For many years, November has been considered the best month of the year for retailers worldwide. Special shopping days (Cyber Monday and co.) have driven online sales to new heights, making it especially worthwhile for eCommerce retailers and brick-and-mortar stores that join the cyber shopping celebrations with tempting deals and special offers.
Just before the madness begins, here’s a review of November's most important shopping days and some valuable tips on preparing yourself and making the best of them.
NOV 11
Single’s Day
Single’s Day originated in China and is celebrated on November 11 (a Friday in 2022). The holiday is usually celebrated 24 hours straight, but some stores and businesses extend it due to time differences. Single’s Day is an unofficial Chinese holiday that has, over the years, become the biggest shopping day in the world, both online and offline. It originated at Nanjing University in 1993 and is called Single’s Day because the date is composed of four numbers one. At first, the holiday was only celebrated by single students, but it quickly spread outside the university and across the globe, making it one of the most popular holidays since the Web was launched. Previously a day for singles to celebrate not being in a relationship, the holiday has become a popular day to help people find a match with blind dates and special university events (mainly in Asia) to unite single people.
For us, this day is a significant opportunity to increase sales as shopping. The leading eCommerce websites to enjoy the fruits of this day are the Chinese Alibaba and AliExpress, but traffic spikes across the Web, and there are some fantastic offers around.
NOV 25
Black Friday
Black Friday is celebrated on the fourth Friday of November each year, kicking off the holiday shopping season in the US. The tradition spread to other countries with time, leading to significant discounts and special offers worldwide. The origin of this shopping celebration is related to consumerism trends and the gifting culture in the US. For this reason, it takes place the day after Thanksgiving, the first day of the Christmas season, symbolizing the move from one festive season to the next and nudging consumers to get going on their Christmas shopping. Although Thanksgiving is a holiday celebrated only in the US, it doesn’t stop the rest of the world from joining in on the fun and adopting the tradition of launching special promotions and sales, ushering in a period of discounts that will last until Christmas.
These days, the celebration includes online and offline retailers, with stores in many countries opening up early in the morning and staying open until late at night, giving buyers a chance to take full advantage of the special discounts. You can expect a high volume of online traffic on this day and long lines at stores. People usually focus their purchases on electronic devices (tablets, cell phones, etc.), but other categories also enjoy a significantly increased sales volume. Good to know – every year, the Black Friday spending record is broken!
NOV 28
Cyber Monday
This online shopping day was created in 2005, a date that was close enough to Christmas to inspire shopping and far enough to make sure deliveries reached customers before the holiday. The idea of Cyber Monday was to encourage smaller eCommerce retailers that were not part of the chain stores and dominant online retailers that controlled Black Friday. But soon enough, more significant players joined in on the cyber extravaganza, and nowadays, there is no real difference between the smaller and larger retailers. Black Friday's sales, promotions, and discounts are often extended to include Cyber Monday.
How to prepare yourself for November’s shopping rush?
These special shopping days are very tempting for retailers. Everyone wants to reap the fruits of people’s willingness to spend. However, handling your sales wisely is essential and ensuring you don’t find yourself with losses resulting from overblown discounts.
Here are some tips that will help you get through November without breaking a sweat:
Percentage of Discount
When you set the price for your product, don’t forget to consider all the added costs (packaging, shipment, marketing, etc.) so you don’t end up undervaluing it. Be sure to consider that when you calculate your offers.
Turnover vs. Profit
Do not give discounts that don’t cover your costs just to increase your turnover. Profit counts! Make sure the discounts you offer still leave you with a profit.
Coordinate with shipping Companies
Prepare the shipping company you work with in advance and coordinate pickup days. November is a hectic month for the shipping companies – planning ahead will help ensure everything goes more smoothly.
Obtain Packaging Materials
Packaging materials will be in high demand in November. Be sure to stock up in advance – but don’t overdo it and get stuck with piles of unused packaging materials! – so that you have all the boxes and materials you need to ensure you deliver on time.
Clearing Inventory
This is the time to eliminate seasonal items and clear your inventory. Highlight these items in ads before and during the shopping days. Here too, be sure not to overdo it with the discounts you offer. It’s great to clear inventories, but you don’t want losses.
Focus on Organic Promotion
Paid online marketing campaigns cost much more during November because of the increased competition. Try working on your organic traffic and increasing leads on social media and relevant websites to save on costs.
Take Full Advantage
Make the best of this shopping celebration! These shopping days are a great opportunity to raise brand awareness worldwide. In addition, you can use the increased traffic that comes your way for your future campaigns. There’s a good chance that many people will learn about your brand for the first time in November. Use this opportunity to build up your email list, create a members’ club and add a newsletter pop-up on your website. Try adding a special offer for new members to improve your conversion rate.
If you’re well-prepared, you can take full advantage of the November shopping days to increase sales, free up storage space and engage consumers. Now is the time to get ready for the upcoming shopping mania.
Good luck!
