Cyber Monday is known as the most lucrative day of the year for online retailers. According to a recent report from IBM, it generated approximately $1.98 billion in revenues in 2012. This figure is expected to increase in subsequent years as it is 17% higher than the figure for 2011. In order for your entity to be successful on Cyber Monday, it is imperative that you exert effort on marketing tasks prior to the arrival of the big day.
Tips
Outside of the product or service you are offering, a few compelling factors should be considered to benefit from Cyber Monday.
Target Market
When narrowing down your list of Cyber Monday promotional offers, be sure that each of them appeals to a specific market. Doing so will streamline and significantly improve your marketing outcomes.
For example, if you plan to offer a limited number of doll houses that are in high-demand, it may be wise to invite consumers to take advantage of specials for related offers and focus advertising efforts on social media outlets and online communities that cater to mothers of young children. When visitors arrive on the site, greet them with a landing page that displays comparable offers based on shopping patterns, and direct them to those items.
Think Outside of the Box
The same old routine promotional tactics will not cut it if you want to succeed in the over-crowded group of Cyber Monday retailers. Simply offering free shipping on all purchases is not enough to reel the bargain shoppers in. Instead, go for something a bit catchier, such as a manicure kit with the purchase of a golf club. That way, the wife who is shopping for her husband will be inclined to take advantage of the offer because of the benefits she can also derive from the deal.
Shopping Windows
It is not uncommon to run across a phenomenal Cyber Monday deal that is only open to a select number of shoppers for an extremely limited amount of time. While scarcity certainly creates a demand, it can also be a recipe for disaster. If too many users are on the website at one time, it may crash and shut down. To hedge against this risk, carefully research web traffic and optimize the site to withstand a traffic level of at least 25% more than expected. You may also want to consider opening up the promotion for an extended period of time.
Gift Cards
Are you afraid that reducing the price on select items by too much may negatively impact your bottom line? Practical Ecommerce recommends that you offer gift cards to be used for the following year. Not only will this create repeat customers, but it will boost sales during the slower periods.
Mailing List
Whether they were directed to your site from a social media campaign or some other form of advertisement, new visitors should receive a warm welcome. Be sure to invite them to join the exclusive mailing list to receive information about future promotions. Also, consider creating some sort of sweepstakes that enables them to enter with a qualifying purchase.
If you do not already have a mailing list, create one using a service like Mail Chimp or AWeber and use it as an advertising medium to promote Cyber Monday offers and distribute additional deals to your subscribers.
Cyber Monday Success Stories
There are a number of companies who have benefited from Cyber Monday. These include:
- Fab is a social shopping site that experienced an increase of $350,000 from 2011 to 2012, making their total sales on Cyber Monday $1.3 million.
- eBay and Amazon, which both are popular online retailers, saw sales increases of 38.3% and 42.4% on Cyber Monday 2011, respectively.
- As reported in Money Magazine, Amazon.com's 2015 Cyber Monday sales were up 22% from the previous year.
Cyber Monday in Numbers
Cyber Monday saw an increase in sales of 30.3% in 2012 as noted in the IBM report. In addition, more than 18% of shoppers used a mobile device and were responsible for 13% of all sales. With the future looking bright, the figures for this retail holiday will continue to soar and retailers will definitely benefit from the record numbers.
