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Did you know that 78% of eCommerce businesses fail within the first year of starting up? If that doesn’t come off as that big of a number, here is another thrilling statistic for you: %90 of eCommerce businesses cannot even survive their first 120 days. Let’s see what leads to their failure so early on and how it could be prevented.
Key Takeaways
- Lack of successful finance and operation management is one of the biggest reasons for a new eCommerce business’ failure.
- For success in eCommerce, have an online presence and work on your relationships with your customers.
- Be patient and let what you sow grow first. And when you finally see the results, take the necessary action.
- Businesses that went down with the Dot-Com Bubble didn’t have a solid business plan and didn’t serve a niche market.
Being one of the first things to consider while building a business, successful management is essential to keeping a business going and improving it. If a business lacks proper management, it can easily wind up in the grave of failure. Without good operation management, it is hard to predict the next steps.
Having and maintaining solid finance management is clearly a must to keep your business going. You need to know your expenses and plan according to your current situation, not projected sales.
Especially for new businesses, investments can signify and determine the fate of the business. Underinvestment and overinvestment are also possibilities that would bring it to an end.
Keep too many products, and you can end up with a bunch of unsold products that don’t interest the buyers anymore. Keep too little product, and you risk not providing them in time. Instead, ensure you keep them at a reasonable and necessary amount in a way that won’t frustrate both the buyers and you.
You always have the risk of being outcompeted by the big retailers. So instead of trying to compete with other larger retailers, find ways to stand out and make sure your products or services are unique so the customers have a reason to choose you. Doing a competitor analysis will significantly help you design your strategies and give you an idea about the opportunities and possible areas you can fill in the industry.
A poor website means no website traffic. It will put off many prospects and give unreliable vibes with its bad design and poor content. A prospect won’t trust a website that doesn’t seem to be worked on. If they feel that you collaborated with expert designers and ensured that your site is safe, it won’t lead to security questions on the prospect side. Pay attention to your content to draw traffic. Put effort into your website and build a robust digital presence. Your website will be your store, and directly will be a presentation of your brand.
Having little to no online presence is like gambling away your business. In a time when nearly half of the world’s population is on social media and even shopping on social platforms, limiting your growth opportunities would be a mistake. Expand your content to social media and have ongoing communication with your customers. Answer their questions and demands. Show that you care about their experience: Don’t ignore their reactions and take their feedback and suggestions into consideration.
When you start searching for tips to keep your eCommerce business going well and profitable, you will see a good deal of advice regarding finance, marketing, website design, or the products you sell, as we covered just now. But a more common reason underlies this high rate of failure. It relates to our more human and primitive side rather than analytical: greed and impatience. These are not the only reasons, but what leads to many problems in the first place. Be patient and let what you sow grow first. And when you finally see the results, take the necessary action.
Alikolo, an eCommerce marketplace, was initially offering shipping promotions, and their sales started to decrease once the promotion stopped. The founder lacked the experience required for designing and operating, and as a team, they lacked experience. Furthermore, they lacked a business plan and unique service. So, their presence didn’t make much difference in the marketplace. The other significant mistake they made was that they offered a great stake to speculators, which left the founder as a minority investor and his involvement limited. Therefore, they lost the trust of other speculators and made it hardly possible for new investments.
Although Nox, a nightlife app, had the passion and put effort into their content and creating a web of connections, they could not survive after their first year. They aimed to increase engagement through newsletters and games on their social pages, but they lacked experience and failed to assess the people they employed. They had financial discipline issues, and their burn rate got out of hand. And the big old competition was another reason that led to their failure.
To understand what the Dot-Com Bubble is, we must first look at the factors that created that bubble.
When the Internet was gradually increasing its popularity in the mid-90s, new tech companies emerged and aimed to have their share of that novelty. Excited by this new concept, venture capitalists saw that as an opportunity and gladly invested in those companies. As for the entrepreneurs, low interest rates during the time spurred their enthusiasm further, and they plunged into getting into tech. However, most of those companies didn’t establish a thorough business plan, and with the rising interest rates, those companies eventually failed.
The burst resulted in great success and profitability for many companies that managed to survive it. What differentiated them from the ones that went down with the Bubble was their sound business plans and good management strategies. We must also add that they were clear in their message, targeted a niche market, and served it well.
Some businesses started as online retailers, and some conventional ones took their business online, seeing its potential regarding profitability.
Even if you fail, you can always make a fresh start: Learn from past mistakes of your own and others’, and prepare to overcome possible difficulties better than ever.
As a successful growth platform that continuously helps other start-ups or big players in the game to grow even bigger, we know how to strengthen your platform. Segmentify is here to help you on your way to growth and offer success as a service.
I’ve lost count of how many times I have started a Chloe Ting challenge from the beginning without ever seeing it through until the very end. This, however, cannot stop me and others like me from being into sports fashion. This growing interest in physical and mental well-being is one of the biggest reasons behind the sporting goods market’s growth. We’ve prepared a 4-article itinerary to make a situation assessment of the market, examine its challenges and share our winning strategies to overcome these said challenges.
Key Takeaways
- The global sporting goods market is expected to grow to €365 billion by 2025, according to McKinsey.
- In the 2020-2021 period, the driving force behind the sporting goods industry was the consecutive lockdowns.
- As of 2022, the sporting goods industry is mainly driven by the growing interest in healthcare and wellness.
- One of the biggest challenges for sports retailers is the lack of one-to-one communication between the brands and customers. Customers often feel lost due to a lack of personal assistance from the store.
I know we’re sick of talking about COVID-19 and would like to stop mentioning its name while discussing non-medical topics. Trust me, I feel the same. However, COVID-19 really did change the sports fashion industry significantly. So, bear with me.
In March 2020, UK retail experienced a never-seen-before decrease in sales by 5.1%. Food and alcohol shopping increased significantly, while clothing sales dropped by 34%. The retailers were shocked; however, in hindsight, this is predictable behaviour in the face of an unexpected crisis.
