As the holiday shopping season approaches, brands are gearing up for the busiest time of the year: Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM). With online sales expected to soar in 2024, it's crucial for businesses to be well-prepared to handle the influx of orders, manage inventory effectively, and deliver exceptional customer experiences. 

To help you navigate this critical period, we've gathered insights from industry-leading experts at Daasity, Pipe17, Fulfil.io, and ShipBob. Let's dive in.

1. Centralize Your Data for a Single Source of Truth 

If you're selling through your own website, on Amazon, and maybe even in brick-and-mortar stores, that's a lot of data coming from different places. Without a centralized system, you’ll waste a lot of time exporting spreadsheets and crunching numbers. 

By bringing all this data together into one central hub (like Daasity), you'll save time and set your omnichannel strategy up for success. Everyone from your inventory manager to your CEO can access the same up-to-date information, making decisions based on the full picture of your business. And in the fast-paced world of BFCM, that alignment can make all the difference.

2. Leverage Historical Data for Strategic Decision-Making 

Historical data is your roadmap for BFCM success. While no two years are exactly alike, past data can help you answer crucial questions like: 

• Which products were our top sellers last BFCM?
• What was our average order value during peak times?
• Which marketing channels drove the most conversions?
• How did our inventory levels hold up throughout the event?
• What were our busiest shipping days, and did we face any fulfillment challenges?

Data-driven decision-making is paramount during BFCM. With the high stakes of this shopping event, gut feelings and guesswork simply won't cut it. 

By analyzing past performance, you can make informed choices about inventory levels, staffing needs, promotional strategies, and more. That’s why brands with a data-driven strategy are the ones that come out on top.

3. Diversify Your Carrier Options

Don't rely on a single shipping carrier.  During peak times, carriers may hit capacity limits or face unexpected challenges. 

If this happens, it’s important to have multiple options ready to ensure your customers receive their orders on time. This helps maintain customer satisfaction and protects your bottom line by avoiding costly delays or cancellations.

4. Optimize Inventory Planning and Distribution 

Running out of stock can lead to significant lost revenue and disappointed customers. To prevent this, smart inventory management is crucial. Use demand forecasting to stock appropriately, and consider distributing inventory across multiple fulfillment centers to improve delivery times. 

If your budget allows, overbuying popular items can safeguard against stockouts during peak periods. During BFCM, it's usually better to have slightly too much inventory than not enough. This strategy can give you a competitive edge when other retailers run out of stock.

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5. Streamline and Automate Operational Processes 

Keep an eye on your operations metrics to identify and eliminate bottlenecks, and implement automation where possible to increase efficiency. This could include automating order processing, inventory updates, and customer communications. 

By streamlining these processes, you can significantly reduce errors, speed up operations, and free up your team to focus on more complex tasks. 

6. Align Marketing and Operations Teams 

Ensure your marketing promotions align with inventory and fulfillment capabilities. Regular communication between teams is crucial to avoid overselling or missed opportunities.

7. Set Clear Shipping Expectations

During BFCM, shipping expectations become even more critical because customers are often shopping for time-sensitive holiday gifts and deals. 

Clear communication about shipping is essential to manage these expectations. Use carrier APIs to determine guaranteed delivery times, communicate shipping cutoff times clearly, and consider creating a dedicated shipping information page on your website. This transparency builds trust and reduces customer service inquiries.

8. Invest in Custom Packaging and Unboxing Experiences 

Details matter, and you can enhance customer satisfaction with thoughtful packaging. A memorable unboxing experience can turn one-time BFCM shoppers into loyal customers and brand advocates.

9. Prepare a Seamless Returns Process 

A smooth returns process is particularly important for BFCM purchases, as many are gifts or first-time purchases from your brand. By making returns easy and hassle-free, you can turn a potentially negative experience into a positive one, encouraging customers to shop with you again. 

Tip: Daasity integrates with Loop to give you detailed return insights. You can dive into the return reasons, like size, quality, or mismatched expectations to inform your product strategy and reduce returns in future. 

10. Bundle and Upsell Popular Products

Product bundles are a powerful way to boost sales during BFCM. By offering complementary products together, you can increase average order value while providing customers with attractive deals. This tactic not only drives revenue but also enhances the shopping experience. Strategic bundling can also help move slower-selling inventory when paired with popular items.

Tip: Daasity's product affinity analysis makes it simple to spot which products are frequently purchased together or in sequence.