We are all living 2020 and feeling how challenging this year is being in various aspects of an individual's or corporation's life. Speaking at the business level, the current scenario makes it impossible to have good results in operations, whether you are an entrepreneur or part of a large company.
The time is for reflection, understanding the impacts, and adapting what needs to be transformed to generate business opportunities for your company.
This is not an article about Covid-19 or the crisis we are living, but about the direction the market is taking and the expectations for the most commercially attractive dates, such as Black Friday.
It may seem early to talk about an event that will happen only in November, but to be successful you need to plan ahead and know how to deal with the expectations that the event offers and the opportunities it will build.
I have talked to people who work in strategic positions in major players in the market, and it is notable that the use of promotions to encourage sales has been used to adapt sales strategies during the crisis scenario, where the consumer is more closed to making purchases and needs external impulses. We can see this trend reflected on Black Friday, which is a date where offers are usually attractive purchases. But how will the brands that are constantly using offers this year, stand out in the biggest retail event?
Expectations for this Black Friday are that there will be a high level of price competition, as high as in previous years. It will be the perfect opportunity to move your brand's inventory and also to effect customer relationship efforts during the year. Logically, for the event to bring good results, it is necessary to plan from your sales strategy aiming at profit, promotions, and even the differentials that your business can offer to the client, such as multi-channel shopping options, issues related to logistics, customer service, and of course, ensure the stability of your store as well.
Searching for alternatives to increase the customer experience will be essential, even more so if the segment in which you operate has a high level of competition. So here are some tips for Black Friday 2020:
Connect your physical stores to online
If you operate in physical commerce, you are probably dealing with stock-outs in your stores, or even stock of products that are not in demand. The alternative may be to unify your stock and make it available in the online store. But remember, if there is a need to apply pricing strategy, plan well how it will be applied to not generate damage to your business. The idea is to renew stock and make your cash flow work.
Affiliate programs
One way to engage your sales team and increase the results of your commerce is to use affiliate programs, where people from your team will promote your products and receive commissions for each sale made. This is an advertising strategy that is being widely used in large retailers because it promotes more targeted sales and generates employment opportunities.
Plan your profit margins
Understand the profit marg ins that will make sense for your business. Many companies end up going along with the competition and applying competitive promotions, but which do not bring profit to the business. Being aware of your profit margin, also allows you to make promotions of the right products according to your strategy. For example, if your strategy is based on increasing the flow of customers, the ideal are promotions of already known and popular products. If your intention is to attract new customers, opting for promotions on products with high added value will attract attention.
No matter what your promotion strategy is, it must be aligned with the profit margins you want to achieve on Black Friday.
Long-term vision
The current scenario has brought new trends to the market, such as the growth in the number of people who made their first purchases at online stores and continue to view the channel with high convenience. Black Friday will be an opportunity to create a customer base and build customer loyalty in the digital channel. If your business creates a loyalty network in the online store, the trend is sure to grow for your digital channel.
Therefore, don't let the current scenario impact your business, know how to adapt it by using digital channels to leverage your sales, and the above tips to highlight your company in the market during Black Friday 2020.
