5 Things Retail Store Should Prepare Before BFCM

The holidays are approaching quickly. Whether you’re getting ready for the holiday shopping season as a whole or for specific days like Black Friday, 2021 is shaping up to be a year of change and opportunity after the pandemic. Consumers have become habituated to purchasing on both online and offline platforms (especially online). During this This blog will discuss 5 things a retail store should prepare before BFCM (Black Friday Cyber Monday).

Prepare your store for traffic surge

The speed of your online store has an influence on your consumers’ shopping experience, conversion rate, and discoverability. Increases in online traffic can have an unpleasant side effect: they might cause your website to crash. 

To be better prepared for this sudden traffic surge, you can use tools to evaluate your site’s server load capacity and fine-tune your store. These tools can perform speed tests on your homepage, most-visited pages, and product pages. You’ll also get an idea of how your store’s pace compares to that of competitors.

Prepare for a long promotion period

With fewer door-buster offers on the horizon, online sales are expected to begin earlier and last longer than the BFCM weekend. According to an analysis in 2021, 65% of US customers plan to shop for the holidays before Thanksgiving.

With the popularity of eCommerce sites, online shopping will dominate this year’s largest shopping weekend. However, in the weeks and months prior to and after BFCM, there will still be promotions, as well as in-person shopping if local conditions allow. Therefore, it will be beneficial to prepare for a long promotion period, not just on the exact Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Build a seamless omnichannel experience

An omnichannel experience is highly essential if your retail store wants successful Black Friday sales. Functions such as buying online and picking up in-store make the shopping experience much more convenient and time-efficient. At the same time, the online and offline platforms can share the increasing traffic, thus preventing your store from being overcrowded.

Many retail businesses nowadays are using point of sale systems with omnichannel functions. If you are looking for one, ConnectPOS would be our recommendation for you. This system has powerful omnichannel tools such as buy online pick up in-store and real-time synchronization.

Protect your store from frauds

Every company is vulnerable to fraud. This is due to the fact that there are so many different types of fraud, ranging from thefts to internal frauds coming from the employees. Moreover, cybercriminals modify their tactics nearly as rapidly as cyber-security companies develop new products and services. This poses a need to actively protect retail stores from frauds before BFCM.

There are some steps that you can do to prevent fraud. You can, for example, safeguard your computer system by using passwords or backing up files. As for thefts coming from inside the company, it’s critical to select employees who are not just competent but also trustworthy while growing your team. Don’t rely only on references and professional experience. Perform a comprehensive background investigation.

Place your orders early

To avoid stockouts, it is advisable to place your orders early before BFCM. There is a high chance that your suppliers also have other retailers who get products from them. Therefore, if you want to make sure you have the most appealing stocks and prevent stockouts, place your orders early. A tip is to consult your past year or current sales trends to predict the number of your orders.

Conclusion

The keys to a successful Black Friday Cyber Monday are good preparation and planning. These checkpoints should cover the relevant information you’ll need for this year’s sale events. It should hopefully help retail store prepare for this BFCM season. 

If you want to know more about ConnectPOS, don’t hesitate to contact us for more information!