Posted by Cynthia Boris
Commercials for Small Business Saturday are all over the TV and the Black Friday buzz has begun in earnest. What comes after that? CyberMonday! This very special shopping holiday has been going on for more than ten years – can you believe it? The term was coined by a writer who used it in the title of a press release for Shop.org and now it’s as common a term as Black Friday.
Last year, consumers went online and spent 3 billion dollars in that single day. This total beat the previous year by 16% and there’s every reason to believe that this year will beat last year’s total, as well.
Want a piece of that 3 billion dollar pie? Start preparing now for CyberMonday.
Stock Wisely
Though people do shop for themselves this time of year, most are looking for gifts for family and friends. They’re looking for unusual items with a ‘one-size-fits-all’ feel. A ring is personal and has to be sized, but a set of funky, chunky bracelets is an easy buy for the wife or the daughter. A bar of handmade, lavender soap is lovely, but a basket filled with a variety of scents (in case the recipient hates lavender) is a no brainer.
Take a look at your stock. What do you have that could be combined into an easy gift basket? Do you have lower price point items that you could call stocking stuffers? What do you have that makes a good Secret Santa gift for a co-worker or teacher?
Lead the Way
After Thanksgiving dinner, Black Friday, and a jam-packed weekend, most shoppers are too frazzled by CyberMonday to think clearly. It’s up to you to lead the way with bold suggestions and clear directions. Create a category in your store for men’s gifts, women’s gifts and gifts for friends (less personal with more generic appeal). Create a stocking stuffer category and one for gift sets.
While you’re being ‘clear’, spell out your holiday shipping times in big letters on the front page. If you need two weeks to make and deliver a handmade item say so in as many ways as you can. Put it on your site, put it on your email confirmation, put it on a traveling banner on your site!
Flooded with orders? Don’t be afraid to close your doors to new sales on a given item. A customer may be disappointed, but they’ll be angry if they buy an item that you can’t deliver.
Big Deal
People who shop on CyberMonday do it expecting to get a special deal – so give them one. You don’t have to slash prices to the bone, but you should offer free shipping. It’s one of the most expected perks of the season. And let’s face it, free shipping doesn’t really mean it’s free. Bump up your prices to cover all or a portion of the average shipping cost.
Which sounds like a better to you?
A bracelet that costs $14.00 plus 4.50 shipping or a bracelet that costs $18.00 with FREE shipping?
The Printable Gift
It’s easy to offer gift certificates for your IndieMade store. Simply create a new product called Gift Certificate with $20, $50 and $100 as attributes. Next, create a gift certificate document for each dollar amount with your store branding. When a customer buys a certificate, generate a coupon code in the STORE section of your website admin. Type this code on the document and then email it to the buyer.
If you’re an artist, a handmade certificate that you mail to the recipient would be even nicer!
Spread The Word
Once you have your CyberMonday plans in place, it’s time to spread the word. Use holiday graphics to promote your products and deals on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram. This is not the time to be shy about showing off. Shoppers are desperately looking for new ideas, so show them what you’ve got.
We’re happy to help you spread the good word. Tag us on Twitter @IndieMade or Instagram @IndieMade4You and we’ll do our best to reshare your posts.
CyberMonday is your day – plan now to make the most of it.
