White Friday sale tips to help market your e-store
Every year on the last Friday in November, online and offline stores offer exclusive sales and offers around the world, which is known as ‘Black Friday’ or in the Middle East as ‘White Friday’. Those offers have cemented their place in the Middle East’s annual calendar as shoppers plan for this day all year. Businesses, whether they’re big or small, expect great revenue because of that day.
This article discusses the history behind the White Friday sale and a few tips to help your e-store shine and thrive during this time of the year.
The history behind the White Friday sale
White Friday is the Middle Eastern equivalent to the successful Black Friday, which started as a tradition in the United States. It is an annual shopping event associated with Thanksgiving where customers are presented with thousands of sales, deals, and discounts on almost all products and services.
Related: 9 email campaign ideas for Black Friday deals
How did the White Friday tradition start in the Middle east?
White Friday started after Ronaldo Mouchawar, Souq.com’s CEO, noticed in 2014 how American shopping habits changed when discounts and deals were put front and center. He believed that something similar in the Middle East could be just as successful. He wanted to do an activity that raises awareness around eCommerce and at the same time increase web traffic, ultimately drive more sales for businesses.
However, there were several opinions about choosing a date other than November, such as linking it to Eid al-Fitr, Ramadan, or Hajj, for example, as a public holiday or regional occasion that fits the Arab world’s traditions. But then, they decided to rename the day from Black to White, as Friday represents a religious specificity and a social occasion for Arabs and Muslims in the region.
After the success of Souq, many online and offline stores have adopted the same concept and started planning for this day every year with attractive deals and deals. Among the most popular online stores that offer the best White Friday offers and discounts are:
Related: Through affiliate programs, WaffarX offers real added-value to the MENA region
7 tips to help your e-store boom on White Friday sale
1. Update your homepage
Update the home of your website with banners that promote the upcoming sale. You can create a particular category of offers and link the banner to this category.
You can also add the end date of the promotions to the banners to create a sense of time sensitivity.
Related: Your website’s homepage: The first impression of your business in the online world
2. Send discount code via emails
When it comes to email marketing, you need to have a comprehensive list of emails. If you don’t have your email list, get in touch with all your old customers and offer them a unique discount code for registering in your email list. Or try running some ads to build your list before White Friday starts.
Also, add people who purchased in the last 30 days. This way, you will reach more customers, and your brand will be fresh in your customers’ minds.
And don’t forget to keep a close eye on the following:
- Correct links: Verify that the products are with the correct links so that people can go directly to your product pages to make their purchases.
- Highlight your discount: Remember to mention the great advantage of the discount on the email subject to help motivate clicks.
- Email subject: Create an exciting title to motivate clicks.
Discounts can be offered by product category, 2 * 1 or 3 * 2 offers. In communication, it is essential not to confuse the consumer. Also, reporting the amount of discount in your currency can attract more attention than a percentage.
3. Payment methods and shipping
Offering multiple forms of payment and free or fast shipping is highly valued by customers. So, make sure that your website has a page that clearly states the available payment methods, and the more you offer the better. At the same time, offering free shipping – for example when a customer’s cart surpasses 150AED – can be a great advantage. Try to work with multiple shipping companies at the same time as this is a very busy time of the year and you don’t want your customers to complain about late shipments.
4. Extend your sale
Extending your sales is an effective marketing strategy for White Friday, which has become very common.
By extending your campaign, you can attract more customers and make more sales throughout the weekend, not just in one day. Some companies also make special offers in the week preceding this date.
Since White Friday sale bargain searches tend to be the most popular, you should focus your strategy on that first. For example, you can extend your promotions and create themed offers on Saturday and Sunday.
5. Optimization for mobile
Mobile phones have developed with more functionality, as we use our phone approximately 80 times a day, to answer messages, browse and make purchases. Purchases on mobile devices increase year after year.
To take advantage of the White Friday traffic flow, it is crucial to create mobile friendly designated pages with special offers. Considering that everything has to go fast on White Friday, the purchase process cannot stop at a complicated payment gateway. The design of the online store has to be focused on quick sales.
Especially on mobile phones, the payment process must be very simple. Being able to pay with a mobile application facilitates the purchase.
6. Send cart reminders
Install an abandoned cart reminder on the web to encourage interested users to finish their purchase. It is an excellent technique to improve the conversion rate of e-commerce.
To make it more attractive, you can add promotional code in the reminder, which is valid for a limited time.
7. Paid social campaign
To get the most out of this White Friday, extend the campaign to ads on social media. Here are some tips:
- Launch attractive offers to combat saturation:
On popular shopping days such as this, the competition and the costs of your campaigns will go up. To ensure conversions, you must have a competitive offer and include accelerators to motivate the user to click.
- Create campaigns focused on sales:
Consumers are predisposed to buy on these dates, so take advantage of the momentum with conversion-to-sale campaigns (web or app) and pause interaction or lead generation campaigns.
- Use remarketing with discounts:
White Friday is the perfect date for remarketing campaigns. Target users who have visited your website and offer them a discount on the products they have been looking at or have left abandoned in the cart.
The most recommended formats for this are Catalog and Dynamic Ads.
- Try social shopping:
Instagram Shopping and Facebook Shopping already allow you to buy directly from within the social network, so these dates can be an excellent opportunity to start testing this functionality.
Do you have an e-store?
Creating a functional e-store can help set you apart from the competition. It allows you to reach your customers and understand their behavior, boost your sales, manage your inventory and so much more. If you do not have an online store, you can set up a modern and flexible e-store through GoDaddy E-store.
GoDaddy E-store offers fully customizable templates that are built to look significant, giving you the ability to customize them to your unique style or brand. It also supports multiple currencies, real-time shipping quotes, payment methods, and inventory management tools that track purchase across all your marketplaces. To learn more about GoDaddy E-store, check this guide.
Conclusion
White Friday is the shopper’s favorite day of the year. Almost all companies offer discounts and other incentives to buy. Consumers around the world expect great deals, and brands deliver. Use your e-store effectively to boost your White Friday sale, build buzz and drive conversions with these tips.
Image by: GoDaddy