In the face of lockdowns, sports equipment, athleisure and activewear performed particularly well. And now, the sports fashion and goods industry is experiencing the effects of increased health awareness, wellness and rising sustainability concerns, as reported by McKinsey. In fact, the global sporting goods market is expected to grow to €365 billion by 2025.
In this 4-article series, we’ll discuss strategies to overcome these challenges and what results can be expected based on Segmentify’s own data.
Sports retailers have vast product catalogues, which might greatly hinder the customer’s journey if you’re not careful. Customers don’t like to scroll endlessly through your product pages. They want that tennis skirt and they want it now.
Who should the customer buy from? A monobrand, a marketplace or a marketplace only for sports retailers? Why should they prefer you? Increasing customer loyalty and customer lifetime value (CLV) is a big challenge in the face of rising competition.
Sometimes, the customers know exactly what they want. Other times, they only have a vague idea of what they want. For example, someone who’s been playing tennis for 10 years would probably know what kind of racket they should buy. But another person who just signed up for a tennis course? They probably have no idea what they’re doing. This is coming from someone who’s been there; it’s not nice to feel that lost. Wish there was a way for the online store to communicate on a one-to-one basis with me.
The community aspect of a brand-customer relationship is often overlooked. Neglecting this causes the customers to not necessarily feel the need to take action, resulting in high bounce rates and low conversion rates. Why should they buy that pair of sneakers and why should they buy it now? Where’s the urgency? And perhaps, more importantly, how do you create urgency?
Upon examining the challenges, it is clear that the focus should be on strategies that will:
Over the course of the following 3 parts in this series, we will be delving into the winning strategies for the:
The increasing interest in healthcare and wellness is now the driving force behind the sporting goods industry. Obviously, this ever-growing industry is not without its challenges. Throughout this 4-article series, we’ll discuss different strategies for sports retailers to implement to overcome the challenges mentioned in this article. Next article in the series is A Case of Sporting Goods Part II: Winning Strategies for the Homepage & Search.
Product pages are essential for your eCommerce website since that is where the sales happen. It is an excellent place for visitors to build trust and decide on buying the product. Here are 6 fantastic examples and 10 great tips for your electronics eCommerce website to check out and implement!
According to a recent eMarketer analysis, The Future of Retail 2020, eCommerce will expand to an $845 billion industry by 2022. Whilst eCommerce is proliferating; mobile commerce is also beginning to rise and leave desktop shopping behind. According to Forbes, mobile commerce will increase to 68% as people use their phones to shop by 2022.
On the other hand, the market for consumer electronics is predicted to surpass $365 billion in 2020 and $450 billion by 2024. Many people believe that electronics are essential; however, consumer behaviour is shifting about how and who purchases devices. This presents a particular set of difficulties for websites that sell consumer electronics.
Key Takeaways
- In addition to the homepage, product pages have equal importance since direct sales come from these pages.
- Good product pages allow users to browse the website for extended periods and eventually make faster, less hesitant purchases.
- Websites should keep it simple with high-quality images and videos and compelling product descriptions highlighting their unique selling points. They should use social proof, offer multiple payment options, include product recommendations, make it mobile-friendly, use A/B testing and monitor analytics.
- Customers should be able to browse products, see relevant suggestions, add items to shopping carts, and then complete purchases in a smooth process with a high-quality product page.
For many websites, the homepage is the most crucial page that makes the visitor’s first impression. On the other hand, for eCommerce websites, in addition to the homepage, product pages have equal importance since direct sales come from these pages.
Product pages include visuals and written information regarding the product, information on shipping and payment, and other relevant information. Depending on the execution, these pages can increase or decrease online sales.
Conversion rates are greatly increased, and cart abandonment is significantly decreased with the help of an excellent eCommerce product page. Customers should be able to browse your products, see relevant suggestions, add items to their shopping carts, and then complete their purchases.
A powerful product page also reduces the number of visitors who arrive at your website and leave without viewing any other pages. Successfully implemented product pages allow users to browse the website for extended periods, explore different sites, and eventually make faster, less hesitant purchases.
Apple is known for its website’s elegant and straightforward design. As seen in the picture, the product’s visuals cover more than half of the screen. On the right-hand side, Apple provides the visitor with simple questions and several options they can pick from.
Sony’s PlayStation 4’s product page is carefully designed to inform the visitor about all the necessary features and information about the product. Compared to the iPhone’s product page, PS4 includes more product pictures and descriptions. Out-of-stock information is also added for the visitor to be aware of the stock information.
When we look at Samsung Galaxy S22’s product page, we see that they have covered every single detail about the product. The product page is relatively long, so the visitor must scroll down to learn more. However, since they have used many visuals, the visitor wants to scroll through to see more.
As seen in the picture, Samsung provides its visitors with many visuals and offers them a 360-degree view of the product as well.
GoPro has a product page that includes the visuals of the product and the pictures taken from the product as well. On the right side, it has included information about price, shipping, payment and product benefits. In addition, they have also added a rating section where previous buyers rated the product.
Microsoft has a relatively different product page design than the previous companies’ pages. The Xbox One S page has significantly less written content compared to other electronic products. The page is straightforward and asks visitors to choose from the options and get the most relevant product for themselves.
The Beats website is different from other electronic eCommerce websites. The Beats website includes all content, visuals and information about the products. However, the purchasing is done through the Apple website. Therefore, the product page is more of an informative page rather than a selling page.
The keyword for the best product page is “simplicity”. The more basic design and the least amount of words explaining the most information are essential for the visitor to stay on the product page.
Written, visual and video content are important and necessary to describe and view the product. However, it is crucial not to overbear the visitor with much of this. Keeping the page on the same colour scheme, using easily readable writing fonts and adding the essential content on top would make a product page more appealing.
