Top 5 BFCM trends this year
BFCM 2020 is a good reference to see how Covid-19 changes the game of the eCommerce revolution, as a year of big fluctuations and impacts. The Black Friday and Cyber Monday opportunity for the eCommerce industry is extensive, but how are businesses predicting shifts in customer behavior and expectations? To answer this question, our blog will help you figure out the emerging trends in BFCM this year! Top 5 BFCM trends in 2021 1. BFCM 2021 will start earlier and last longer Due to supply chain problems, customers are scrambling to get the products they desire. They are likely to start their Christmas shopping earlier than in pre-pandemic years. We will take 2020, the year that witnessed the influence of Covid-19 as an example, the BFCM was last until the end of the year. As a result of the supply-chain disruptions in 2020, many people are eager to get their hands on products that they couldn’t buy last year. Notably, 64% of US people believe it is critical to prepare money ahead for this event, according to a survey on Facebook. Therefore, many brands are providing offers sooner as customers will go shopping early. 2. The explosion of online shopping It is witnessed that, in the year 2021, the spending on the internet shopping has increased. Covid-19 expedited years of eCommerce revolution in only a few months, but we were undoubtedly going in that direction already. Consumers in the United States spent $200 billion on shopping online in 2020, up 44% from the previous year. Not only that, but e-commerce increased by 39% in the first quarter of 2021. Clearly, the online buying trends of 2021 will not be slowing down anytime soon! 3. More focus on digital experience BFCM has been redefining the way brands deal with digital experiences, but the pandemic has elevated the digital storefronts to the point where they may make or break a transaction from customers. Now shoppers more enjoy multichannel, immersive content and experiences. Also, they will continue to seek convenient, pandemic-precipitated hybrid experiences like “click and collect” and expedited delivery. An example of poor digital experience is you don’t send discount information emails to people that need it, but rather hitting people who don’t actually find it useful and they may feel disturbed. Thus, you will lose the opportunity to reach potential customers and loyal customers. Fortunately, BigCommerce platform has Atom8, which is an automation app. It can learn from your selling data history and helps merchants filter purchasing behavior to send promotion emails! Let’s explore Atom8 at: 4. Inventory management is more crucial in BFCM During regular business hours, mismanaged inventory leads to dissatisfied consumers and revenue loss. However, if inventory isn’t properly maintained during BFCM, the results might be considerably more devastating. Notably, it is predicted that customers will be coming to stores sooner than normal in 2021. Therefore, merchants must prepare for this surge by staying on top of inventory. In case you don’t have any idea of which item types should exist in your warehouse in large stock, see the 5 top items to sell for Black Friday. If you’re a BigCommerce merchant, in case your supplier can’t provide enough quantity or simply you don’t have enough items in stock, the BackOrder app will help you to prevent revenue loss and customer dissatisfaction! In case you don’t have available items, you can use BackOrder app to help. Your customers can purchase as normal and items will be shipped as soon as it’s available. To get more information about BackOrder, you can discover here: 5. Brand affinity is changing Customers now want to create relationships with businesses that represent their beliefs. Now Black Friday and Cyber Monday advertisements that focus primarily on purpose will be extremely successful. This is especially true for larger businesses with a strong platform to influence change. Regarding a survey from Cone/Porter Novelli, over 60% of customers would abandon their current brand loyalty to shop at a retailer that is transparently purpose-driven. Conclusion Above are five really important things for you to remember and keep in mind when facing the upcoming BFCM – the season of busy sales. Remember that, the duration of this festival will last longer. Plus, invest more in enhancing brand image to become more transparent and providing a great shopping experience. Another important thing, do not forget to prepare a large amount of inventory!