As retailers enter the last quarter of the year, this season is traditionally the most profitable and busiest period, one fraught with competing sales, attention-grabbing offers as well as queues both virtual and physical for the best deals.
However, this year’s festive season and of course Black Friday poses a whole new set of challenges. With shoppers more reluctant to hit the streets and savvier than ever when it comes to parting with their cash, Black Friday 2020 will be unlike any other.
Black Friday business success
There is still a tremendous amount of potential to make a success of the festive period for both High Street stores and online shops. Preparation and communication are crucial to achieving your business goals. Sharing offers and planned sales ensure your customers know they don’t need to look elsewhere or compare before the big day arrives.
Black Friday SMS tips and tricks
Ahead of the latest evolution of the Black Friday event, we’ve put together a bundle of SMS marketing solutions to help resolve some of the top challenges retailers will be facing this season.
Spreading the word
Making sure customers know what you’ll be offering and when. Start advertising a pre-sale opt-in or member-only event with restricted numbers. Customers can use an SMS short number and keyword to opt-in to exclusive online offers or in-store showcases.
Similarly, your team can share tracked links to exclusive sales pages, enabling shoppers to act on promotions immediately.
Safety of customers and staff
For all retailers, letting customers know how you’ll be keeping them safe ahead of visiting your shop is imperative. Let shoppers know about one-way systems and the maximum number of people allowed in at a time so they can plan their day as needed.
The rise in preference for online shopping
This has been a significant challenge for the High Street for years. However, with the added challenge of health concerns of this year, retailers are exploring new ways of sharing shop displays, available stock and offers. In fact, during the lockdown, a growth of 74% in online shopping was recorded.
One example of how the High Street is adapting is the John Lewis virtual tour, sharing their seasonal displays through video. A simple SMS marketing campaign enables customers to view your PDF catalogues, video content of displays or key items in use. And, of course, let people know how they can place an order all from an SMS message.
Managing traffic
Whether you’re looking to increase footfall or drive shoppers to your website, managing the volume is a crucial aspect of a successful Black Friday. Share dedicated click and collect only time slots through SMS confirmations. You can also use tracked links to direct website visitors to specific pages to avoid crashing key pages.
For both online and High Street retailers, SMS marketing messages can help to remove the complexities of creating a successful sales season. To start your Black Friday preparations, sign up for your free Messenger account today.
If you’d like some more information on how SMS can transform the shopping experience for your customers this Black Friday, download our latest e-guide here.
