business doesn’t offer mobile-friendly options to customers, you are losing out on a major growing market. The convenience of being able to make a purchase from a mobile device is something that customers desire, so if they’re unable to make these kinds of easy purchases, they are more likely to abandon your site in favor of competitors.
Are you utilizing other marketplaces?
If you want to reach the highest number of customers possible, you may want to consider utilizing other e-commerce sites outside of your own to sell your products. Selling on sites with heavy traffic such as Amazon, Google, Walmart, and Etsy are easy ways to reach wider audiences this holiday season. Social media platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram also offer popular marketplaces that your business can easily utilize.
Do you have enough inventory?
You should be prepared for extra customers on Cyber Monday, which means you should have a higher amount of product in your inventory. To avoid running out of stock and losing out on potential revenue, review your previous year’s sales to uncover your best-selling items from the previous holiday season, then consider emerging market trends and shifts in consumer behavior that may affect this seasons’ shopping trends. This information can help you to make more effective decisions in your stocking process.
Have you started your promotions?
If you want more eyes on your website, you should start your promotions early. Giving yourself a lot of time to promote your Cyber Monday deals can allow you to reach new customers and fine-tune your outreach strategies. Establish a marketing plan, create advertising content, fine-tune your website, and begin your promotions as soon as possible! Don’t be afraid to utilize social media channels such as Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook to optimize the reach of your promotions.
How long are you planning to offer these deals?
You may also want to consider creating deals that extend beyond Cyber Monday to cater to customers who may be too busy to participate in the holiday. However, you want to ensure that these deals don’t extend too far beyond the original day. Some examples of extended deals may include a week-long Cyber Monday deal, daily deals during an extended Black Friday/Cyber Monday promotional period, limited time subscription offers, or exclusive deals for loyal customers. These kinds of promotions can allow you to experience an uptick in business beyond Cyber Monday.
Bottom Line
Plenty of people will be shopping online this Cyber Monday. Putting in the effort to create compelling deals and a seamless online shopping experience can help to drive these potential customers your way. Don’t let the holiday go to waste!
By Michaela Lenahan in Small Business
