There’s no denying the impact that the shopping holiday of Black Friday has for businesses and retail outlets around the world, by on and offline. Originally an American shopping holiday, the 23rd November event has taken the Western world by storm, and there are very few people that won’t have heard of it.
However, from a business perspective, there comes the opportunity to boost sales drastically, and the risks of ruining your business. For retailers, Black Friday presents a challenging time of year that it’s essential to get right. Otherwise, you risk ruining your business.
Below, we’re going to explore both the most common risks and opportunities your business might face, ensuring you don’t fall short and you make the most of this time of the year.
Opportunity: Increase in Sales
Of course, the Black Friday weekend tends to kick off the festive shopping season in the run-up to Christmas, which means you have a full 28 days to increase your sales. This applies to both online and brick-and-mortar businesses.
With many consumers holding out till this time of year, many customers are waiting to see what offers are available. As long as you’re providing it to them, you’ll be able to increase sales to help reach your end of year targets.
Risk: Stock Management
One of the biggest risks to running a Black Friday even is trying to make sure you’re managing your stock properly. Since items have been known to drop down by as much as 80%, these items are almost guaranteed to fly off the shelves.
However, if this means you’re selling out of products and you’ve got nothing left to sell, you’ll enter a limbo period before Christmas where you’ll have nothing to sell, which means you might not actually make any profits.
Opportunity: Boost Online Presence
The vast majority of consumers will do their shopping online, so if you’re a company that’s too reliant on your high street store, and don’t have much of a web presence, here’s your time to make a chance.
By marketing your best deals online, you can lead more and more people to your website, thus increasing your web presence now and for the future. Link this with strong social media campaigns for the best results.
Risk: Ruining Business Reputation
Whether you’re online or in-store, customers still expect an amazing experience from you. If you’re behind on orders, giving shoppers a quick ‘in-and-out’ experience, or selling out of products which people are coming in for and then having to go elsewhere instead, this is going to reflect very badly on your business and may ruin your reputation in the future.
Summary
There are plenty of things you need to think about when it comes to running a Black Friday event within your business, most of which can be covered using simple planning and a lot of organization.
Make sure you’re taking the time to prepare and ensure you’re giving your customers the best experience possible and you can be sure you’ll be running a successful operation for your business.
