5 Black Friday and Cyber Monday Tips for FBA Sellers

The holiday season is the perfect time of the year for increasing sales and income on Amazon. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are often the busiest periods during this season. More customers are shopping online, so it only makes sense to discuss some selling tips to get your Amazon store ready for the Holiday rush and make the most of it.  

If you're an Amazon seller, you're undoubtedly trying to figure out how to boost your sales on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

These are days when sellers, both online and offline, offer huge discounts on everything from toys to electronics, cosmetics to clothes, and, of course, all the newest hot items to get ahead on the sales in the market. It's only normal that you don't want to miss this train.

So, how do you make your products stand out in a sea of Amazon among so many competitors? In this article, we have 5 Black Friday and Cyber Monday Tips for FBA Sellers.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday Stats

Before we start, here are some statistics on why Black Friday and Cyber Monday are important.

• Amazon had the biggest market share of online sales on Black Friday in 2019. (SaleCycle)
  

• According to Statista's data, online Cyber ​​Monday sales have increased at least 10 times since 2005. 
  

• Black Friday 2019 was the busiest day for in-store activity during the Thanksgiving weekend with 84.2 million shoppers. On the other hand, 93.2 million customers shopped online during Black Friday 2019. (National Retail Federation, 2019)
  

• According to Statista, Cyber Monday online sales increased at least 10 percent every year when compared to the previous year. 

• Black Friday 2019 marked a 246% increase in sales, and Cyber Monday 2019 marked a 327% increase in sales compared to the 15 days average of sales before Black Friday. Since Black Friday, the sales on Cyber Monday increased by 32% after a drop on the weekend bridging the two events. (DataHawk, 2019)

• The online Holiday purchases in the US in 2020 grew 32.2% compared to 2019. (Adobe via CNBC, 2021)

• Online sales have reached $10 billion on Cyber Monday. This is the biggest eCommerce day in US history. (Adobe via CNBC, 2020)

As you can see from the charts above, Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales are expanding year after year. We understand that getting your shop ready for Black Friday isn't easy, and it does need meticulous planning. However, it is worth the effort.

Black Friday is a massive thing for eCommerce. Despite the fact that the day was not intended for internet shopping, it appears that customers are departing from the usual. You can expect this year to be no different, and so, you must take full advantage of it.

The Effect of Pandemic and Amazon’s New Inventory Restrictions 

Every year is a significant time for Amazon sellers. For every Amazon business owner, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the rest of the season are breathtakingly amazing times.

To add to that, COVID-19 outbreak drew even more people online in the last 24 months. After the effects of the pandemic, internet sales have surged, with more people than ever opting for e-commerce. 

While some customers may be cutting down on spending as a result of the pandemic's economic effects, internet sales still increased significantly. 

In addition, due to increased demand, Amazon's FBA procedure for accepting shipments generally slows down over the holidays. As a result, Amazon sellers will require a strategic plan to stay on top of the rising demand, especially in 2021 when the platform's new inventory constraints take effect. 

Therefore, you should consider everything comprehensively and ensure the inventory is available for the upcoming events.

Cyber Monday and Black Friday Tips for Amazon FBA sellers

1- Be Sure That You Have Enough Inventory

No one wants to have insufficient stock during the biggest sales season of the year. Therefore, it is useful to be cautious and combine your predictions with statistics to ensure you have enough inventory.

One of the reasons you have to prepare early for Black Friday and Cyber Monday is that holiday logistics constraints are still expected due to ongoing pandemic and seasonal demand. Unfortunately, freight costs have skyrocketed, and also Black Friday is about to come, so Amazon Fulfillment Centers will be slow to receive inventory. This means it is absolutely a bad time to reinforce your FBA stock because it is too late. But no worries, you can use FBM to compensate for this problem.

Having enough stock on Black Friday and Cyber Monday is critical. So, when planning your inventory, keep in mind these suggestions:

• Avoid Sending Low-Margin Stock

Send in your best-selling SKUs first, then prioritize profitable SKUs. Also, keep an eye out for high-traffic areas and stock up there.

• Make FBM Inventory Listings

Because Amazon may not receive all of your inventory on time, set up an FBM listing linked to your 3PL. This is a backup plan in case your FBA listings run out of stock.

2- Holiday and Mobile Listing Optimization

A+ Contents, customer reviews, and ratings are the most essential things to magnetize customers. Make sure that you optimize your listings before your Black Friday and Cyber Monday advertising goes live.

You should also prepare your product photographs for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, especially for your hero image.  To guarantee you have the best photos, examine your competitors and do some A/B tests to see what makes people choose one product over another.

Using high-quality visual effects to enhance your photographs can help customers understand your product without having to read a lot of text. Infographics are a wonderful method to do this. The addition of text and other crucial product features to the images will assist in providing the consumer with all of the information they require.

Furthermore, the Amazon mobile application is frequently used by most customers to purchase. You should always optimize your listings for mobile because over 80% of consumers under 40 and 66% of those over 40 plan to use their phones to buy things. 

In consequence, your photos will be the first thing that shoppers view when they open the app. Provide valuable content including graphs, size charts, and ingredient lists. Consider everything your buyer could want to know and involve it in your visuals.

3 - Prepare Deals and Coupons 

Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions are an excellent strategy to entice customers to visit your listing and buy your product. Products also sell better following a promotion since they appear higher in the search results. This helps you win the Buy Box and increase your CTR.

It's too late to post Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals now. However, you can provide Prime-exclusive discounts or just lower your rates during the day. 

Prime-exclusive deals are even better because they have more potential to reach and mesmerize customers.

You should take advantage of deals and coupons to beat competitors as customers regard price as their top influencing factor.

4- Increase and Optimize Your Ads

You should aim for conversions in your advertising and avoid spending money on low-converting keywords. In other words, delete keywords that cost more than your ACOS threshold and don't convert into sales.

Use Prime Day data to optimize your ads for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Examine your items, campaigns, keywords, and ad groups' performance.

During Black Friday and Cyber Monday, you may double or triple your ad budget, depending on how giftable your product is. If you offer promotions, increasing your PPC expenditure on that day for that ASIN will increase exposure and sales. 

You can promote your products via Sponsored Ads.  Use Sponsored Display Ads to retarget people who visited your listing before Black Friday and Cyber Monday. By increasing your retargeting pool after the holidays, you can continue driving purchases even after the festive rush.

Make sure your advertisements run all day on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. During these weeks, you'll see a spike in online purchasing, so make sure your products appear at the top of the search results!

5- Keep an Eye on Your Sales and Performance

Finally, keep an eye on how your items are being sold and make any necessary changes to your listing or PPC advertising.

If your inventory is selling out quicker than you planned, consider sending in extra FBA inventory or using an FBA alternate warehouse to ship out FBM orders if your FBA storage is full.

You can examine your PPC campaigns to see whether bids for specific keywords are raising or sales are falling short of expectations.

You should also keep an eye on the general health and functionality of your account. Take care of any issues as soon as they emerge to avoid any downtime for your listings.

Conclusion

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are expected to be busier than ever before in 2021. As a result, make sure you follow the measures indicated above to be prepared for the sales surge. 

You will be fine as long as you've organized your inventory, put up offers and coupons, optimized your listings, and had a solid Amazon advertising strategy.

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