Global eCommerce platform Kooomo lays out what it believes will be in store for retailers this Black Friday No one knows exactly what this Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend (27th – 30th November) has in store for retailers, but what can be certain is that retailers will witness new behaviours this year. This is according to global eCommerce platform
Kooomo, which says that new shopping habits and broadened demographics now shopping online coupled with social distancing and safety measures will lead to an unprecedented reliance on digital for cyber weekend 2020.
“This minimised footfall and increased web traffic means that retailers will need to adequately capacity-plan to ensure that loading speeds aren’t affected and site performance remains high,” says Ciaran Bollard, CEO at Kooomo. “With over half (53%) of site visits abandoned if the page takes more than three seconds to load, resulting in lost revenue, retailers need to be stress-testing their platforms now and preparing for unpredictable surges and peak period traffic. This will be key in ensuring a successful Black Friday.”
Alongside increased online traffic, Ciaran outlines the following predictions for this year’s Cyber Weekend, and what retailers should do to ensure they’re ready:
1.Omnichannel solutions will play a major role in smooth operations Omnichannel solutions have been ramped up across most industries in 2020 to bridge the gap between consumers and bricks and mortar stores.
Omnichannel allows for the synchronisation of all inventory and sales channels. Black Friday may be the last attempt for most retailers at clearing stock given lockdown has essentially held up the progression from each season. This means you can order inventory in a more accurate fashion (reducing wasted costs) and better communicate to your customers if items are low or out of stock.
We also expect consumers to place much greater importance on a smooth and seamless customer journey – from hyper-personalised offers landing in their inbox to a fast and efficient checkout process online. Collect, synchronise, and deploy your data to improve the flow of the customer journey and improve the customer experience (CX).
2.mCommerce will accelerate Mobile shopping habits have long been on the rise, but COVID-19 has accelerated its uptake. We’re expecting this year to be the biggest yet for mobile commerce throughout Cyber Weekend, given the 63% jump in its use from Q1 to Q2 this year. Retailers who optimise their websites for mobile will stand to reap the benefits by offering another channel of access to their brand.
3.The merge of Black Friday & Cyber Monday It’s no secret that Black Friday and Cyber Monday are no longer singular 24-hour events. In the last few years (facilitated by the increase in online shopping) more and more retailers are starting sales and promotions ahead of time and running them into Cyber Monday - this is expected to be truer than ever given the current climate.
With many retailers abiding by the new norm, there is no longer this 9-5 mentality around sales. We have already seen some retailers capitalising on night owls by launching midnight sales online - we can expect to see promotions such as this during the upcoming sales events.
4.Conscious consumer spendingConsumers are expected to be savvier and more conscious about their spending this year, with nearly 61% of consumers more conscious of the environmental impact of their Cyber Weekend purchases and 45% of consumers making more sustainable choices.
Retailers should therefore plan promotions carefully; reflect on your marketing messaging and it’s emotive and relative drive and assess your online customer assistance to ensure that consumers attach value to your brand presence as a whole and not just to individual products. This may be the first time some consumers interact with your brand and this will help ensure their loyalty in future instances.
Ciaran concludes: “No one can fully predict just how this Black Friday is going to go - the shopping holiday has been going through a transformation for the last couple of years, but the pandemic has certainly fast-tracked its digital facelift. What we can be sure of is that power is most definitely in the hands of the consumer, who is now well versed in online shopping. The retailers who are flexible and original in their approach to Black Friday still stand to maximise their profits and honour the shift from “bargain hunters” to “value seekers”.
“It may not live up to be the most successful of Black Friday holidays in terms of YoY growth, but for the retailers who take the time to prepare their website, refine their marketing and create a strong CX stand to have their biggest year for online conversions.”
Information provided by Pingdom.com shows that the Kooomo platform was 100% reliable during last year's Cyber weekend, providing 100% uptime and a response time that was less than two seconds - critical statistics that demonstrate Kooomo’s performance under pressure. For further information on how to prepare for this year’s cyber-weekend, download Kooomo’s ultimate
Black Friday 2020 playbook.
ENDS About Kooomo:Kooomo is Europe’s leading eCommerce platform delivering increased sales and efficiencies with one solution for all sales channels. Kooomo is disrupting the marketplace with its affordable setup, agility and speed to market. Recognised by Gartner in the Magic Quadrant for Digital Commerce; Kooomo connects your products with your customers online, in-store and through marketplaces. The full stack of technology needed to deliver a 360-degree digital commerce solution which is integrated with an eco-system of over 200 partners to future proof your business.
Kooomo is trusted by international brands through to SMEs such as Morrisons, Umbro, SMEG, Heinz, Blauer USA, MotoGP, Avoca amongst many others. Kooomo understands the unique challenges of selling internationally by supporting multiple languages, currencies & VAT rates so there is no need to adopt multiple storefronts. For further information, visit:
www.kooomo.com 
