Holiday season is just around the corner, can you smell the pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks already? Mmmm.. Retailers are all gearing up for two of the biggest shopping events of the year, Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday is when most retailers earn back their yearly profits. Also, these two sale days are perfect for people who are looking to save some money on their Christmas shopping. Here are some tips to help your business stay competitive in this very popular sale season:

Make Sure Your Site Is Mobile Friendly

People today enjoy shopping from the comfort of their home, instead of lining up outside a mall right after Thanksgiving dinner. More and more customers are shopping online and on their mobile devices today. With the most recent Singles Day Sale just passing, Alibaba reported that 90% of its sales came from mobile devices which is higher compared to 82% in 2016 and 69% in 2015. According to an article by Forbes, they have predicted that smartphone and tablet visits to retail sites will account for 54% of all visits.

As you can see purchasing through mobile is a familiar option to many shoppers today.  Because of this, a mobile friendly site will play a huge part in helping online businesses benefit the most from the Black Friday and Cyber Monday traffic.

Whether they are waiting for the train or riding in a bus, there’s plenty of reasons for them to buy stuff online.  So, with more consumers than ever before planning to make the shift towards mobile this holiday season, be sure not to ignore the mobile commerce wave! InstanteStore is already mobile commerce ready. All you have to do is ACTIVATE it. If you haven’t done so for your store, it’s pretty easy.

Here’s how:

Login to your admin, search for Mobile Commerce.  Next step: Click on Activate and your mobile store is ready to go. Simple! Anyone could do it.

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Offer Your Customers Free Shipping 

E commerce giants like Amazon are offering its customers FREE next day delivery or same-day delivery if they were to order before a certain time. They have definitely spoiled the market for other businesses. Customers today are expecting the same level of convenience from the other retailers. At the end of the day everyone loves free stuff! This will give your customers that extra push to make a purchase during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales.

Here’s how: 

• Offer your customers free delivery with no minimum purchase for the holiday sale season or an option to pay less for next day delivery as an incentive to get them to buy more.
• If you have a brick and mortar store, give your customers a click and collect option with same day pick up.

Treat The Black Friday Sales and Cyber Monday Sales Like A Product Launch

With all the hype that is created when it comes to discounts and offers during the holiday sales season, more companies all over the world are joining in every year. It is easy for customers to get lost in the shuffle.

However, if you take a different approach and treat the sale like a product launch and build excitement around it, this will definitely set you apart from your competitors.

Here’s how: 

• Send out newsletters to customers who you want to be the first to hear about the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales . Offer these special customers a head start on the discounts before everything is sold out!

Instantestore has a feature where you can customize who you want to send your emails to.

• Create excitement around the launch of your Black Friday and Cyber Monday sale with a countdown clock or calendar on your e-commerce site.
• Create a social media campaign around your Black Friday and Cyber Monday sale  and get your customers to share what they bought on their social media sites.

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Use Live Chats To Your Advantage 

Live chats are especially great during holiday sale seasons. Why? Because there are going to be customers who have never bought from you before entering your website with no clue about your your business or your products. An online chat system will provide these customers an immediate access to any help they need. It is much more convenient compared to a call center. Also, customers can multitask when waiting for a reply.

It is great to have someone online who can immediately walk them through a sale if a customer becomes confused or has a question that could potentially make or break a sale. A live chat will help eliminate shopping cart abandonment this upcoming holiday sale season.

InstanteStore has its very own free live chat software that can be downloaded and applied onto your e commerce store.

Get Started Quick: Installation

1. Download the InstanteStore free live chat software from https://www.instantestore.com/livechat_software.cfm.
2. The Microsoft .Net Framework is required for the installation. Windows Vista and Windows 7 should already have this installed. Some versions of Windows XP may require you to install this separately, though. If you have any issues installing or running the live chat software, then click here to go to Microsoft’s website to download and install it.
3. Once installed, double-click the InstanteStore Live Chat icon at the desktop, or click on ‘InstanteStore Live Chat -> InstanteStore Live Chat’ from the Programs folder to launch the live chat application.
4. The first time the live chat software launches, the LiveChat Signup page will be displayed. Just fill in the necessary details and click the SIGNUP button to register your Live Chat username.
5. Once you’ve signed up, an email containing the activation code will be sent to the email address you used to register. Copy and paste this activation code into the Activation Code field at the live chat window, then click on the ACTIVATE & LOGIN button.
6. At the Install livechat code page, copy the displayed code.

For InstanteStore Users

1. Go to your store’s administrator control panel, and go to ‘Manage Your Store -> Design/Customization -> Customize Template’.
2. Click on the Click to Edit button at either the left or right border of your store’s template, depending on where you want your live chat icon to be displayed.
3. Click on the Additional HTML tab at the following page.
4. Select the Add Extra HTML: radio button and paste the code at the appropriate text area, depending on whether you want the live chat icon to be displayed at the top or the bottom of the left/right border.
5. Click the PUBLISH CHANGES button to finalize your changes.
6. The live chat icon will now be displayed at the appropriate location on your store template. Click on the GO CHAT NOW button to start taking customer requests.

For non-InstanteStore Users

• Just paste the livechat code from Step 6 above at the appropriate location at your website.
• The live chat icon will now be displayed where you’ve placed it at your site. Click on the GO CHAT NOW button to start taking customer requests.

MORE Free Live Chat Softwares :

Tawk To 

My Live Chat

Pure Chat 

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Use All Your Marketing Resources

Retailers who invested in a marketing strategy which includes mobile, email and social media last year did 30% better compared to their competitors who didn’t take advantage of all their marketing platforms during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales.

However, its not all just about the number of channels used. It is more of how you use these channels to reach your audience. It is important to know where majority of your audience are, which platform they are using and from there pursue them. Your goal here is to consistently message your followers and remind them to buy from you this holiday sale season. According to research, it takes at least three repetitive marketing posts to capture someones’ attention.

How to: 

• Use your existing followers/audience to spread the message
• Offer your followers incentives for helping you share the messages with extra discounts or promos.
• Make sure all of your marketing channels are sharing the same message and is following a strategic flow.