Is Your Business Ready for Cyber Monday?
As Thanksgiving approaches, businesses have three concerns in mind: surviving the Black Friday rush, making sales on Small Business Saturday, and serving customers easily on their web store. Business owners that plan on putting out online deals should prepare for Cyber Monday.
Previously, we discussed some tips that businesses should keep in mind when preparing their stores for Black Friday.
But, when you're talking about online sales, it's a whole different ballgame. Here are the rules:
Figure out what discounts you're offering: Cyber Monday deals are a whole lot like Black Friday deals - they both offer deep discounts to consumers to generate buzz and create a lot of sales. But keep in mind that offering discounts on your goods may actually end up harming your bottom line if you oversell your products.
Avoid customer issues: Your website will soon be getting a workout, so make sure it's prepared to get one. Ensure that your site has enough bandwith to support the influx of customers. And check that whatever mechanism you use to keep inventory and stock numbers up-to-date is working properly. The last thing you want is a line of irate customers dialing into your store, demanding refunds and complaining that they've been charged for items that are already sold out.
Advertise properly: If you're advertising for web deals, one great way to advertise is on the Internet. Seems simple enough, right? Well, the world of search engine optimization is always a bit confusing. And you don't want your deals to get buried by Google or Bing. Spend some time optimizing your page so people can actually find your sales.
Business that are well-prepared for Cyber Monday will hopefully avoid any potential disasters - and also get a great head start on the profitable holiday shopping season.
Related Resources:
- Cyber Monday Hurt Small Business? (FindLaw's Free Enterprise)
- Lessons Learned from Target's Missoni Fiasco (FindLaw's Free Enterprise)
- How to Shop Safely on Cyber Monday (FindLaw's Law & Daily Life)
