11.15.2012

6 Tips for Preparing Your Online Business for Black Friday and CyberMonday


This month is cruising by and it's hard to believe that Thanksgiving (here in America) is next Thursday (11/22), which means Black Friday and Cyber Monday are quickly approaching.

I usually travel on Black Friday (11/23) and Cyber Monday (11/26) because I did a show in Minneapolis, MN over that weekend, but I decided to not participate this year and I will be home to work my Etsy shop all weekend!


The plan is to have continuous sales all weekend, so I have been reading up on some tips for preparing my Etsy shop for this busy time. I thought I would share a few of the ideas I found helpful.



Are you planning on having a sale? Give yourself enough time to get your shop set up. Don't forget to change your announcements with your offer, and your policy page. Also make sure your titles and tags have all the right keywords so you can easily be found in searches.

Change a few of your tags to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and if you are offering free shipping. Several people will use those as keywords to find shops that are having sales. One tip, you don't need to change your tags on every single item, just a few of your best pieces should do the trick.

Stock up your shop, and build up your inventory. The more items you have the better, and you won't have to worry about making piece during your busy weekend of filling orders.

Prepare a shipping station. Have all the supplies you need ready to go so you can quickly pack orders as you get them.

Create a plan for doing social media, so you know where you want to spend your time and how often you want to post. You don't want having to be on social media suck up all the time in your day.

Don't forget about Shop Local Saturday or Small Business Saturday (11/24). You could have a special sale just for your local customers.



If you are prepared, you will be busy all weekend and have some fun. Planning ahead is a great way to make sure you are ready for lots of sales and a successful holiday weekend!

Are you ready for Black Friday and Cyber Monday?


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7 comments:

  1. Thank you for the tips Valerie, they will certainly come in hand as I prepare!

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  2. I am so not ready and need to. It's just that the last time I listed on Etsy it was so incredibly cumbersome and time consuming that I've been reluctant to reopen. I mean seriously pages and pages of information to fill out. I have no idea how to estimate shipping, and I can't even offer shipping out of the USA b/c I don't know what that will cost either.

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  3. I haven't finished the official details yet, but I'll be running a special on Small Business Saturday :)

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  4. Thanks for all of the great tips! Best of luck to you this Black Friday.

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  5. great tips! I am running a Black Friday Weekend sale in my B&M shop. Haven't thought much about online. Probably should tho. Thanks for the push.

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  6. Great tips! I'm SO not ready, but I've got to get started, and these tips are very helpful. Thanks!
    ~Kim

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  7. I am trying to get stocked up as we speak! Normally, my shop is slow over the weekend, but Cyber Monday kicks off the busy season... And Normally... I wing it. This is the first year I've worked on stocking up in advance, so I'm hoping things will go much smoother and I'll have more time for socializing. ;)

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Your thoughts and ideas are an important part of the conversation, thanks for sharing!