This Black Friday and Cyber Monday, more consumers than ever will be using their mobile devices. Learn how you can break through digital clutter, stay top-of-mind, and drive conversions throughout the busy week.
Mobile is expected to play the starring role this holiday season. In fact, Adobe’s 2020 Holiday Forecast found that 42% of all online shopping has been done from smartphones—up 55% from last year. By the end of 2020, mobile devices are expected to drive $28 billion more revenue than the 2019 holiday season.
As consumers increasingly embrace mobile, they’re using their mobile devices at every stage of the customer journey—from researching products and comparing prices, to making purchases and tracking shipping notifications. According to our recent survey of 2,000 consumers, 80% plan to use their smartphones while shopping online for gifts, with nearly half relying primarily on mobile.
On Black Friday 2019, 142.2 million consumers shopped online in the US. Nearly 10 months after the start of the global pandemic, that number is expected to rise drastically as shoppers continue to embrace online shopping for its ease and safety. Now, with 66% of shoppers planning to increase their online purchases this Cyber Week, it’s vital that brands have a strategy to reach shoppers on the busiest shopping days of the year.
With this in mind, we’ve pulled together four strategies you can implement to break through the digital noise to reach your audience, stay top of mind, and drive conversions during what’s expected to be a record-breaking Cyber Week:
1. Create a sense of urgency
While in-store doorbuster sales traditionally marked the official start of the holiday season, the ongoing
Create a mobile doorbuster experience to build excitement and ensure your brand is top-of-mind over the historically busy shopping weekend. Send your SMS subscribers a new limited-time offer each morning and encourage them to “take advantage of the deal while it lasts.” Recreating this traditional shopping experience is a playful way to capture subscribers’ attention and drive conversions over the course of Cyber Week.
2. Treat mobile subscribers like VIPs
As consumers turn to their mobile devices to shop this Black Friday and Cyber Monday, they’ll likely be inundated with communication from a number of brands. Personalized text messaging empowers you to directly engage and deepen relationships with your most loyal customers. By leveraging the unique benefits of text messaging, you can break through the Cyber Week noise to drive conversions.
If your brand offers promotions, treat your subscribers like VIPs by sending them an “early access” text message to shop Black Friday deals before anyone else. And, because shoppers are especially price-conscious this year and are looking for value, consider extending free shipping offers to your active subscribers.
If your brand doesn’t send promotional messages, highlight gift wrapping options. They’ll appreciate the extra work you’re putting in to make the holidays special, and your online shopping experience will be set apart.
3. Inspire shoppers with virtual gift guides
Product discovery will look different this year: while shoppers traditionally discovered must-have items while browsing in-store, this year 68% of shoppers will browse new products on their mobile devices.
Help your text messaging subscribers find the perfect gifts by highlighting popular items in a virtual guide optimized for mobile. By curating themed lists of complementary items—from personal styles to hobbies—you’ll be able to inspire shoppers and promote cross-selling initiatives. Include a link back to a landing page with the featured items so text messaging subscribers can easily purchase their favorites.
4. Send triggered messages to automatically drive revenue
75% of online shopping carts are abandoned by consumers before they complete their purchase. During the busy Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotional window, this number is sure to increase. Triggered abandoned cart reminders allow you to recover otherwise lost revenue that impacts your brand’s bottom line—without any extra work.
Set up a triggered abandoned cart message before Black Friday so you can remind your subscribers of the items they’ve left in their shopping cart. Include the name of the product waiting for them and link directly back to their cart so they can immediately complete their purchase. Bonus tip: include a dynamic image of the product they’ve left behind to increase your conversion rate.
This SMS strategy is the gift that keeps on giving: once this triggered message is set up, it’ll send automatically—so you can drive conversions, even in your sleep.
Implementing some—or all—of these personalized text messaging strategies will help you engage shoppers and drive conversions during the busiest shopping days of the year. Discover more strategies and tips to stay top-of-mind and drive incremental revenue this holiday season in our in-depth 2020 Holiday Planning Hub.