With the annual Black Friday sales in exactly two weeks, customers and retailers are gearing up for the annual shopping event. But if a comment by the managing director of John Lewis, Andy Street is anything to go by, Black Friday may be cancelled.
Earlier this year, when post-Christmas figures of major retailers were examined, Street called for UK retailers to reject ‘the US phenomenon of Black Friday.’
His reason?
He expressed concern about the effect that having purely sale events had on profit margins. He also claimed the event put an ‘unnecessary’ strain on businesses logistics and back-end systems.
To many, it sounds counter-intuitive. Though the Black Friday event is relatively new to the UK, retailers and customers have embraced it. In 2014, Black Friday shoppers spent £810m online. This year, sales are expected to climb to over £1.39b, including sales from brick and mortar stores.
With these numbers, it’s obvious more retailers are keen to take part in the event. While we don’t advocate waiting till the last minute to optimize your processes, we’ve come up with five tips that will allow any business still reap profits this Black Friday.
- Look at Last year’s Data
With sales expected to pass £1bn this year, businesses must examine past data for any clues to success. By identifying the strategies that worked in their stores, they can unlock valuable insights and make better business decisions moving forward.
Every bit of data is important, as it can be leveraged to create more efficient ways of enhancing customer service, improving supply chain logistics and reducing costs.
- Optimize Sales Website
With many shoppers hoping to avoid the in-store rush, many will visit the retailer’s website. With websites receiving up to 500% more traffic than they usually get, website crashes are a common occurrence during the holiday shopping season. Can your website handle the influx of visitors? Now is the time to run performance tests on your websites and identify any areas that need to be optimized.
In one poll, 46% of shoppers said that they’ll never return to a slow website. Does your website make customers feel like this? Test your page load speed and find any optimization opportunities. This year, over 45% of Christmas gifts will be bought online, so shouldn’t you be stress-testing your site anyway?
- Optimize your Warehouse
Regardless of how organised your storefront is, if your warehouse (storage) isn’t the same, you will lose sales. Are your pallets placed on the floor or are they racked? Are you pairing the right pallet rack with the right type of product? For those who that rely on a FIFO system, conventional racking doubles the amount of time it requires for a picker to pick and pack goods. This is a waste of time that you can ill afford this season.
A pallet flow rack provides high density storage, while allowing SKUs to be picked in the right order. Getting your storage right allows your staff locate SKUs with higher accuracy, allowing them serve customers quicker.
Not sure which to use? Contact Monarch Shelving today. Let’s help you decide which storage system will best suit your inventory.
- Put Your best Staff on the Roster
Your front line staff are one of the most important aspects of your stores success, especially on Black Friday. The shocking customer behaviour witnessed in 2014, is one of the reasons ASDA isn’t holding the event in 2015.
For stores that will open, ensure you have your most capable staff members on duty; it’s wise to also have extra staff available too. Ensure worker safety by providing extra security to avoid stampedes. One more thing, pay overtime; while the law doesn’t mandate you to do so, it is the right thing to do.
- Process Returns Quickly
The attraction of that new item may soon wear off and customers will want to return the goods bought. If your store has a Black Friday returns policy, aim to process them as quickly as possible.
This allows you focus on the upcoming Christmas shopping weeks and can also mean extra inventory to display. Leaving them till later means you are simply leaving money sitting in a distribution centre somewhere.
Since the first Black Friday event held by Currys in 2003,, and revived by Amazon in 2010, it has become another Americanism that Brits have embraced. Whether you are a small or medium sized retailer, using these tips can help you improve sales this holiday season.
While Monarch Shelving can’t provide you with burly security guards, we offer some of the best deals on warehouse storage equipment. We have pallet racking, storage bins, steel shelving; both new and refurbished. We also offer consultation to help you find the best fit for your needs. So, what are you waiting for? Contact Monarch Shelving today.
