For many merchants, Black Friday Cyber Monday planning started months ago. While you don’t need to let the rush pressure you into a bad decision—BFCM is just the start of the rest of the holiday shopping season, after all—you can still participate as an independent merchant by employing a little creativity. From one last-minute junkie to another, a tight deadline is a great motivator. Here’s your 3-step guide to planning and executing a last-minute Black Friday Cyber Monday promotion. 1. Plan Are you ready? Is your store in a good state to handle a surge in sales? Printful has your back when your store floods with traffic, but the rest is up to you. Do you have the inventory? Do you have the infrastructure in place to handle an uptick in customer service inquiries? Can you ship everything on time? If you answered “yes”, let’s get rolling! What’s your offer? While customers expect steep deals, you 👏 are 👏 not 👏 Wal-Mart. Drastically slashing prices just isn’t feasible for most small businesses. There are other meaningful ways to participate in BFCM and still reward your customers without making a huge dent in your bottom line. Win-win. How much will your discount be? Will it apply to everything or specific collections or products? Are there other ways to reward your customers without killing your margin? There are several options, including: Unique coupon codes for specific customer groups Site-wide sale with a universal coupon code Sale products or collections (no code required) Gift or gift card with minimum purchase Free shipping Implementation You can implement and communicate your plan in a number of ways. If your offer itself isn’t a “door crasher”, your approach can still create some buzz. Make it creative and interactive, inspire urgency or anticipation, and consider exclusive loyalty offers. Here are some ideas (with real examples from other retailers) to inspire your own campaign: Gift guide or gift-giving themes: Remind your customers of the impending holiday season, and the urgency to start shopping. Link to holiday-themed or gift-giving collections. Studies show that consumers are eager for holiday content as early as Halloween. What are the terms and conditions of your offer? How will you communicate terms clearly to your customers to avoid disappointment or customer service nightmares? 💡 TIPS: Establish clear start and end dates and times for each offer. What is the discount? Is there a minimum order value to be eligible for the deal? Set conditions on the Discounts page. Are there any excluded products? Clearly identify these terms in your fine print. Is the offer exclusive to certain customers or regions? Targeted email communication is best for this type of deal. If you’re offering free shipping, are any countries excluded? This is also a good time to set up your shipping calendar with order-by dates to receive products in time for Christmas. Schedule Create a content calendar for your campaign that accounts for every step. When will social posts and emails deploy? What will be scheduled automatically and what tasks will be implemented manually. Do you have a team? Who is responsible for what? Set up your sale collections to launch on time using Future Publishing. Be sure to schedule email and social communication throughout the campaign—teasers, reminders, and “last chance” notifications. My Etsy Shop