So, it’s quite possible you haven’t carved your first pumpkin yet, but it’s time to start thinking about the Super bowl of retail: Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM). Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday are all wonderful opportunities for your e-commerce business to  make money.

Last year, Shopify merchants around the world collectively sold over $1 billion during Black Friday Cyber Monday. But in order to take full advantage of this shopping spree, you need to be prepared.

Black Friday Cyber Monday: It’s time to prepare

Start planning now.

You need to prepare your online store for an influx of traffic, sales, orders to fill and support requests. And while all of that can feel overwhelming, if you get a jump on the preparations now, you’ll handle the event like a champ.

Shopify has updated their annual BFCM Toolbox and checklist which will help you take advantage of the biggest opportunities and side step issues.

Things you’ll want to do now to prepare:

1. Reach out to already existing customers and tell them about your upcoming sales event.
2. Organize your upcoming sales.
3. Create contingency plans
4. Test and/or ensure that your site can handle a surge in traffic.
5. Prepare for an increase in demand.
6. Create banners and images to advertise your holiday sales.
7. Plan ads and ad copy.
8. Create campaigns to build suspense and buzz around your upcoming sales.
9. Set up your abandoned cart emails.
10. Optimize your mobile site.
11. Request feedback on your site from users.
12. Place tracking pixels.
13. Retarget past visitors and customers to get them re-engaged.
14. Pitch to blogs and upcoming gift guide opportunities.
15. Go ahead and start your email marketing campaigns.
16. Plan out one huge doorbuster sale.
17. Create a plan to reward your most loyal customers.
18. Create a campaign of scarcity if possible.
19. Go ahead and integrate a live chat feature so you can have it mastered in time.
20. Prepare to operate with quick and courteous responses under high demand.
21. Determine your easy and hassle free return policy.
22. Set up your Google Analytics.
23. Get ultra familiar with your Shopify reports.
24. Set up heatmaps or other advanced user/traffic tracking services.
25. Check out your competition.
26. Have a plan in place to turn seasonal shoppers into year-round customers.
27. Do some reflection post BFCM to determine what worked and what didn’t.

Are you ready to get started and rock your own e-commerce business? Get in touch. We’re Arya Creative, a branding, web design and development agency who specializes in e-commerce and Shopify.