The most appealing images and videos are those that faithfully depict the product. Give the product a thorough overview with images taken from various perspectives, just like a customer could in a physical store. Additionally, websites can have some product demo images or videos to show the product in action.
Usually, electronics eCommerce stores do not include product videos since their products are pretty straightforward; however, depending on the product, it might be necessary to have a short video or gif showing the product in 360-degree vision.
Customers increasingly demand to know how and where the things they buy are made and supplied, in addition to basic information like product purpose, materials, ingredients, and sizing. Depending on your niche and brand, creative copywriting or narrative can considerably improve descriptions. eCommerce websites should not copy and paste content from other websites; doing so will result in your website being penalised by search engines. We always encourage eCommerce websites to include original content.
A single statement summarising what makes your business unique and valuable to your target market is known as a Unique Selling Proposition. It is a brief justification of why a consumer ought to choose you over one of your rivals.
We believe it is vital to highlight the uniqueness of your product on this page. Try to answer the following questions as
Customer trust in the legitimacy of your brand is increased by social proof. Before making a purchase choice, more than half of internet shoppers read at least four product evaluations, and an astounding 92% of customers are more likely to believe non-paid recommendations than any other form of advertising. Customers give importance to honest and trustworthy reviews.
eCommerce websites can include a rating and a review section for their visitors to view to decrease the time customers can check out a separate review website.
Another thing the visitor checks on the product page is shipping and payment information. Though this might not seem as important as the product information, it is crucial in decision-making. Offering multiple payment options will increase the chances of the visitor buying the product and trust on this online shopping experience.
Depending on the brand’s positioning, we recommend including 3-5 payment options for the visitor to pick.
Upselling and cross-selling are successful strategies for raising the average order value (AOV) for the eCommerce website. Cross-selling suggests products that are similar or complementary to those your prospect is looking at. Upselling suggests a relevant item that costs just a little bit more than the one they’re already considering, occasionally with a unique discount offer. These strategies promote higher overall purchase amounts while upholding increased consumer happiness.
Whilst running an eCommerce company, you might frequently modify your store. Finding the ideal mix and creating mobile product pages that convert is crucial. In 2021, mobile devices accounted for 58% of all web visits. In 2020, 64% of all online traffic will be on mobile devices.
eCommerce websites should recognise the importance of mobile devices in sales. eCommerce stores should make two separate and easy-to-use designs: desktop and mobile. Depending on the necessity, a mobile application can also be developed.
The best way to analyse whether your product marketing strategy works is to do A/B tests with your visitors. A/B testing enables you to test a variation or component of your page that might influence your users’ behaviour.
By using A/B testing, eCommerce websites can find out if adding more in-depth product information higher on the page would impact the add-to-cart rate. Or you can experiment with different product names, pictures, or stock status messages.
There is no right or wrong way to prepare your website; analysing your data and outcomes is a great way to see what’s working and what’s not. Using the results from your A/B tests, bounce and conversion rates, you can see what design and content work best for your website.
We believe that having daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly analysis reports will help eCommerce websites further understand the habits of your visitors.
Consequently, product pages are critical in a customer’s decision-making process for an electronics eCommerce website. Preparing the most relevant product pages for your brand personality and customers is essential to increase brand identification and conversion rates.
As previously mentioned, keeping a simple design is necessary to decrease the eye strain of your website visitors. Furthermore, it is essential to include all relevant information about the product, including pictures and videos. This will lead to the visitors trusting your website and encourage them to purchase your products. Finally, if that product is not what your visitor is precisely looking for, you should have a product recommendation section to recommend other relevant products to the original product. This way, you will be able to keep the visitor on your website and help them with their buying decision.
Spot-on recommendations hold great significance for growth. From boosting your revenue to improving your conversion rate, bundling grants you a wide range of benefits you don’t want to miss.
Key Takeaways
- Bundles help optimise customer journey and increase conversion rate by making spot-on recommendations.
- Bundling is an opportunity to get rid of dead or excess stock.
- Keep offering bundles after the check-out process.
- Segmentify Analytics provides real-time insights into your website, which can be used to create new campaigns, extend successful ones, and modify or stop a campaign before it ends.
The dictionary definition of a bundle is a group of things tied or wrapped together. Product bundles refer to the sets of relatable products offered in your store, and there are a couple of ways to create them.
Bundling products is an efficient way to make recommendations. But which kind suits your store the best? Dynamic bundles enable you to sell a product package containing multiple products, sellable items, or variants. They are two-sided and customisable as opposed to static bundles. That means you can create bundles that you think will work best for you.
Bundles act like a sales representative that would help you in a brick-and-mortar store, creating a convenient and stress-free shopping experience for the customer. Personalised recommendations save the customer the trouble of scrolling endlessly through long product pages. That way, the customer doesn’t feel lost and the risk of friction is decreased.
Preventing a long searching phase, bundles save a lot of time for the customer. Instead of struggling to find a product they might relate to in the everlasting product listing pages, they see personalised recommendations in the same place at the same time in the form of bundles.
Product bundle offerings should be reasonable not only in terms of features but also of prices. When it works well, it saves money for the customer and increases your customer’s trust in your brand.
When you optimise the customer experience (CX), you should know that you went a long way regarding customer satisfaction. A satisfied customer is the backbone of customer engagement and a strong relationship between them and your business.
Bundles naturally boost your revenue and AOV with every additional product your customers add to the basket.
We already mentioned bundles are great contributors to customer satisfaction. When a customer leaves your store satisfied, the chances are they will come back for a second purchase, hence a better conversion rate and higher customer retention.
There is no better way to implement cross-selling and upselling strategies than with bundles. Bundles can bring you wonders when combined with these two most beneficial strategies to boost AOV and revenue.
