1 00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:08,560 My name is Matt Edmundson and you are listening to the eCommerce Podcast. 2 00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:14,410 Now, today we are kick-starting a new mini series, a brand new mini series. 3 00:00:14,840 --> 00:00:17,000 All about Black Friday. 4 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:20,390 And granted this whole miniseries thing is a little bit different to how we 5 00:00:20,390 --> 00:00:23,060 normally do, uh, key eCommerce Podcast. 6 00:00:23,060 --> 00:00:26,839 I'll grant you that, but I think it's gonna be really, really 7 00:00:26,839 --> 00:00:30,710 helpful as we aplo, approach, approach, approach Black Friday. 8 00:00:30,979 --> 00:00:31,354 And yes. 9 00:00:32,220 --> 00:00:35,280 I know it's August, but that's exactly the point, isn't it? 10 00:00:35,550 --> 00:00:38,910 Because whilst everyone else is thinking about, you know, summer holidays 11 00:00:38,910 --> 00:00:42,600 and what books to read on the beach, whether you should read a Kindle book 12 00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:44,214 or a real book, and that whole debate. 13 00:00:44,980 --> 00:00:49,000 I think the smartest eCommerce o operators are gonna be planning their 14 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:51,250 biggest sales period of the year. 15 00:00:51,370 --> 00:00:52,150 Yes, I do. 16 00:00:52,630 --> 00:00:56,920 So hopefully this year we can avoid the usual panic, uh, just before Black 17 00:00:56,920 --> 00:01:00,730 Friday and use the time that we have, which is normally downtime, just to 18 00:01:00,730 --> 00:01:05,740 chew on a few things, to mull on a few things and get ourselves ready. 19 00:01:05,740 --> 00:01:07,870 So that's what this series is all about, shorter episodes. 20 00:01:08,650 --> 00:01:12,370 Much more condensed, much more bite-sized, gonna help you throughout August. 21 00:01:12,759 --> 00:01:17,289 Now, if you have listened to, uh, last week's episode, you'll have heard me 22 00:01:17,289 --> 00:01:22,389 talk about some of the changes that we are bringing to the eCommerce Podcast. 23 00:01:22,539 --> 00:01:25,930 Some of the really exciting changes actually, and I'm very excited about it. 24 00:01:26,289 --> 00:01:30,190 Uh, and this mini series is kicking us into that. 25 00:01:30,190 --> 00:01:32,889 So if you're regular to the show, you go Matt, a miniseries. 26 00:01:32,889 --> 00:01:33,729 What's this all about? 27 00:01:33,759 --> 00:01:35,829 You did this episode last week, solo. 28 00:01:36,230 --> 00:01:37,400 What's going on this week? 29 00:01:37,430 --> 00:01:38,600 Well, I'm glad you're asking. 30 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:39,830 I'm glad you want to know. 31 00:01:40,130 --> 00:01:45,560 Uh, these episodes are actually, uh, repurpose content from our 32 00:01:45,590 --> 00:01:47,270 e-commerce cohorts group Now. 33 00:01:48,910 --> 00:01:51,669 If you've been around for a while, you know, you will know that we 34 00:01:51,669 --> 00:01:56,679 ran a paid membership group called eCommerce Cohort, and for the last 35 00:01:56,679 --> 00:01:59,650 couple of months I've been talking about how it's now free to join. 36 00:01:59,739 --> 00:02:03,070 Yes, I have, uh, we've been changing it around. 37 00:02:03,100 --> 00:02:05,769 eCommerce Cohort is no longer a paid community. 38 00:02:06,130 --> 00:02:09,130 Uh, that community that we ran for a number of years, we've decided 39 00:02:09,130 --> 00:02:11,200 to repurpose both the content. 40 00:02:11,290 --> 00:02:15,820 Uh, we're gonna bring some of that to the podcast, uh, but also the name. 41 00:02:16,085 --> 00:02:17,825 So we're still using e-commerce Cohort. 42 00:02:17,825 --> 00:02:19,655 It's just getting a bit of an overhaul. 43 00:02:20,045 --> 00:02:23,705 Uh, like I said, I've been talking about this for the past few weeks on the show, 44 00:02:24,125 --> 00:02:29,015 and the reason, you know, is well, it's all in our plans to sort of release 45 00:02:29,015 --> 00:02:31,775 a lot of this content all for free. 46 00:02:32,195 --> 00:02:35,945 Uh, and it's now in the new e-commerce Cohort, uh, which you can find out 47 00:02:35,945 --> 00:02:39,545 more information about actually on eCommerce Podcast dot net. 48 00:02:39,845 --> 00:02:42,605 That's what we're doing because as you know, I talked about this last week. 49 00:02:42,900 --> 00:02:46,710 All good stuff that we just want to put out there, rather than just having it 50 00:02:46,770 --> 00:02:51,660 gather, you know, the old digital dust behind some paywalls that's not say. 51 00:02:53,305 --> 00:02:55,975 We are permanently changing e eCommerce Podcast. 