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6 mins

The Ultimate Black Friday Preparation Checklist: Sleigh the Season

If there’s one key insight from our predictions for 2024’s holiday period, it’s that preparing early is essential to maximise the benefits of the peak season. As every retailer knows, however, that’s easier said than done. How do you know how much stock you need, what to spend budgets on, and what your customers are looking for this year?

Fear not! We’re here to help. This comprehensive checklist will guide you through preparing your platforms for Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM), covering everything from pre-planning to post-data analysis. By following these steps, you can optimise your operations and enhance customer satisfaction during the busiest shopping period of the year. Additionally, check out Santa’s helpers’ guide on the next page for expert recommendations in the industry. 

Pre-planning 

1. Set goals and budget: 

    • Use historical data to get an idea of expected traffic flows.
    • Define your sales targets.
    • Allocate a budget for marketing and operations. 

2. Plan for a longer sales period: 

  • Start promotions early and extend them beyond Black Friday and Cyber Monday. 

3. Craft irresistible offers: 

  • Develop compelling discounts, bundles, and exclusive deals. 

4. Assess inventory and supply chain: 

  • Ensure high-demand items are sufficiently stocked.
  • Confirm supplier timelines and capabilities.

Website preparation 

5. Update homepage with seasonal creative: 

  • Refresh visuals and banners to reflect your holiday promotions. 

6. Test website for mobile-friendliness: 

  • Ensure your site is responsive and easy to navigate on mobile devices. 

7. Prepare for traffic surges: 

  • Optimise website speed and performance against Core Web Vitals targets.
  • Use tools like PageSpeed Insights and Pingdom for testing. 

8. Improve checkout experience: 

  • Simplify the checkout process. Learn more: What makes a great ecommerce checkout? 
  • Enable one-click checkout options. 

9. Leverage chatbots: 

  • Implement chatbots for customer support and to drive conversions. 

10. Stress-test your website: 

  • Conduct load testing to ensure it can handle high traffic volumes. Check out our blog on stress testing readiness (link).
  • Use web performance testing tools to simulate Black Friday traffic conditions. 

11. Review security measures: 

  • Ensure all security protocols are up-to-date to protect customer data and transactions.
  • Conduct a security audit and implement any necessary updates or patches. 

Marketing and sales 

12. Email marketing: 

  • Plan and schedule email campaigns early.
  • Send warm-up emails and teasers.
  • Create abandoned cart recovery emails. 

13. Leverage data for promotions: 

  • Use analytics to identify high-demand products for promotion.
  • Perform ABC analysis for inventory management. 

14. Double down on top sales channels: 

  • Focus on high-performing sales channels (e.g., social media platforms, email). 

15. Retarget past visitors and customers: 

  • Set up retargeting campaigns to re-engage previous site visitors and customers. 

16. Use buy now, pay later (BNPL): 

  • Offer BNPL options like Afterpay, Affirm, and Klarna. 

17. Clean email lists: 

  • Remove invalid emails: Identify and remove invalid or non-responsive email addresses from your marketing lists. Use Loqate’s email validation tool to check the validity of your email addresses, with bulk verification for up to 100,000 emails.
  • Segment your email list: Segment based on customer behaviour and preferences for effective Black Friday promotions.
  • Implement real-time email validation: Use Loqate’s email validation tool for real-time verification of new subscribers’ email addresses. Learn more: What is email validation and why is it important?  

18. SMS marketing: 

  • Implement Loqate’s real-time phone validation during customer onboarding to ensure only valid phone numbers enter your system.
  • Bulk verify phone numbers to ensure you have the correct customer details in your database.
  • Update invalid numbers: Reach out to customers with invalid phone numbers to request updated contact information. 

Operations and fulfilment 

19. Set holiday shipping strategy: 

  • Define and communicate shipping timelines and options.
  • Offer expedited and free shipping where feasible, or include these as part of minimum spend offers. 

20. Optimise order and fulfilment workflows: 

  • Organise your fulfilment area.
  • Group orders by priority and product type.
  • Consider hiring additional staff for the busy period.

21. Offer easy and hassle-free returns: 

  • Make your return policy clear and accessible.
  • Consider extending return windows for holiday purchases. 

22. Ensure customers can find your store fast: 

23. Provide prompt and personal customer support: 

  • Train staff for quick and effective customer service.
  • Prepare standard responses for common issues. 

24. Reduce delivery failures: 

  • Capture accurate addresses: Ensure customer addresses are captured correctly, at the point of entry, using Loqate’s address capture solution.
  • Geocode addresses: Convert addresses into exact geographic coordinates with Loqate’s geocoding service. 

Data accuracy and customer experience 

25. Data accuracy: 

  • Ensure product information, pricing, inventory levels, and customer data are accurate and up-to-date. Use Loqate’s data validation solution for a free data health check to review and cleanse data pre- and post-Black Friday. 

26. Checkout optimisation: 

27. Fraud prevention: 

  • Adopt robust validation of customer data (address, email, phone) to prevent fraud and protect both retailer and customer. Ensure customer data is accurate and secure. Learn more: Red Flags – Detecting and preventing fraud at the point of data capture  

28. Customer experience: 

  • Focus on delivering exceptional experiences including efficient returns, excellent customer service, and transparent communication. Use Loqate’s data validation tools to ensure up-to-date customer data, facilitating prompt returns, effective communication, and personalised experiences. 

Post-sales 

29. Monitor analytics for actionable insights: 

  • Track performance metrics and user behaviour.
  • Utilise heat maps and activity logs to analyse customer interactions. 

30. Turn seasonal shoppers into year-round customers: 

  • Engage customers post-sale through email and social media.
  • Offer loyalty programmes and personalised marketing. 

31. Reflect on what worked and what didn’t: 

  • Document successes and challenges.
  • Gather feedback and adjust strategies for future events. 

Contingency planning 

32. Create contingency plans: 

  • Prepare for site crashes and supply chain delays.
  • Establish backup systems and alternative solutions. 

Additional considerations 

33. Reward loyal customers: 

  • Offer exclusive deals and early access to your best customers. 

34. Benchmark and grow your conversion rate: 

  • Analyse conversion rates and identify improvement opportunities. 

Conclusion 

By following this comprehensive readiness checklist, you can ensure your data is accurate and your platform is prepared for Black Friday and beyond. This proactive approach will help you avoid common pitfalls, streamline your operations, and provide a seamless shopping experience for your customers. Peak season is a time of massive opportunity for retailers each year, and we hope that with our checklist in tow, 2024 is the year in which you’ll be able to say you seized it with both hands. 

Ready to optimise your operations for the peak season? Speak to your account manager or product specialist today to get started.