How to Plan for the Biggest Black Friday and Cyber Monday Ever

It's going to be a big November this year! Every year it seems that more customers and companies are partaking in the "festivities," of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, making the rarity of camping out in front of a store for doorbuster deals now almost seem like the norm. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic hitting brick and mortar retail stores hard this year, it might seem quite difficult for people to crowd around and line up for deals, let alone visit stores, leaving many retailers questioning their merchandising strategies for the year. Still, with careful planning, companies can still reap the benefits of a successful Black Friday and Cyber Monday season.

With the large unknown factor of COVID-19 this year, many retail stores are still struggling with how and when to reopen safely. Although the bigger retail giants such as Walmart have already reopened to some capacity, most customers have long accepted that they will be doing their holiday shopping online this year, leaving retail stores to adjust accordingly. If you take a look at what companies such as Amazon are doing, they seem to be adopting an earlier deals season to help lift the weight off of customers feeling the need to go to retail stores like usual. In fact, most other U.S. retail chains have already announced that they will be closed on their Thanksgiving Day, November 26, one day before Black Friday, further promoting social distancing and lessening any chances of large gatherings.

Because of COVID protocols and most stores effectively cancelling any in-person aspect of Black Friday, it could be argued that Black Friday and Cyber Monday are one long unified event this year. To guarantee the most sales success, companies should look to transition their deal plans to be available online as early as possible. With Amazon Prime Day also happening October 13-14, brands that list and sell their items through Amazon should also look to have their deals listed in that time and possibly last through Cyber Monday. Historical e-commerce data shows that online retail traffic increases a significant amount as early as a week prior to Black Friday. As the pandemic seems to be calling for an end to the mad-dash to retail for deals in replacement for online discounts that happen sooner and last longer, the usual November shopping season is seeming to be a two to three-month-long Cyber Monday and brands should take advantage of that. With the added plus of many people being online as a result of a stay at home orders, the fall deals season this year is looking to be one of the biggest ever.

Alongside putting deals up online earlier, brands should also start planning their Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales ads and social posts to go live as early as mid-October. Marketers should effectively communicate their new online sales plans and promote any deals or coupon codes. Similarly, brands should audit their online store and social profiles to account for proper stock and information regarding the sales season in order to best avoid any unwanted issues when your Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals go live. If your brand needs help marketing and transitioning to an online sales model in time for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, you can contact Kingstar, Canada's #1 Media Buying company, via our contact page.