52 00:02:55,975 --> 00:02:56,485 We're not at all. 53 00:02:56,515 --> 00:03:00,685 This is just a temporary, uh, little miniseries to help you whilst 54 00:03:00,685 --> 00:03:02,005 I'm away on holiday in August. 55 00:03:02,005 --> 00:03:04,015 If you don't know, I take the whole month of August off. 56 00:03:04,435 --> 00:03:06,025 Uh, it's a sabbatical thing that I've done. 57 00:03:06,025 --> 00:03:09,985 I've written about it on LinkedIn if you wanna know more, um, and why I do that. 58 00:03:10,315 --> 00:03:14,215 Um, but like I say, I, I use August to think about all kinds of things. 59 00:03:14,215 --> 00:03:16,465 One of them is gonna be Black Friday, just to mull on some ideas. 60 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:19,230 Uh, and so yeah, we're about to get into it. 61 00:03:19,230 --> 00:03:20,850 Practical, actionable content. 62 00:03:20,850 --> 00:03:24,690 No fluff, no theory, just real strategies that we've used to generate. 63 00:03:24,690 --> 00:03:27,929 Let me tell you, an awful lot of sales on Black Friday across 64 00:03:28,019 --> 00:03:29,940 multiple different platforms. 65 00:03:30,149 --> 00:03:33,269 It's not an easy word to say apparently, uh, for multiple different types of 66 00:03:33,269 --> 00:03:35,910 businesses, uh, including actually. 67 00:03:36,714 --> 00:03:40,434 Businesses that didn't run Black Friday campaigns, they decided to opt out. 68 00:03:40,434 --> 00:03:45,684 I'm gonna talk about that in this episode as well, uh, which I find fascinating. 69 00:03:45,744 --> 00:03:50,545 So this is the first episode in the mini series all about creating 70 00:03:50,545 --> 00:03:52,795 compelling offers that actually convert. 71 00:03:53,395 --> 00:03:58,765 And how we should avoid just discounting our way to a zero margin. 72 00:03:59,125 --> 00:04:01,315 Now, as I said, they're a little bit different. 73 00:04:01,555 --> 00:04:02,665 The format's different. 74 00:04:02,665 --> 00:04:06,175 If you use to the show, this is some teaching content that I actually 75 00:04:06,175 --> 00:04:09,594 did four cohorts about Black Friday. 76 00:04:09,594 --> 00:04:15,084 There's four episodes plus a bonus q and a. We're gonna release all of those. 77 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:19,420 So if you, uh, wanna stay connected with this, if you wanna stay, you 78 00:04:19,420 --> 00:04:21,700 know, connected with what's going on, make sure you like and subscribe. 79 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:23,380 You know, because why would you not? 80 00:04:23,380 --> 00:04:23,620 Right? 81 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:28,750 And if you are the kind of chap or chap PE that likes to learn visually, you 82 00:04:28,750 --> 00:04:32,440 know, if you, if you need to see things, uh, make sure you check out the YouTube 83 00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:36,550 channel because this teaching had quite a few slides, which you'll also get to see. 84 00:04:37,070 --> 00:04:41,480 On the video, 'cause I know most, like 99.98% of you 85 00:04:41,480 --> 00:04:43,100 listen to this in audio format. 86 00:04:43,490 --> 00:04:46,670 Um, uh, but you know, if you haven't done so already, go check out the YouTube 87 00:04:46,670 --> 00:04:48,380 channel and you can see the slides. 88 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:51,050 Uh, definitely worth doing, especially if you're like me, 89 00:04:51,050 --> 00:04:52,370 you like to see stuff visually. 90 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:56,180 Also, before we get into it, I appreciate this is a long introduction. 91 00:04:56,210 --> 00:04:57,200 They won't all be this long. 92 00:04:57,200 --> 00:04:58,640 I'm just introducing the miniseries. 93 00:04:59,025 --> 00:05:04,065 Um, I'm really curious to know what you think about this type of format, uh, for 94 00:05:04,065 --> 00:05:08,265 the show, like these little miniseries with bite-sized practical bits of content. 