Bundles bring more sales than offering products separately and help maximise the ROI of undersold inventory. You can get rid of dead or excess stock by customising bundles and increasing the visibility of these products. As a result, it reduces marginal costs and helps you conduct quality improvements.
Consumer Electronics regularly uses dynamic bundles as part of its sales strategy. When it’s done right, upselling can dramatically improve your bottom line by increasing the size and profitability of each sale.
Kiehl’s offers the buyer the entire routine when they’ve added a single product from a specific skincare set. This way, customers know what their skincare routine is supposed to be like, as if they were in the store discussing things at length with a sales representative.
Sephora also offers their buyers suitable brushes when they want to buy a concealer or foundation.
Fashion companies generally use “Shop the Look” or “Complete the Look” campaigns to assist their customers and make it easier for them to build an outfit.
IKEA suggests a desk pad and desk lamp for a customer who wants to buy an office desk. They are easy to bundle, and as you can see, the desk works well with them.
Bundles are also frequently used for in-game purchases.
Camping sets are also helpful for those who want to go camping for the first time but don’t know what to buy.
Bundling allows retailers to create multiple listings for Amazon’s catalogue without launching new products. Thanks to the dynamic bundle, the number of items offered in a bundle ranges from two to five.
You can manually choose the products you want to be shown or what relation the recommendations will have to have to the initial product. The recommended product can be an alternative or a complementary one from the same or a different category.
Don’t leave your bundles as they are and wait for the outcome. Keep an eye on purchase patterns and be willing to make changes according to your analysis.
Segmentify Analytics provides real-time insights into your website and the performance of each product, category, brand, and campaign, including the total number of views and purchases as well as the added-to-cart rate. This information can be used to create new campaigns, extend successful ones, and modify or stop a campaign before it expires.
A/B Testing allows you to avoid spending time and money by testing which campaign model works best and is worth keeping when you cannot decide on a specific campaign model. To learn more about Segmentify Analytics and A/B testing, and see how they suit your business, get in touch with us so we can discuss it.
Bundling isn’t bound to be just on the product or basket pages. You can keep making recommendations even after the check-out process, either on the Thank You page or via email. Moreover, you can showcase a bundle related to the customer’s last purchase the next time they visit your store.
Dynamic Bundles are incredible for providing good customer journey optimisation through making spot-on recommendations which, in turn, increase your revenue, conversion rate, and AOV. When shopping online, finding what we want isn’t easy without a successful recommendation system. Thanks to dynamic bundles, online shopping has become easier and more fun for the customer and more profitable for the business.
Black Friday month is the biggest sales event in the year for both shops and shoppers. Black Friday is a big shopping day since stores offer attractive promotions and high discounts. Although it originated in the US, it is now popular worldwide.
Key Takeaways
- This year’s Black Friday will be on Friday, November 25th, and Cyber Monday will be three days later, on Monday, November 28th.
- The unofficial Black Friday month sales events start right after Halloween, on 1 November 2022 and will end on 24 December 2022. Giving consumers a two month period to shop for their necessities.
- Today, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are still iconic occasions that significantly impact both consumers and businesses. However, they are currently considered more of an “extended shopping season”.
- As of 2022, the Black Friday phenomenon is not as exciting as it used to be in the last decade. Shoppers are more used to Black Friday deals and promotions, and there aren’t as many queues in front of shops anymore.
- Consumers will be more prepared for the shopping season. Consumers now control Black Friday sales events more than in the past.
Shopping Season Calendar November 2022
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
Beginning of Black Friday Month | ||||||
7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
Thanksgiving Day | Black Friday | Small Business Saturday | ||||
28 | 29 | 30 | ||||
Cyber Monday | Giving Tuesday |
Shopping Season Calendar December 2022
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
Beginning of Christmas Season | ||||||
5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
Christmas Eve | Christmas Day | |||||
26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | |
New Years Eve |
31 October 2022, Monday: Halloween
The month of October ends with Halloween celebrations. With the end of October, a new month, “Shopping Month of November”, starts. Consumers move away from the spooky season and Halloween spirit and get into the shopping spirit for the holiday season.
1 November 2022, Tuesday: Beginning of Black Friday Month
At the beginning of November, consumers start shopping for both themselves and others, including Christmas shopping. Accordingly, many eCommerce stores start their discounts at the beginning of November to give consumers more time to shop.
24 November 2022, Thursday: Thanksgiving
The fourth Thursday of November is Thanksgiving Day in the United States. The day’s significance is that Americans celebrate the harvest and other blessings of the previous year. As a result, consumers tend not to shop on this day but celebrate it with their friends and family and host dinner parties.
25 November 2022, Friday: Black Friday
Black Friday is the fourth Friday of November and is considered the year’s biggest shopping day. Therefore, many eCommerce businesses market their discounts for consumers, and consumers tend to do the shopping for the sake of Black Friday.
Buy Nothing Day: This is an international protest against consumerism and over-consumerism. It is held on the same day as Black Friday and aims to decrease unnecessary spending, especially during Black Friday and Christmas.
26 November 2022, Saturday: Small Business Saturday
Small Business Saturday, which began on 27 November 2010 in the US, is a counter-cyclical to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which showcase big-box retailers and eCommerce companies, respectively. Small Business Saturday, on the other hand, encourages Christmas shoppers to support small, locally-owned businesses.
Cyber Weekend is the weekend between Black Friday and Cyber Monday is the continuation of the shopping season’s discounts.
27 November 2022, Sunday
Cyber Weekend continues on the Sunday between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Since it is a weekend, shoppers have more time to shop. Additionally, the discounts and promotions are still on this date.
28 November 2022, Monday: Cyber Monday
Initially, Cyber Monday was a day for eCommerce businesses to promote discounts for their customers. While Black Friday was for brick-and-mortar stores, Cyber Monday was for online retailers. However, at the moment, Cyber Monday is one of the most important shopping days for both sellers and buyers. New discounts are presented to consumers on this day to encourage shopping.
