Black Friday has come and gone and now Cyber Monday is here. In today’s digital age, online sales are making up a constantly growing proportion of business’ sales. The convenience of shopping online coupled with the availability of deals everywhere (and the ability to compare prices in an instant!) means that consumers no longer need to stand in hour-long lines just to get a good price on their favorite items.
Whether your business involves retail sales, business-to-business (B2B), or software-as-a-service (SAAS), you should take some cues from this year’s Cyber Monday sales and give your customers (and potential clients) something that they can look forward to!
Make It Easy
Everyone likes a good deal. On Cyber Monday, millions of consumers wake up, have their morning coffee, and then hop online to find the best deals out there. If consumers go to one business’ website and can’t find the item they’re looking for, they’re not going to hang around and wait for it to show up!
Make sure that your business’ online presence is easy to navigate. If your website doesn’t have a search function, add it. If your location data (e.g. NAP) isn’t accurate and consistent across the web (yes, this includes sites like Google Maps!), fix it.
Show your customers that you appreciate their interest by making it easy on them!
Make It Fast
Nobody likes to wait, period. If your website is running slowly or isn’t optimized for mobile devices, you’re doing it wrong.
Streamline your website by reducing visual clutter, using optimized-resolution images, and making sure that you’re hosting high-bandwidth content (e.g. video) externally. Additionally, make sure to include breadcrumb navigation to facilitate users’ quick movement around the site!
Don’t bog down your visitors with form after form for them to fill out. Make sure that any contact forms or signups for mailing lists are straight to the point. You want users to enjoy your content and products, not wade through 10 minutes of forms just to get to the good stuff.
Make It Safe
This might seem like a no-brainer, but make sure that your online visitors have a safe experience.
Black Friday has always been surrounded by reports of stampeding customers trampling each other or fist fights breaking out over a cheap new TV. Don’t let your website make visitors feel like they’re being squashed!
If you’re going to use unorthodox methods to get traffic to your business, make sure you’re doing it the right way. And, while you’re at it, make sure that you’re not playing host to any malware or anything else that could infect your visitors!
Shop Til You Drop
You can build your business into your customers’ most anticipated shopping experience by treating them like you would want to be treated on Cyber Monday.
Give them a streamlined experience where they can get in, get out, and get what they want (and at a price where they feel like they’re getting a great deal!) and they’ll be sure to come back again and again.