There are a massive number of flash sales occurring every shopping holiday season such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas, etc. Yearly, Americans spend $2.5 billion on thousands of such limited-time deals. Hence, with eCommerce businesses, flash sales are a great way to generate more sales. Are you seeking a guide to running a successful flash sale on your BigCommerce store? Take a deep dive into this article to get what you are looking for.
Today, let’s find out the details of How To Run A Successful Flash Sale On BigCommerce with SmartOSC through the article below!
What is a flash sale and how does it benefit your BigCommerce business?
A flash sale is a discount or promotion that eCommerce stores run. It only exists for a short period (usually around 1 to 3 days). Additionally, the sale may offer higher discounts or promotions than normal, offer a limited selection, or a limited quantity of a specific item. It is considered one of the effective marketing techniques to increase your sales quickly. The effect of this is based on the attractive discounts your store offers and customers’ psychology of FOMO (the fear of missing out). Higher discounts and urgency tap into customers’ fear of missing out, which leads to impulse buying.
A flash sale plays an important role in eCommerce business strategy because it brings great benefits.
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- Generate more revenue
The combination of special discounts and a limited time motivate visitors to make a purchase.
- Acquire new customers
Visitors may like your products and the deals you have to offer. They could return to your website to make additional purchases.
- Get rid of excess inventory
Flash sales are a good time for you to unload inventory that has been in stock for too long. For example, you can sell out last winter masses before a new winter comes in.
- Increase brand awareness
A marketing campaign for the flash sale makes your brand get visible to the public, resulting in increased brand awareness.
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How to make a profitable flash sale
Now that you know what a flash sale is and how it benefits your eCommerce business. Let’s look at how to run it successfully.
01. Prepare for the flash sale
Before running your sale, it is imperative to plan and prepare carefully for what you are going to do. This step involves:
- Check your stock
On a flash sale, products may sell out quicker than you expect. Thus, check it carefully to make sure you have enough inventory in stock for the people who want to buy. An early out-of-stock of a discount item will leave shoppers with a negative experience.
- Prepare your operations team
Although the sale only takes place in a short time, you should have a team in charge of the campaign. There are more things to do than you think. Thus, organize your operations team in advance and ensure all the members will coordinate smoothly.
- Prepare for handling high traffic spikes
During a flash sale, e-tailers usually experience massive surges in traffic when a large number of shoppers visit their site. A technical stack ensures that your site can accommodate a spike in traffic without any downtime.
- Prepare for shipping and delivery
People often suffer from waiting too long for the item they purchase. Therefore, prepare ahead for mass shipping to offer customers a seamless experience.
02. Segment types of customers
For a flash sale, you should only focus on two types: loyal customers and potential customers.
For loyal customers
- Send your loyal customers an email to your subscription list or private fan group.
- Segment your list clearly to avoid uncomfortable situations. Don’t send emails to customers who already purchased the products you offer a massive discount. They don’t like seeing other people get the same item for 50% less.
- Send an email to remind customers who haven’t purchased an item from your store for a long time and encourage people who abandoned carts to continue their transaction.
For new potential customers
- Include an inventory count-down on your flash product page. A shopper may buy your product when seeing many others do.
- Send emails to disengaged customers and new members who haven’t made their first purchase yet.
03. Schedule your deal
You need to set the time when your flash sale will start and end. Note that your flash sale period should be short. Research shows that:
- Two-hour flash sales result in an email-open rate 14% higher than average.
- Three-hour flash sales have the best transaction to click rates 59% higher.
Nevertheless, we suggest you use an automation tool like Atom8 to schedule your flash sale period in advance. Bigcommerce automation Atom8 will help you publish/unpublish products/categories on schedule, auto-change sale prices, publish/unpublish content and banner ads, auto-switch themes, auto-segment customers, etc.
Find out here to know why we said Atom8 is a good solution for your flash sale campaign and get a FREE demo.
04. Promote the flash sale
It’s vital to drum up excitement for your sale early to build anticipation. The more eyes on your campaign, the better it is. You should start promoting around one week before the flash sale launch because your audience will forget if it is longer than that period.
Some methods to promote your sale are:
- Post about the flash sale on social media.
- Reach out to influencers or third-parties publishers.
- Launch a pay-per-click ad campaign.
Final note
A flash sale is a smart and effective marketing strategy when implemented correctly. It creates a boost in revenue, decreases overstocked items, and generates leads. However, it can take more effort to plan and carry out. We hope that our guide will help you make the best of your flash sale.