95 00:05:08,804 --> 00:05:11,445 'cause if you like them, then we can release more and more stuff 96 00:05:11,474 --> 00:05:14,924 from Cohort onto the podcast platform as well, so you'd get 97 00:05:14,924 --> 00:05:16,369 access to that if it's not helpful. 98 00:05:17,045 --> 00:05:18,575 Let me know if it is helpful. 99 00:05:18,845 --> 00:05:22,535 Let me know should we mix more of this type of content 100 00:05:22,925 --> 00:05:26,135 into what we're doing on EP. 101 00:05:26,495 --> 00:05:29,225 And all you have to do is just find me on LinkedIn. 102 00:05:29,225 --> 00:05:33,395 Just go to, uh, LinkedIn slash in, I think it is slash Matt 103 00:05:33,395 --> 00:05:35,735 Edmundson and you'll find me there. 104 00:05:36,455 --> 00:05:38,825 Or just go to the website, let me know. 105 00:05:38,885 --> 00:05:41,105 Uh, like I said, we're gonna be doing this for the next five weeks. 106 00:05:41,105 --> 00:05:42,485 We've got five episodes coming up. 107 00:05:42,984 --> 00:05:45,565 Um, and I really do genuinely wanna know what you think to them. 108 00:05:45,744 --> 00:05:48,294 Uh, is it helpful, uh, is it not? 109 00:05:48,385 --> 00:05:51,505 I, help me, help me help you to quote Jerry Maguire. 110 00:05:51,744 --> 00:05:52,794 Now, he didn't say that, did he? 111 00:05:52,794 --> 00:05:57,864 It was the chap in Jerry Maguire that said it to Jerry Maguire, help me to help you. 112 00:06:00,290 --> 00:06:01,010 Okay. 113 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:01,430 All right. 114 00:06:01,430 --> 00:06:03,050 Let's get, that's enough, isn't it? 115 00:06:03,050 --> 00:06:05,840 Let's get onto the, um, the episode. 116 00:06:06,170 --> 00:06:07,610 So that's enough from me. 117 00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:14,060 Here's me talking to you, uh, about how to start thinking about your Black 118 00:06:14,060 --> 00:06:19,295 Friday by creating compelling offers that protect your margins whilst driving sales. 119 00:06:20,703 --> 00:06:22,263 Okay, straight into it. 120 00:06:22,263 --> 00:06:26,253 Black Friday create a compelling offer. 121 00:06:26,253 --> 00:06:28,023 That is what we want to do. 122 00:06:28,383 --> 00:06:29,733 So how do we do that? 123 00:06:29,913 --> 00:06:31,293 What's on the cards for that, Matt? 124 00:06:31,293 --> 00:06:33,153 Well, let me, let me go through that with you. 125 00:06:33,153 --> 00:06:34,383 Let me pull up some stuff here. 126 00:06:34,863 --> 00:06:39,963 So Black Friday, everything comes down to your offer. 127 00:06:40,608 --> 00:06:40,908 Right. 128 00:06:41,178 --> 00:06:45,168 It's just a real simple thing to mention, but it's really, really powerful. 129 00:06:45,528 --> 00:06:50,568 So on one hand you've got this huge downside of Black Friday and we put 130 00:06:50,568 --> 00:06:54,528 it here, that it is the pressure to discount and that has an impact on margin. 131 00:06:54,888 --> 00:07:00,258 Okay, so it is a massive pressure on Black Friday, the downside, but on the other 132 00:07:00,258 --> 00:07:05,808 hand, it is the time of year that you can lower your prices without feeling like 133 00:07:06,048 --> 00:07:12,138 you are losing brand identity because everyone expects discounts and it's okay. 134 00:07:12,258 --> 00:07:12,888 I think what. 135 00:07:13,868 --> 00:07:17,048 I, I appreciate for some companies it's not right, but for the majority 136 00:07:17,048 --> 00:07:20,168 of people you can d get away with discounting a Black Friday 'cause 137 00:07:20,168 --> 00:07:22,448 it's just what the consumer expects. 138 00:07:22,688 --> 00:07:28,238 And so everything about Black Friday comes down to, uh, your offer, how 139 00:07:28,238 --> 00:07:31,058 well it's gonna go in some respects. 140 00:07:31,088 --> 00:07:32,948 Now I appreciate people are gonna be Shan to the screen. 141 00:07:32,953 --> 00:07:33,053 Go. 142 00:07:34,083 --> 00:07:36,123 That's not exactly entirely true, is it? 143 00:07:36,123 --> 00:07:41,943 And no it isn't because I think, um, there are people who will buy just because it's 144 00:07:41,943 --> 00:07:45,153 Black Friday, consumer demand does go up. 145 00:07:45,183 --> 00:07:48,933 Even if you don't have any offers on your website, you will sell more during 146 00:07:48,933 --> 00:07:52,383 the Black Friday weekend, then you will the weekend previously, just because 147 00:07:52,383 --> 00:07:53,793 that's the nature of where people are at. 148 00:07:54,183 --> 00:07:58,668 But if you are gonna do Black Friday, honestly, it comes down to your offer. 