29 November 2022, Tuesday: Giving Tuesday
Giving Tuesday encourages people to participate in activism in helping their communities. After spending high amounts of money on products for themselves and their families, this day promotes donating to organisations to help others.
1 December 2022, Thursday: Beginning of the Christmas Season
The end of November and the beginning of December marks the beginning of the holiday season. Communities that celebrate Christmas, or even those that do not, start decorating their homes and environments. The beginning of the Christmas season also means that people start planning their Christmases and buying presents for their friends and families.
24 December 2022, Saturday: Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve is considered to be the final day of the shopping season. Most people are already done with their Christmas shopping in mid-December, but for people leaving it to the last minute, shops keep their Christmas-related products on their shelves.
25 December 2022, Sunday: Christmas
Overall, the two months of shopping is primarily because of Christmas. Christmas is celebrated differently in different countries and cultures. However, the mutual point is that it encourages spending and buying gifts. Christmas Day tends to be less intense for stores.
31 December 2022, Saturday: New Year’s Eve
New years have higher importance for communities that do not celebrate Christmas, and people tend to exchange presents on this date. This day is considered the unofficial end of the shopping season. And with the start of the new year, shops and eCommerce stores shift their marketing strategies according to the new year trends.
The term Black Friday was used after a stock market crash on September 24 1869. On that day, many investors went bankrupt as gold prices hit bottom after an extreme increase created by speculators. Later, other stock market crashes were referred to as black days.
Black Friday, referring to the day after Thanksgiving, was first used in a journal in November 1951 and 1952, informing that workers did not appear at work due to illness to have a four-day weekend. Around the same time, the Philadelphia and Rochester police started to use this term to describe the traffic jam due to the start of the Christmas shopping season.
Since 1952, the day following Thanksgiving has been considered the start of the Christmas shopping season in the United States. The practice may have something to do with Santa Claus parades. Department shops sponsored several Santa or Thanksgiving Day parades in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Department retailers would use the parades to begin major advertising campaigns.
It eventually became an unwritten rule that no business would attempt to advertise Christmas until the procession was done. As a result, the day following Thanksgiving became the official start of the holiday shopping season.
In the 1930s, the link between Thanksgiving Day and Christmas shopping sparked debate. Retailers would have preferred an extended shopping season, but no business wanted to be the one to break with tradition and begin advertising before Thanksgiving.
To extend the Christmas shopping season, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued a presidential proclamation in 1939 declaring Thanksgiving to be held on the fourth Thursday of November rather than the final Thursday, a week earlier in certain years. The majority of people accepted the President’s decision, which was later confirmed by a congressional act, although many others remained to celebrate Thanksgiving Day on the customary date. As a result, some people began calling the new date Franksgiving.
For years, stores have pushed Black Friday opening times earlier and earlier, finally nearing midnight, before starting on Thanksgiving evening. For example, Kmart opened at 7 p.m. on Thanksgiving in 2009 to escape Black Friday traffic and be home in time for Thanksgiving dinner with their family. As a result, the media coined the phrases Black Thursday, Grey Thursday, and Brown Thursday when more stores followed the trend.
Black Friday deals have traditionally lasted into the weekend following the holiday. However, this practice has virtually vanished in recent years, possibly due to merchants’ efforts to generate a stronger feeling of urgency.
The term was coined by Ellen Davis of the National Retail Federation and Scott Silverman. It first appeared in a Shop.org press release on 28 November 2005, titled “Cyber Monday’ Quickly Becoming One of the Year’s Biggest Online Shopping Days” Retailers developed it to entice people to shop online. According to retailers, many consumers who were too busy or did not find what they searched for over the Thanksgiving holiday looked for bargains online from home or work on Monday.
The term “Cyber Week” was first mentioned in a Forbes Entrepreneurs article on 3 December 2013. It stated, “In the spirit of not freezing up or crashing down when the hoards of online shoppers come calling this Cyber Week.”
From the fourth Thursday, “Thanksgiving”, to the following Monday, “Cyber Monday”, retailers consider the five-day shopping weekend as Cyber Week.
The day Black Friday used to signal the start of the shopping season, and Christmas Eve used to be the end of it. However, this shopping calendar is becoming obsolete as merchants often start their campaigns earlier in November – sometimes as early as the end of October.
Today, Black Monday and Cyber Monday are still iconic occasions that significantly impact both consumers and businesses. However, they are currently considered more of an “extended shopping season”.
The reaction to shopper behaviour is to start sales earlier in November. As early holiday shopping increased, retailers changed their sale schedules. According to polls performed by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics in 2019, 56% of buyers began buying holiday gifts around the first week of November, up from 48% in 2009.
For the entire month of November, retailers had to arrange their sales to keep customers’ attention deliberately. Instead of giving storewide blanket offers throughout the month, some shops promote deals on certain product categories over specified days or weeks.
Even though Cyber Monday was created to promote online shopping, in the last few years, eCommerce shops’ sales are spread throughout November. This is because consumers are transiting into buying online and going less to physical stores. As a result, the term Cyber Black Friday is used for the online version of Black Friday.
eCoupons.com coined the term in 2009 after seeing online shops begin their holiday deals before Cyber Monday to compete with the Black Friday brick-and-mortar stores.
Europe has experienced significant growth in online sales on Black Friday in recent years, as expected due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the pandemic also led to a change in customer preferences. Previously, Black Friday was marketed towards consumers buying products they wanted at a discount. Though, in the present, consumers have become more careful with their spending and tend to purchase products they need, not necessarily what they want.
In earlier years, Black Friday sales were made mainly by fashion companies. Companies discounted their previous season’s clothing items that were not sold during the season. This trend is still ongoing; fashion retailers offer discounts on their non-sold items.
