This Blog Post is the First Installment of Our Black Friday Blueprint Series. Keep an Eye on Our Blog for New Tips and Insights Each Week, as We Count Down to the Biggest Shopping Event of the Year.
With so much to prepare for Black Friday, the hardest part is knowing where to start. Luckily, the answer is actually quite simple: your 2021 reports. Before you dive into campaign planning for the upcoming holiday season, take some time to review last year’s performance. The more you know about your Black Friday shoppers, the better equipped you’ll be to meet their needs and deliver a high-converting experience.
Let’s take a look at five ecommerce reports and insights that you can take action on immediately for your Black Friday strategy.
1. Popular Searches
What terms did last year’s Black Friday shoppers search for? Pull a list of your top search queries across Cyber Weekend 2021 and review the product results that were served in response. Do shoppers repeatedly search for a product you don’t carry? Consider stocking it this year. Do customers look for “t-shirts” and fail to find your “crew necks”? Make sure synonyms are set up accordingly. Is “Black Friday sale” a top search term? Curate a dedicated landing page this year. Dig through your search query data and action the most common trends for 2022.
2. Zero Search Results
Did shoppers encounter “no results found” during Black Friday 2021? Take steps now to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Identify zero result search queries from last year and set up synonyms or redirects as needed. If misspellings are an issue, implement autocorrect and “did you mean” suggestions. For those search terms where you simply don’t have a relevant result, look at other ways to optimize your no results page. Highlight your best Black Friday offers, suggest alternative products, or guide shoppers to your most popular categories. Lastly, enable content search so shoppers can quickly locate your return policies and shipping info.
3. Category Insights
Which category pages did shoppers interact with most during Black Friday 2021? Delve into page views, time on page, bounce rates, exit rates, interactions, and page values for your top and bottom performing categories. Identify whether any quick wins will boost your under-performing areas from last year, and double down on the landing pages, messaging, and promotions that consistently resonate. Find opportunities to adapt your merchandising strategy for a more engaging product display this year. Try boosting best sellers, top rated products, or your biggest discounts to capture shoppers’ interest.
4. New vs Returning Visitors
Do your Black Friday shoppers consist of the same repeat customers you attract all year-round? Or do you experience an influx of new visitors at this time of year thanks to high-profile sales? While a spike in fresh customers is always welcome, their lifetime value is limited if they never return post-Black Friday. Focus on ways to turn last year’s seasonal shoppers into repeat customers if you want to extract maximum value from these visitors. For loyal shoppers who return again and again, consider an extra special incentive to reward them at this time of year.
5. Conversions & AOV
How does your Black Friday average order value (AOV) compare with the rest of the year? If it’s significantly lower, this could be a sign you need to upsell and cross-sell more over Cyber Weekend. Use product recommendations to surface personalized suggestions to shoppers. They might come to your site with one product in mind, and be pleasantly surprised to find you also stock other items on their holiday shopping list. Impulse purchases are at an all time high during sale periods, so boost product visibility to increase cart values.
Sell More with Powerful Ecommerce Reports and Insights this Black Friday
For informed Black Friday planning in 2022, look to the past for insights and ideas. To exceed previous years’ performance, retailers must make data-backed decisions about campaign strategies. Not getting the information you need from your current platform? Searchspring offers easy-to-interpret ecommerce reports and insights for a more meaningful understanding of your shopper behavior. Get in touch to learn more.
For even more Cyber Weekend tips, make sure to check out our Black Friday Webinar Series!
