While Black Friday takes place globally, participation from both retailers and consumers has dwindled in recent years. It’s quite understandable, considering that more and more people reportedly believe that retailers inflate prices before applying discounts. And for small businesses, Black Friday is a slippery slope that may not be bring as much profits as some may think.
It’s not easy to offer a massive sale when you’re running a small business (especially if you’re trying to make ends meet). However, if you are a small business owner who would love to host a Black Friday special, but are concerned about whether it’s going to eat into your profit margins, Ikhokha’s Black Friday Cheat Sheet offers some tips to make sure that if you do take part, you’ll be smiling all the way to the bank.
1. Out with the old and in with the new
Your shelves should always be fully stocked with in-demand products and customer favourites. But sometimes, the only way to know what’s going to sell fast is by testing, which is inherently risky. And unfortunately, it doesn’t always work out, leaving you with a batch of products that just aren’t selling.
If you have stock sitting around for a while that hasn’t garnered much interest, how about putting them on special? This way, you’ll encourage customers to purchase while making way for new stock that could perhaps sell faster.
That being said, if you have limited stock available on hand, don’t forget to add a disclaimer to your marketing material informing customers that the deal is only available while stocks last.
2. Create a sense of urgency
Is there a better way to get someone to act fast than to give them a deadline? Perhaps, but this one’s probably the easiest way to go about it!
Apply the same principle to your Black Friday specials and watch customers queue up so they don’t miss out. There’s nothing worse than having your eye on a product, waiting for it to go on sale and then not getting a chance to grab it before the sale is over.
So, if you have quality products to offer, you can be sure that creating a sense of urgency by having a time limit or deadline will get people moving.
3. Spread the word
A successful Black Friday campaign would not be possible if people didn’t know what your plans are. Make sure to spread the word about your deals in advance, so potential customers can have time to prepare should they need to.
Some people might need to save up some cash or plan transport to get to your store in time, so you should always be proactive and give people time to plan their days ahead. One of the best ways to get the word out there is to make use of marketing tools like social media and even traditional methods like adverts.
4. Be strategic about the discounts you offer
The reason why most small business owners are nervous about Black Friday is that so many have reported losses instead of profits during this period. Ironically, small businesses should ideally see a boost in profits and most definitely not a loss on Black Friday.
The best way around this is to sit down, do some calculations and make sure the deals you plan on offering will still make you a profit. It all boils down to planning.
You can still have a good Black Friday, even if you only discount a handful of items. How you choose which you’d like to have on offer depends on you, but the following factors will help guide you:
- Which items do you make the most profit on? (i.e., Which can you afford to discount?)
- Which items are you struggling to sell and have been sitting for much longer than you’d like?
- Which items that are in high demand do you think will sell like hotcakes if they were discounted?
5. Drive foot traffic with an irresistible competition
If you’re worried about not having enough exposure as a small business and that your Black Friday efforts will go in vain, there’s one more thing you can consider…
No one says no to a good competition! If you’re able to put together an awesome prize that’s just too enticing for people not to act on, you can always run a competition that’ll motivate people to pay you a visit.
Bonus points if you’re able to collaborate with a couple of other small businesses in your area because then you’d be able to expose their audience to your business, too!
Remember, your small business doesn’t have to participate in Black Friday if you don’t think it’s going to be worth your while. If you’re still not convinced that Black Friday is going to help you grow your business, it’s 100% okay to sit this one out.
And if you are going full steam ahead, we’re rooting for you and hope it’s going to be a good one!