A thing to consider is that the fashion industry has transitioned online long before many other industries. Therefore, consumers in this category are more used to online shopping, so eCommerce stores emphasise their websites, digital marketing and social media strategies.
Monday before Black Friday compared to the event’s day in 2021, there was an 89.43% increase in online traffic in fashion eCommerce websites. Hence, this suggests that Black Friday has the most significant impact on the fashion industry regarding the influx of online shoppers.
Cyber Monday was initially used to promote online shopping. However, since online shopping grew rapidly and the whole month of November is now a big shopping event, consumer electronics retailers used this phrase to promote their electronic products. According to research by PWC, the electronics industry had the highest percentage of share in the 2021 Black Friday sales.
September and October – the beginning of Autumn- are the months when tech giants Apple, Samsung, and Huawei launch their new products. The following month, November, is called the Black Friday month. Therefore, putting high discounts on their recently launched products does not happen. However, some other electronics sellers, such as Best Buy and Amazon, may put a fraction of discounts on the recently launched products.
Moreover, electronics stores tend to put higher discounts on their old products to make older products more attractive to consumers and get rid of excess inventory. However, since these products are electronic devices, deals and promotions are not as high as in the fashion industry.
The shopping season is meant initially shopping for Christmas presents and treats. PWC’s research shows that most industries experienced a decrease in Black Friday sales in 2020 compared to 2019. COVID-19 had a significant impact on this occurrence. However, as of 2021, the sales rates have been growing back.
Firstly, most countries closed physical stores; therefore, the revenue from offline shopping declined dramatically worldwide. Secondly, COVID-19 also led to a mini economic recession; consumers lost their jobs or earned less compared to last year. This made consumers more attentive to buying new products during the holiday season.
However, one thing that COVID-19 did not change was Christmas. People continued celebrating Christmas and buying presents for their friends and family. So, instead of buying products that consumers wanted, consumers did the minimum but necessary shopping for Christmas presents.
The Christmas stocking fillers and treats sales increased from 28% to 31% on Black Friday 2020. This shows that consumers tend to cut on their personal spendings in economic downfall times, but not necessarily on presents to others.
This year’s Black Friday will be on Friday, November 25th, and Cyber Monday will be three days later, on Monday, November 28th.
As of 2022, the Black Friday phenomenon is not as exciting as it used to be in the last decade for brick-and-mortar stores. Shoppers are more used to Black Friday deals and promotions, and there aren’t as many queues in front of shops anymore.
The most obvious prediction for 2022 Black Friday is that, with COVID-19 aftermath still ongoing, online shopping will continue to increase, and shoppers will buy more products online than offline. Both world giants and small businesses have been preparing for Black Friday since the summer and aim to get the most out of Black Friday 2022. As a result, retailers are putting more stress on their websites and online campaigns. Offline campaigns will probably be similar to online campaigns, or fewer campaigns offline.
As for the consumer perspective, since Black Friday and huge sales events aren’t as exciting or different anymore, consumers will be more prepared for the shopping season. Consumers now control Black Friday sales events more than in the past.
According to research from Conlumino, 75% of consumers would rarely buy certain products at full price, and 62% say they wait to buy until a product is on offer or discounted. Therefore, when stores do not discount certain products on Black Friday or just put small deals, consumers will not rush to buy the product but wait for the price to decrease enough for their budget.
The unofficial Black Friday month sales events start right after Halloween, on 1 November 2022 and will end on 24 December 2022. Therefore, consumers start to plan their budget and shop over the next two months. Nearly all eCommerce and brick-and-mortar stores will have discounts and promotions during this period. Therefore, there is no need to rush.
On the other hand, eCommerce stores will do their best to provide their customers with the best website and shopping experiences for higher return rates. Retailers will work to offer better customer experiences, which include decreasing the landing page’s loading speed, preparing eye-catching landing pages and using personalisation and segmentation tools.
Check out this detailed Black Friday Cyber Monday Digital Marketing Guide for eCommerce stores. It is a must-read for both big and small eCommerce owners to enhance their sales on Black Friday and get recognised by consumers. Segmentify offers the smartest personalisation and segmentation solutions using Artificial Intelligence on the market for eCommerce businesses to provide the best shopping experience to their customers and significantly increase their Black Friday Cyber Monday sales.
In eCommerce, the relationship between brands and customers shouldn’t end with a sale. In fact, if you are implementing forward-thinking practices in your business, the first sale will be the beginning of a long and prosperous relationship. To do so, you need to understand customer lifetime value and take action accordingly.
Key Takeaways
- Customer satisfaction is key to a good customer lifetime value. Work on optimising customer experience.
- CLV is an asset that will enlighten you about the success of your current business decisions and clear the way for better ones you’ll make in the future.
- CLV is correlated with several other metrics; hence it’s a comprehensive metric which gives you an in-depth analysis of your business.
It is essential to know what each customer is worth to your business and understand the success rate of your current strategies. Customer Lifetime Value is a metric that grants you that knowledge and shows the amount of value a customer is expected to bring to your business over time.
CLV is a great asset and key to making financial forecasts and addressing any budget concerns. It gives you insight into many areas of your business and provides the knowledge to be projected onto your future business decisions.
To increase your CLV, you must first ensure that your customers leave your eCommerce store satisfied and are inclined to repeat the purchase. Show your customers that you care about their journey, from when they visit your store until after the check-out. Implement effective ways to remind them of your store and build a strong relationship with them.
A good CLV depends on the frequency of purchases made, and the amount of revenue generated, by the customers. When a customer repeats their purchase within a reasonable period of time, that means they are retained. And the higher the retention rate, the better your CLV is. So, improving your retention rate should be the first thing to consider on your way to a good CLV.
Having retained customers doesn’t mean that they will always keep coming to you. Turning your customers into loyal promoters will increase your CLV for good. By providing excellent customer service, you’ll develop a relationship with your customers and make them feel involved in your business.
