Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) is the busiest shopping season in countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. Merchants are eager to make the best of BFCM 2022, starting on November 25. Shopify, the biggest e-commerce platform, has come up with analytics from the yesteryear to help merchants maximise sales amid a tough competition.
In a blog published on shopify.com, the Canada-based platform shared some analytics insights:
- $6.3 Billion: It is the total sales of Shopify merchants during the BFCM 2021. Most of these sellers were independent store owners. According to Shopify, a data-driven planning as early as possible can help you gain big in the upcoming BFCM 2022.
- Shopify Reports: Shopify compiles sales data for your online store and present reports to help you understand the recent trends. If you access carefully, these insights from the past can ensure a better performance in future.
Here’s how you can make the best of Shopify Analytics
1. Target Audience
First thing first, before you start your campaigns for the BFCM 2022, make sure who you are targeting for sales this festive shopping season. Also, don’t copy your competitors as something that has worked for your competitors may not work for you. Define your goals and target audience first and see how BFCM 2022 is going to influence or affect them.
Set realistic goals for the upcoming BFCM based on traffic, sales and orders placed during the last BFCM. With your Shopify data from the past, you can easily evaluate market trends such as rising cost of living, customer acquisition cost and recessionary pressure. Analyse the current microeconomic landscape and plan a BFCM strategy accordingly.
2. Reality Check
Before the season kicks in, make sure you check all business flaws. Track the health of your business from the yesteryear data and try to fix the loopholes. Visit the Analytics overview dashboard on Shopify to check metrics like total sales, conversion rate, orders, order value and top selling products.
The Analytics now offers a time period comparison feature so help you analyse your business health across different time periods.
3. Stock Smartly
What if you don’t have a product, demand of which has suddenly soared during BFCM. Boom! You are gone. You are going to miss out on a huge opportunity to turnaround your fortune. So how do you decide what to keep and what not to keep in inventory?
Here’s Pareto principle to your rescue. Like it states “80% of consequences come from 20% of causes,” Shopify believes 80 percent of your total revenue comes from the 20% top-selling products. So, stock up on your high-selling products before the busiest season. Avoid showing a ‘sold out’ sign on your store.
Besides filling up popular stock, put heavy discount on excess inventory so that less popular items also get cleared in the sales.
4. ABC Analysis
ABC analysis is a popular technique to manage inventory. It suggests “A items” to be kept in accurate records, “B items” in decent records and “C items” in minimal records. You can identify your top products using ABC analysis. Shopify reports provide metrics like sell-through rates, which help you calculate how fast your top selling products get sold out.
The fulfillment and returns data on Shopify Analytics help you calculate the number of orders received with a purchase rate. A smart understanding of your inventory will give you an upper hand this holiday shopping season.
5. Right Promotion
Advertising costs are rising as we approach BFCM 2022. Every store wants to feature its ad on the top of its competitors. Some are ready to pay a huge price for that. But you don’t necessarily need to spend more to highlight your Shopify store. Just look into the yesteryear data and amplify what worked for you and leave what didn’t during BFCM 2021.
With the right set of promotions, you can decide discounts to boost your sales. Eighter keep it the same as last year or change as per the rising cost. Try to play fair with your audience. Shopify Analytics will not only help you make discounts strategy for this BFCM but for a longer run.
