With two of retail’s biggest shopping events, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, happening in the coming week, both online and brick-and-mortar retailers are ramping up the competition. Many have already launched their holiday campaigns early and are offering steep discounts to attract shoppers!

To stand out in the barrage of holiday offers and communications, consider taking an analytical and creative approach to your Black Friday and Cyber Monday initiatives. Here are some last-minute ideas to help spark your creativity and encourage you to launch your holiday campaigns if you have not already done so!

Be Smart About Advertising and Promotions
Identify your best sellers by tapping into your point-of-sale data as well as local trends to determine which products will be in high demand. Then create enticing offers for those products and create your promotions. Be sure to highlight your deals on your website as well as via email campaigns and social media posts.

Meet Your Customers Where They Are
Modern shoppers use multiple channels to research, browse and buy. To maximize sales, you need to be where your customers are, which is online. Not only should you leverage your e-commerce site, by featuring your deals and creating an engaging user experience, but also utilize social media and the shopping features the platforms offer. You can drive traffic to your website via online marketing campaigns as well.

Deliver Optimal Customer Service
At each step of the process, customer service is key! From closing sales to building customer loyalty, it’s imperative to deliver optimal customer service. Even more so during the holiday season when fulfillment and shipping tend to pose challenges. Be sure to stay in contact with your customers who have placed orders and provide them with updates to confirm when their order is placed and when it has been shipped. In the event of any delays, be sure to contact your customer to let them know and do your best to address issues head on.

Fulfill and Ship Orders as Quickly as Possible
Once orders are placed, speed and convenience are the key to fulfillment, shipping, and ultimately meeting the customers’ expectations. Be sure to account for holiday shipping delays and clearly communicate order and ship deadlines for holiday delivery. Consider adding a countdown or timer to your website header or footer and reinforce the deadlines in your email communications with customers.

Happy holiday selling!