Customers will feel connected to your business when they know they can always contact you regarding any aspect of their shopping journey, and see that their opinions and concerns are recognised. Get back in touch with them as soon as possible when they reach out to you and ensure they are satisfied with the service.
A strong online presence is the key to building and improving customer relationships. Social platforms are great ways to engage with current customers, raise your game, and attract larger audiences.
Reward your customers’ loyalty and show them that you appreciate their effort and the revenue they bring to your business.
Oh, don’t forget to take note of their feedback and use them in your favour to carry your business to an even better point.
Average Order Value is another metric that affects CLV to a great extent. Offer relevant products to customers’ initial purchases using upselling and cross-selling strategies. This will not only impact your AOV and, in turn, CLV but also provide an enjoyable shopping experience for the customer through personalised offerings that will meet the customers’ needs, making them come back to you.
Bundles on the listing and the basket pages, special discounts, and coupons are great ways to motivate customers to purchase more. Reach out to your customers via email and pop-ups to keep your offerings going even after the purchase is complete.
All these can be performed through a good personalisation process. With our personalisation tools and Segmentify Analytics dashboard, serve your customers in the best way possible, analyse the success of your strategies and utilise those information for your benefit.
There are different ways to calculate CLV, but before we reveal them, there are several metrics you need to acknowledge and calculate first.
APV, also known as average order value, is the average value of each purchase your customers make. It is calculated by dividing your business’ total revenue in a specific time period by the number of purchases made during that period.
APFR is the number of times a customer makes a purchase from your business during a period of time. You can calculate it by dividing the total number of purchases made during a certain time period by the total number of customers who made purchases throughout that period.
Average customer value is the average amount of revenue a customer brings to your business in a certain period. Remember that it’s not the same as CLV.
To calculate ACV, multiply the average purchase value by the average purchase frequency rate. You can also calculate customer value by subtracting total customer costs from the total revenue, and you’ll find the total customer value.
Before calculating CLV, you must consider how long a customer will keep purchasing from you. After that, you’re ready to calculate the average customer lifespan. To find ACL, divide the sum of customer lifespans by the number of customers.
Customer retention rate shows the percentage of customers who remained as a business’ customers within a certain period. To calculate CRR, you need to subtract the number of customers that stood by you at the end of a given period from the number of customers you had at the beginning.
One of the simple ways to calculate CLV is by multiplying customer value by average customer lifespan. Another way is to multiply the annual profit a customer generates by the number of years they remain a customer of the business. Then you need to subtract the acquisition cost from the result. And voila! You have your CLV.
Marketing and acquisition costs are calculated by dividing any expenses made for acquisition and marketing by the number of new customers generated in that period. This will give you an insight into the success rate of the marketing and acquisition strategies you have implemented. Considering the result you get from that formula, you can make stronger and more beneficial marketing decisions.
When you know how much acquiring and retaining a customer costs you, it is easier and more effective to evaluate how successful your marketing strategies are and whether you should lower your acquisition costs.
If your CLV doesn’t seem inspiring, you can consider improving your product roadmap and making decisions that align with your product goals.
Your CLV not aligning with your goals might mean your customers aren’t satisfied enough. Conduct a thorough analysis of the issue and optimise customer experience to improve your business’s retention rate.
Customer Lifetime Value gives you insight into many areas of your business that might need improvements and changes. It also brings along information about other various metrics to help you both evaluate your current business strategies while also helping you shape future ones.
You can improve your CLV by optimising customer experience by implementing strategies such as upselling and cross-selling, establishing ways to build strong relationships with them. Overall, if you pay attention, it will tell you a lot about your business.
Wouldn’t it be great to segment your audience into smaller audiences based on shared attributes, behaviours and demographics and offer them more relevant and on-the-point recommendations? Let’s get on with the Dynamic Segmentation and Persona Quiz and learn how to get to know your customers better and personalise their experiences.
Key Takeaways
- Dynamic Segmentation is used to segment shoppers according to their interests.
- Persona Quiz prepares easy-to-understand quizzes for visitors and places them in the appropriate dynamic portions.
- With Dynamic Segmentation, eCommerce stores can develop fresh campaigns, ideas, and improved messaging to test out on their customers.
- Dynamic segments are formed and updated in real time and are not restricted by category, brand, or product.
- The benefits of Persona Quiz include building trust, higher conversion rates, establishing strong relationships with the customers, and making the customer have an enjoyable time with gamification.
Dynamic Segmentation is used to segment visitors according to their interests. In other words, the Segmentation is done based on label attributes.
Shoppers don’t just buy a hand cream from the “skin care” category from Brand A, but they buy something for dry skin. This means stores need to understand which attributes attract which group of shoppers.
With straightforward guidelines like “If you are buying something with the “dry skin” label, put them under Skin Care > Dry Skin,” marketers are able to construct more effective retargeting ads utilising Segmentify’s products.
Download the FREE Customer Segmentation Playbook to explore the different customer segmentation types and how to utilise them.
Dynamic Segmentation can utilise real-time data and deeply explore personal interests to create effective retargeting campaigns. Dynamic Segmentation does not have restrictions on the number, price, or timing of purchases and enables more accurate customer segmentation based on product attributes.
The most intriguing feature is that segments can be combined in any way you like and are created and updated in real-time!
Introduce rules like, “If one buys something with the “casual” label, put them under Style > Casual.” and use any solution from Segmentify’s portfolio to amp up the personalisation! Retarget customers and visitors with targeted product recommendations, push notifications, emails, etc., for the full effect.
Dynamic segments benefit B2C marketers by enhancing targeted marketing, streamlining workflow, and saving time. You can put dynamic portions into place and forget about them. For instance, with an at-risk campaign, you can simply set it up to send daily to everyone who has just been added to the segment instead of finding your at-risk consumers and sending a campaign once a week. You can observe how much time is saved over time.
