For most retailers, online or otherwise, the final quarter of the year is normally one of the busiest periods. However, this year is different. Online shopping flourished from the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. With non-essential shops closed and public transport reserved for key workers, it wasn’t long before the masses turned online. Suddenly, many online retailers were smashing targets and taking more orders than ever before. The hysteria had levelled out somewhat, but with Christmas and Black Friday on the horizon it will undoubtedly swell once more.
First wave aside, England now finds itself in the midst of a second lockdown during retail’s most important quarter. With this new lockdown set to last until 2nd December and possibly longer, it remains to be seen how this will affect the retail landscape. Now, on the approach to Black Friday 2020, retailers are getting their first glimpse of the quarter and the consumer’s revolutionised shopping habits.
Black Friday has traditionally been seen as the opportunity to boost sales, entice new customers and, on the part of the consumer, grab a bargain. It takes place just under a month before Christmas, making it the prime time to get your presents sorted. As such, it’s a crucial time of the year for Britain’s retailers. Normally they will spend months and months preparing to make sure Black Friday goes without a hitch. A lack of organisation can mean missing out on a huge amount of potential sales and damaging your audience’s trust in you.
With lockdown re-emerging for the next month or so, we can expect to see a repeat of March. The only difference being that we’re now well into retail’s biggest quarter. So, what can we anticipate from Black Friday 2020?
There’ll be some big winners
Preparation is essential now more than ever, especially with such high levels of uncertainty on consumer trends. So, the big winners of this year’s Black Friday weekend will be those who began preparing during the summer or before. Those sites that are well-organised will have taken the following into account.
Draw in organic traffic
Whilst many brands will undoubtedly be ploughing lots of budget into paid advertising, we’ll also see an added focus on organic traffic. Amine Dahimene, an SEO consultant, says “The real front-runners will undoubtedly be the larger retailers with the resources and online presence to scale. However, smaller brands can keep up by really optimising their site for Google.”
This is something prepared businesses will have been doing for months and not just for Black Friday. Proper search engine optimisation is essential to gaining online traffic. This can be anything from creating more blog posts to improving website load times. When done properly this can enhance a website’s user experience, meaning many shoppers can expect a more streamlined Black Friday experience.
For organised retailers, this will have been on the cards for a while. Unfortunately, those who failed to invest in generating more organic traffic might find it difficult to gain the same amount of organic traffic come Black Friday.
Take stock into account
At the start of the pandemic, shops were hit with lots of stock issues simply because they were unprepared for such a sudden influx of online shoppers. Some quick adaptations meant it has all levelled out once more, but have these retailers learnt their lessons?
The retailers who win big this year will be the ones that accurately forecasted the amount of sales they would be making this Black Friday. That’s the case for both large and small businesses. Unfortunately for lots of retailers, it has likely been difficult to accurately forecast this year’s sales and make sure stock levels align. So, the real winners this year will be the retailers who found the right balance. Understocking means missing out on potential sales and over stocking could mean ending up with surplus stock.
Placing orders with their manufacturers is something most businesses will have done months earlier, before the second lockdown came into play. So, with the new lockdown well underway, only time will tell if they’ll hit the right notes.
Invest in scaling
To be hit by such an influx of customers at the start of the pandemic was undoubtedly a shock for many online retailers. Lots of websites received increased traffic and took so many sales that it became increasingly difficult to keep up. To put that in perspective, Scurri, an eCommerce shipping software service, reported that since COVID hit the UK, online shopping surged by 74%. With even larger numbers of customers expected this Black Friday, just how will these businesses cope?
Well, if they took note of any problems that arose during the first wave and invested in scaling up, then they could be well positioned for a sudden spike in business. These investments could be anything from investing in flexible eCommerce platforms that can adapt quickly to increased traffic or refining the pick and pack process that happens behind the scenes.
It’s the same when it comes to protecting the consumer’s data. Where small businesses may have had little need for firewalls or added security, scaling up during COVID should have included investments in cyber security. Protecting a customer’s information increases their confidence in a site and positions it well for any increased traffic.
The consumer will have changed
The coronavirus pandemic drove more consumers than ever to online shopping and this number isn’t set to go down any time soon. In the same study, Scurri found that 66% of shoppers will continue to shop online at the same heightened level, even once the pandemic has passed. So, in this new age for retailers, it’s essential their online platforms work for the consumer.
Streamlining the process of online shopping is essential to making sure customers convert and that the website can cope with higher levels of demand. Whilst many companies may be prohibited by cost when it comes to making sudden updates to their websites, this is where the retail behemoths will flourish. Having thought ahead and developed websites that can guide the consumer smoothly from product page to purchase, this level of preparation will reap dividends.
Whilst lockdown has driven more customers online, what they expect from eCommerce platforms has been in the running for years. 21st-century customers expect next-day delivery, quick websites and integrated payment services like PayPal or Apple Pay. So, retailers should have kept a focus on making sure their behind-the-scenes services are up to scratch to avoid disappointment this Black Friday.
There’ll be more discounts than ever
With physical stores shutting and consumers particularly nervous during the first few weeks of the pandemic, retailers drastically cut prices. Whilst this encouraged an explosion of online orders, on many sites the pricing is yet to fully level out. As such, discounting has continued to be a key strategy for many online retailers since the pandemic began.
Now with Black Friday just around the corner, the discounts are set to be huge, digging deep into each company’s margins in the process. To avoid an over reliance on discounts, it’s likely that retailers will look to shift this mindset to a smarter, more profitable model. However, it’s unlikely that this will come into effect before Black Friday or even the January Sales.
For the time being, the focus is likely to be largely focused on digital marketing strategy. Websites that cleverly hook the customer with price alerts and build anticipation around their sale will be the big winners this year. Of course, that’s alongside the added incentive of competitive sale prices.
Overall, online eCommerce sites are in for a massive Black Friday weekend this year. Those that have the resources and time to improve their website platforms will likely be the ones who hit big. SEO changes and enhanced sites will be paramount, as will ordering the right amount of stock. Rather than simply benefiting companies for Black Friday weekend alone, scaling up is essential for eCommerce platforms in a post-COVID world. With consumers predicted to continue shopping online, there will likely be high demand for eCommerce all year long. So, companies that made smart changes for Black Friday 2020 will also find themselves in good stead going forward. Once the final quarter of the year comes to a close, we’ll also expect to see a step away from discount pricing as economic uncertainty continues to fade away.