Business Tips

I don’t know about you, but heading out to the stores at 5am on the day after Thanksgiving (aka Black Friday) doesn’t seem as worthwhile now that Amazon gives us such great deals on nearly everything.  I’m not alone, consumers everywhere are utilizing the Internet for product knowledge and pricing comparisons.  If you’re in the retail business, it’s time to change your way of thinking!

Prepare for a profitable Black Friday online this year.  Here’s an example of how you can capitalize on this changing crowd of holiday bargain shoppers:

1.  We all love the idea of getting up earlier than the rest to score some great deals, so let’s start there:

• 5:00 – 6:00 AM  40% savings on select products (you may have to specify which products beforehand, but we’ll get to that.
• 6:00 – 7:00 AM 30% savings
• 7:00 – 8:00 AM 20% savings
• 8:00 – 9:00 AM 10% savings

Of course, you want to cater to some of the late sleepers too.  Have some products advertised that will be on sale all day Friday (or all weekend).

2. Next, let’s get the word out to your tech savvy shoppers.  Where do they hang out online?  Think hard about this and decide if your budget allows for online advertising.

3. Utilize social networking websites like Twitter, Facebook, Yelp… wherever you have a community.  Start a contest that the Twitterer or website which creates the most buzz about your company wins a gift or an additional discount on Black Friday.  This will be easy to track by doing a search for your company on search.twitter.com to see which users are mentioning it the most. You can also utilize Google Analytics to track which websites and blogs are driving the most traffic to your website.

4. Send out an eNewsletter to your mailing list to inform all of your current customers and clients of the big sale, and give them the

5. If it’s in your budget, your local paper is a great place to advertise too.  Try to aim for the advertisement/coupon section for those shopaholics who are gearing up for their Friday shopping frenzy.

Retailers are predicted to spend much more this year on social networking spending for the simple reason that so many of their prospective customers are utilizing these networks.  It no longer takes weeks and months to prepare for the holidays when each gift is only a click away.  Happy Holidays!