In fact, Dynamic Segmentation can help you stop wasting time on the technical implementation of campaigns and return to concentrating on the creative aspect of B2C marketing. Instead, you’ll have more time to come up with fresh campaigns, ideas, and improved messaging to test out on your customers. The effectiveness of dynamic segments enables you, the marketer, to do your job more effectively. Whilst, Rule-Based Segmentation is limited by quantity, purchase amount, and time range, but Dynamic Segmentation is not.
As we can all probably assume, online shopping is highly dynamic in that a customer, even at the very beginning of the eCommerce purchasing funnel, has the opportunity to visit dozens of online shops and look at a few hundred different things. We might anticipate that shoppers begin to encounter a “choice overload problem” given the breadth and depth of the online product catalogue.
Online shoppers frequently alter their purchasing habits when faced with various product possibilities. She might be looking for a casual dress when she initially visits the website, but she might purchase a jacket.
In this type of atmosphere, it is essential to comprehend and profile web visitors in order to convert them into customers and subsequently guarantee recurrent purchases. In contrast to Dynamic Segmentation, which creates segments in real-time and allows users to choose between them at any moment, traditional segmentation approaches groups people into groups based on their prior behaviours. Dynamic Segmentation marketing allows for real-time personalisation of marketing messages for each individual.
In that particular tailored behavioural marketing campaigns triggered by the online shoppers in the dynamic segments, Dynamic Segmentation and behavioural marketing are closely related.
Persona Quiz is an Engagement campaign under Behavioural Targeting. This function prepares easy-to-understand quizzes for visitors and places them in the appropriate dynamic portions.
Keep in mind that dynamic segments are formed and updated in real-time and are not restricted by category, brand, or product. Our customers’ created persona quizzes will significantly improve audience segmentation.
Direct questions about the customer’s skin tone, fashion preferences, the reason for using a laptop, etc., might be asked by the retailer. Since it makes buying more enjoyable, this will undoubtedly encourage visitors to engage. Additionally, everyone enjoys playing games and rarely refrains from the chance to talk about themselves.
But how exactly does this Persona Quiz work? Each answer must be assigned to a dynamic segment, and the customer must set a minimum of two alternative replies. Visitors may select more than one response because it is likely that they belong in more than one dynamic section. The website can also change the time and location at which this quiz appears on the page.
Many marketers are seeing the advantages of implementing a persona quiz with a variety of quiz kinds, including fit finder, style finder, customer survey, gift finder, or virtual consult.
Not only are marketers able to quickly construct a quiz that helps them gather zero-party data to better understand their customers, but they also meet their demands by making tailored recommendations that provide their customers with a memorable experience.
This level of personalisation is all about sending the appropriate content or product to the appropriate customer at the appropriate time. You can only do that if you are aware of who your customers are, what they need from your company and the most effective channels for communicating with them.
Although the main advantage of Persona Quiz is personalisation, garment companies have employed this type of interactive content in a variety of ways to improve the customer experience.
Customers are more inclined to convert when they receive a good result. After just one visit to your eCommerce site, users who take your quiz and receive useful information or suggestions for related products are more likely to make a purchase. Additionally, if you provide a unique discount from the quiz in the opt-in part, you’re more likely to expand your email subscriber list.
Sharing quizzes is simple and enjoyable for visitors. Quiz results are frequently shared with friends and family. And chances are that some of those acquaintances will take your survey as well, so you not only grow your current customer base but also attract new ones.
Asking relevant questions can promote trust. By posing the appropriate queries, you may establish your brand as an authority on the topic.
Establish your relationship with the customer via persona quizzes. One method to learn enough about the consumer to make pertinent product recommendations is through a quiz. And using product photographs in your quiz can help you simulate the experience of shopping in a physical store. Persona quizzes make use of incredibly pertinent images to make users feel as engaged as they would during an in-store visit.
By segmenting your audience, you can break them up into groups with whom you can interact more personally. It is currently one of the most popular marketing trends. You may quickly and simply segment your leads using interactive data collecting formats like a quiz or personality test. Additionally, your audience will enjoy themselves much throughout the process.
By far, personality tests are the most often used method of lead segmentation. Why? When you design a personality test, you may choose from a variety of “personalities” that consumers will perceive as their best match after taking the test. The proper product may be recommended to the right person, and you can even segment your email list if you utilise these profiles to segment participation.
If your personality test’s goal is to determine the type of traveller you are, there are three different profiles to choose from. Depending on which of these profiles a person matches, you might segment them and then advertise various holiday packages or locations to them.
There are numerous uses for this: You can divide your audience based on the kind of business person they are, the fashion style they prefer, or the kind of place they want to go on vacation. Delivering a distinctive marketing experience to each section after segmentation is effective is your responsibility.
Using quiz results is another well-liked method for audience segmentation in interactive marketing campaigns. The knowledge level of your audience can be ascertained through quizzes, allowing you to provide them with material that is appropriate for their level of understanding. Depending on the participant’s score, create a separate quiz result and add call-to-action buttons to a special blog post, landing page, or product page.
Segmenting your audience regarding a specific question is a quick and easy way to segment your leads. You can add a question to your form for any personality test, quiz, or competition. You should carefully consider this question and use it to assist you in dividing up your audience. If you offer insurance, for example, you might want to know if they live in an apartment or a house.
In conclusion, Dynamic Segmentation and Persona Quizzes are necessary to segment your audience and offer them more relevant and direct recommendations.
You can make a dynamic version of the customer segment. However, you must be able to precisely trace every action your customers take on your websites and across all of their devices, including new purchases, item clicks, and email opens. Without the proper customer data, Dynamic Segmentation is useless.
In this case, Segmentify steps in and will help you gather the right data and provide the best recommendations regarding your customer base. Contact us to book a demo to get to know our eCommerce personalisation solutions that can elevate and grow your business.