How Marketplace Sellers Can Start Preparing for Black Friday

The DealNews Seller's Guide

Black Friday is months away, but that doesn't mean you should wait to prepare! We offer several tips for getting your business ready for this big shopping holiday.Today we’ll talk about ways Marketplace sellers can start preparing for Black Friday. How can setting milestones and optimizing product listings get your business ready for this shopping holiday?

Black Friday means increased traffic to your online store, and that can bring added stress if you haven't adequately prepared. The coronavirus pandemic is still a big concern for many consumers, too, so you can expect e-commerce to win big and possibly exceed the sales figures of brick-and-mortar entities.

That's all to say that the time to start getting ready for Black Friday is now. Let's go over some ways to begin preparing for the shopping holiday, which will help ensure your Black Friday sale goes off without a hitch.

First, start getting everything in place.

It's not enough to start planning your Black Friday advertising campaigns early. You'll also want to have everything you need in place for the actual sale. Develop a spreadsheet now with sales projections and check your inventory levels. If you don't have enough products on hand, coordinate with suppliers now to avoid shipping delays and shortages.

The second thing you'll want to do is set milestones for different tasks.

Rolling out a Black Friday sale involves several phases: planning, ad development, presale, execution, and post-sale. Ideally, you want to list out what needs to be done at each phase, including setting deadlines and delegating if necessary.

Make sure you fine-tune your tech, too.

Revamp your website now to make sure it's e-commerce-friendly and easy to view on mobile devices. Also back it up just in case your site crashes on Black Friday! And be mindful that site speed is everything — consumers likely won't stick around if your website is slow. They'll just shop with a competitor. Also, your checkout process should be seamless. Run a few test transactions to confirm everything is running smoothly, and don't forget to test out your coupon codes.

Another step to take is to optimize product and service listings for maximum exposure and likability.

Additionally, consider getting help from an SEO expert to optimize your site's visibility. A copywriter can lend a helping hand, too, if you're struggling with crafting clever product descriptions. Also, use verbiage that will get your customers to move, like "get this item while supplies last," "limited quantity only," or "X items left."

Plan to get your promotions going ahead of Black Friday, as well.

It can be tempting to wait until Black Friday itself to launch your deals. However, it pays to roll out the promotions ahead of the holiday for the early birds who want to get a head start on shopping.

Remember to make your promotions no-brainers for shoppers, too.

The idea is to have potential customers visit your site and not think twice about making a purchase because they're getting an amazing deal.

Finally, use free marketing tools.

Paid ads aren't the only way to get the word out about your Black Friday sale. Be sure to leverage social media and use email blasts to showcase deals to your followers and subscribers.

So what's the bottom line for Black Friday?

Give your business the best shot at boosting revenue this upcoming holiday season by planning ahead. Start brainstorming now for ways to create ads that convert, and don't forget to map out the logistics for the actual sale. And if it's too much to handle? Then consider hiring a professional digital marketing agency to do the work for you.

Do you want to learn more about Walmart Fulfillment Services and Fulfillment by Amazon? You can get info on WFS at marketplace.walmart.com, and FBA info is available at sell.amazon.com.

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