Black Friday Bedlam: 4 Ways Tech Can Help Navigate the Chaos in Retail

With Black Friday just weeks away, retailers are keen to find ways to increase sales and gain an edge over the competition as we head towards the festive season. Approaching one of the most important shopping holidays of the year, which sees shoppers consumed by more deals and promotions than they can count, retailers need to ensure that they’re reaching the right audiences, delivering relevant offers, and providing a streamlined and enjoyable experience – all while remaining profitable. Technology can play a pivotal role in enabling that.

In this blog, we explore four ways retailers can use technology to navigate the chaos of Black Friday and maximize their success ahead of the festive shopping season.

Personalized Services and Customer Service with CRM

Whether in-store or online, it’s essential that retailer businesses make customers feel valued. Shopping is a dynamic experience – from discovery to purchase – and personalized experiences are key to retaining and attracting customers. While the main focus for Black Friday is typically on providing the best deals and offers, retailers who can create personalized offers and tailored discounts for their customers can stand out from the competition by providing additional value on an individual basis.

By implementing a secure customer relationship management (CRM) system, retailers can create a single source of information around every customer. An integrated CRM system can stay up to date with real-time data of what customers prefer, sourced from both online and offline sales channels.

Using this real-time data of purchasing habits and interests, retailers can position Black Friday deals that personally align with shoppers right in front of them. This makes shoppers feel welcomed and valued, and importantly, also leads to increased opportunities for sales.

Omnichannel Strategy to Drive Retail Sales

Today’s shopper uses multiple channels when searching for the best deals during Black Friday. Retailers must understand where customers engage, discover and buy to create a consistent omnichannel strategy that provides a flexible and seamless way for customers to make their purchases seamlessly.

Black Friday is hectic, and consumers want to complete their shopping with as little friction as possible. A robust omnichannel offering allows them to shop in the way that suits them best. Whether online, on the shop floor, or through buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS), by providing a range of fulfilment options for potential customers, retailers can facilitate frictionless purchases, encouraging more sales opportunities while delivering exceptional experiences.

Flexible Mobile POS

Bustling stores are common during Black Friday – a good sign for retailers, but often a painful one for customers, with long queues and waiting times severely impacting their shopping experience.

To reduce checkout times in retail stores and optimize the time of in-store associates, retailers can deploy a user friendly mobile point-of-sale (POS) system. Equipped with a mobile POS solution, retailers can provide customers with a seamless experience, capable of completing transactions from anywhere in-store. Sales associates can approach customers, handle any queries or issues, and complete transactions in seconds on the spot before greeting the next customer.

Mobile POS minimizes in-store queue times and allows retailers to deliver a speedy, high-quality customer experience; perfect for heavy foot traffic around Cyber Weekend. 

Inventory and Order Management to Fulfill Demand

Running out of stock of popular items on Black Friday is a retailer’s worst nightmare. An efficient inventory management operation is crucial for success during any retail peak. Retailers can use predictive analytics, leveraging a range of historical trend data, to forecast which of their products will be in high demand during Black Friday. From here, they only need to ensure they have ordered an adequate amount of the right stock to ensure they are optimizing their returns.

With inventory levels accounted for, retailers must also focus on how they will fulfill the flurry of Black Friday sales. By integrating an order management system that can be directly connected to their ecommerce platform, retailers can gain access to a flexible and automated solution that generates shipments, allowing orders to be placed from multiple locations and fulfilled from anywhere. 

An order management system that helps streamline order processing and fulfilment from the most convenient location for the customer is essential to enhancing their overall experience, and helps cement their loyalty to the brand. 

Preparation is Key

As Black Friday approaches, retailers need to ensure that they are utilizing the latest technology to drive sales, give amazing store experiences, and improve customer satisfaction. The festive shopping season may arrive with the expectation of a surge in sales, but retailers can’t afford to rest on their laurels when facing today’s highly demanding consumers in this heavily contested retail industry.

Want to know more about how tech can help you make the most of Black Friday? Click here to discover more.