Black Friday/Cyber Monday, Are you ready?

By bonanzamark
Posted on November 10, 2011 | 11 comments

Fun fact, Black Friday will be upon us in 15 days and Cyber Monday is only 18 days from today!  In 2010, Cyber Monday sales topped over $1 billion (16% increase over 2009)!  By now most Bonanza sellers have listed available inventory and are eagerly anticipating a bump in business and sales and rightfully so.  We have prepared a quick list of some basic last minute tasks you can easily complete in a short time that will help you capture the attention of holiday shoppers:

 Offer free shipping

Consumers like free shipping.  If you can offer free shipping you should do so and you should makeit clear in your listings as well.  If you are not able to offer free shipping on all your items then perhaps you have a few items that you can feature free shipping on with an attractive price (aka loss leaders).  

 Gift wrapping available?

What a great way to get your kids involved!  If you have the ability to gift wrap your items then why not offer this as an option?  Perhaps you can also include a greeting card as an option offer to include a message for the recipient.  

 Add your phone number to your profile page

Consumers want answers instantly and that is no exception during the holidays.  Consider including a contact number (if possible) on your profile in case buyers have questions.  Make sure to take note of their questions and edit your listing to reflect the answer.  

 Add a daily shipping deadline to your listings (Batch Edit > Text editor)

If you add a cut off time for shipping each day, a buyer will know when to expect their item shipping.  For example, you can include:  "I ship out at 3pm each day, Monday through Friday."  You may want to consider an order cut off date for shipping out before Christmas ("Order by December 15th and receive by Christmas within the Continental US").

 Follow up with your buyers

Provide tracking within Bonanza and also directly to the buyer.  Follow up with a short email about their purchase.  Keep the buyer informed and anticipate any questions or concerns they may have and be proactive in addressing those concerns.

 Happy buyers are repeat buyers and are the best (and most cost effective) advertising you can have.  Lastly you should also review your payment methods to correct and anticipate any issues that may stall a buyer purchasing from you.  The above tips are in no way the final say on what you can do, they are just a few easy steps you can take to improve your chances at converting the sale.  
 

So, what kind of last minute suggestions have helped you in the past?