There’s nothing small about Small Business Saturday. The shopping holiday, tucked between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, hit record sales last year when shoppers spent $16.2 billion at independent retailers and restaurants, an 8 percent increase over 2014.
And you don’t need to own a brick-and-mortar store to get a piece of the pie. Although you won’t be able to give out free coffee and treats, the sweet smell of online promotions should make your customers’ mouths water ― or, at the very least, reach for their credit cards.
With Saturday, Nov. 26, approaching quickly, there’s no time to lose. You need to get the word out that your e-commerce store is the place to be on Small Business Saturday.
Let’s get started:
- Pick up your free custom downloadable marketing materials such as e-mail templates, website badges, and social media images at ShopSmall.com.
- Determine what type of promotions is likely to yield the biggest bang for the buck.
- If you don’t offer free shipping, announcing that you’re making an exception on Small Business Saturday is going to make shoppers do a double take. Most shoppers so value free shipping that they don’t mind waiting a few extra days for their orders to arrive. To make it financially feasible, you can always set a minimum order amount.
- You can also offer discount coupons to shoppers who spend X amount of dollars (for example, earn $10 for every $50 you spend). It never hurts to offer customers an incentive to return when the holiday spending craze subsides.
- Make a big splash with a few heavily discounted items.
- Share a discount code to let customers take 20-50 percent off the entire purchase.
- Spread the word on social media. Your promotions will be awfully lonely in cyber universe unless your share the good news via your social media channels such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. When it comes to retail keep in mind quality images speak volumes. Take your engagement further by telling the story of a “customer of the week” and using the hashtag #ShopSmall.
- Line up reliable shipping solutions. Your free-shipping offer will lose its luster if the order doesn’t arrive within the guaranteed time frame. Customers also like a range of shipping options. If they want the item overnight and don’t mind paying the extra cost in shipping, you should be able to accommodate. Cut back on processing times by preparing as much as possible in advance.
Let eShipper be your compass in the shipping jungle. We specialize in finding the best carriers and most competitive rates to make your Small Business Saturday a success. Click here to learn more about us or contact us for more information.
