Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year in the US, is rapidly approaching. However, the holiday has grown substantially around the world in recent years, especially in Europe. According to Criteo, both in-store and online sales surged on Black Friday across EMEA last year: when compared to the average daily sales volume earlier in the month, in-store purchases grew by 29%, while online purchases increased by 97%. In 2021, things are only going to get more hectic, with shoppers looking to do more of their purchases online, and physical stores moving their deals to the web, ramping up click and collect options during the festive period.
Shoppers want to engage, buy, and get products in their hands however works best for them. As shoppers demand flexibility, the omnichannel shopping experience during Black Friday is critical. By implementing an effective omnichannel strategy on time, retailers can easily attract and convert these shoppers into customers.
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Omnichannel retailers have a great opportunity to leverage the various perks of in-store shopping, in ways that pure digital players can only dream about. The winners will be those who successfully integrate the digital world into their stores and vice-versa, by maximizing technology investments to deliver convenient and immersive shopping experiences. By leveraging innovative technologies that help customers connect their online and offline shopping experiences, retailers can turn omnichannel capabilities, such as click-and-collect and web-to-store into game-changing competitive advantages. Here are top 3 Black Friday Omnichannel Strategies that work like a charm to boost sales:
During Black Friday mobile app users are far more likely to make in-app purchases to take advantage of deals. To be able to explore promotions and make purchases, customers seek convenience and instant access to information, regardless of where they are. More importantly, customers expect to have a relevant experience with retailers on any channel. To this end, mobile apps act as both a collection system for data and a delivery system for personalization initiatives based on the collected data. Furthermore, they help retailers bridge the in-store and online experience, ensuring that shoppers receive the personalized experience they expect across all channels. In-app behavior based on profile, purchase history, or loyalty program data, can supplement online and traditional in-store metrics to provide a 360 degree view of the shoppers.
Mobile continues to be a critical channel, so retailers should plan for testing their app to make sure it’s as good as it gets, and take necessary steps to improve any weak points that might otherwise hold them back. By optimizing the shopping experience ahead of Black Friday promotions, retailers will ensure shoppers enjoy every interaction with their app and brand.
Self-service technology minimizes shoppers’ friction in brick-and-mortar stores during major holidays and eliminates frustrating checkout lines. In this way, shoppers can skip the queue and pay for their items at unattended cashier desks.
The biggest advantage for retailers using this smart technology is that they gain a better understanding of the consumer’s path to purchase via new in-store data. Data-driven insights have a ripple effect as they help retailers understand what consumers buyand what they leave on the shelves, driving a series of improvements.
One example of such smart in-store technology is from Amazon Go’s Just Walk Out Technology. The checkout-free shopping experience is made possible by the same types of technologies used in self-driving cars: computer vision, sensor fusion, and deep learning. Just Walk Out Technology automatically detects when products are taken from or returned to the shelves and keeps track of them in a virtual cart. When the shopping is completed, shoppers can just leave the store.
After collecting all valuable omnichannel data directly from the shoppers, what are the retailers supposed to do with it? How are they using the gathered data to prepare for Black Friday? Data analysis provides accurate answers to many questions which represent hidden value for retailers that can be leveraged during Black Friday. With data insights, retailers can determine the best ecommerce strategy to increase their sales, which products to promote, and how to set their discounts. Anticipating how many shoppers are expected to visit their stores and websites and how the shopping volumes vary during the Black Friday weekend will set them for a successful campaign.
Using data-driven insights can get retailers ahead of the curve on this major event. Getting a deep understanding of the dynamic market trends is important when it comes to shopping experience, consumer motivations, and effective marketing. With an integrated digital retail infrastructure, retailers can really drive competitive advantage. To do so, they need to leverage their unique data to predict patterns in their shoppers' experiences.
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