149 00:07:58,673 --> 00:07:58,803 Okay. 150 00:08:00,198 --> 00:08:02,178 So let's dig into this. 151 00:08:02,448 --> 00:08:04,428 Uh, how do we create compelling offer? 152 00:08:04,578 --> 00:08:08,688 Well, the first thing to say actually is abstinence is okay. 153 00:08:10,053 --> 00:08:10,383 Right. 154 00:08:10,683 --> 00:08:12,123 Abstinence is okay. 155 00:08:12,123 --> 00:08:15,363 You can say no to Black Friday. 156 00:08:15,543 --> 00:08:17,463 You don't have to do it. 157 00:08:17,463 --> 00:08:22,623 And I want to give you permission, as odd as that sounds, not to do Black Friday. 158 00:08:22,833 --> 00:08:26,793 For some companies that I've run, uh, we have done Black Friday and we 159 00:08:26,793 --> 00:08:28,353 are gonna do Black Friday this year. 160 00:08:28,563 --> 00:08:29,703 For other companies. 161 00:08:29,703 --> 00:08:30,993 We opted out. 162 00:08:30,993 --> 00:08:34,473 It didn't make sense for us, for our brand, for our values, to 163 00:08:34,473 --> 00:08:36,213 get caught up into Black Friday. 164 00:08:36,453 --> 00:08:41,043 And it was okay to not get caught into it and sacrifice all the margin 165 00:08:41,343 --> 00:08:44,823 and create chaos and mayhem for our customer service and warehouse teams 166 00:08:45,153 --> 00:08:47,733 to make no real money at the end of it. 167 00:08:47,793 --> 00:08:51,033 And in effect, to pull customers from December, that would've made me 168 00:08:51,033 --> 00:08:53,223 money into November when they didn't. 169 00:08:53,343 --> 00:08:53,703 Right. 170 00:08:53,703 --> 00:08:56,523 So we learned a lot of that kind of stuff and we thought, you know. 171 00:08:57,498 --> 00:08:59,913 It's okay not to do Black Friday. 172 00:08:59,913 --> 00:09:01,173 Abstinence is okay. 173 00:09:01,443 --> 00:09:03,243 There is, um, the company Ray. 174 00:09:04,353 --> 00:09:07,773 Uh, which actually I really like their story. 175 00:09:07,773 --> 00:09:09,843 They just put on their website, we're outside, join us. 176 00:09:10,113 --> 00:09:13,023 They gave all of their staff the day off on Black Friday 177 00:09:13,023 --> 00:09:14,043 and they all went to the hills. 178 00:09:14,133 --> 00:09:16,983 They're an outdoor brand, uh, and they're like, why don't you come and join us? 179 00:09:16,983 --> 00:09:19,143 You can buy our website if you like, but no one's here. 180 00:09:19,713 --> 00:09:21,033 We'll see you soon, sort of thing. 181 00:09:21,123 --> 00:09:24,063 And that actually gave 'em a lot of pr, which actually did 'em a 182 00:09:24,063 --> 00:09:26,373 lot of goods, et cetera, et cetera. 183 00:09:26,643 --> 00:09:30,663 So depending on your brand, depending on your values, depending on your margins. 184 00:09:30,958 --> 00:09:34,043 You, you may not wanna, uh, even get involved with Black Friday. 185 00:09:34,043 --> 00:09:37,973 And again, right here at the start, it is okay not to, there 186 00:09:37,973 --> 00:09:39,233 is pressure to get involved. 187 00:09:39,473 --> 00:09:44,153 It's okay if you don't, if you do, let's figure some of this stuff out, right? 188 00:09:45,113 --> 00:09:49,343 So the key ratio that I want you to think about, uh, when it comes to 189 00:09:49,343 --> 00:09:56,753 Black Friday is this margin to LTV or lifetime value of your customer, right? 190 00:09:57,593 --> 00:09:58,163 So. 191 00:09:59,373 --> 00:10:03,543 I want to think about margin and I want to think about lifetime value of customer. 192 00:10:03,543 --> 00:10:08,163 If I'm sacrificing margin over here, am I increasing the lifetime 193 00:10:08,163 --> 00:10:09,663 value of customers over here? 194 00:10:10,023 --> 00:10:10,263 Right. 195 00:10:10,293 --> 00:10:13,953 I've gotta think about both because does sacrificing margin 196 00:10:13,953 --> 00:10:15,693 for the sake of sacrificing margin? 197 00:10:16,653 --> 00:10:18,303 Yeah, it doesn't make a lot of sense to me. 198 00:10:18,693 --> 00:10:24,513 So we've, uh, we, we, I, I'm interested in this margin and long, uh, long term value. 199 00:10:24,993 --> 00:10:25,503 Uh. 200 00:10:25,953 --> 00:10:27,183 Lifetime value, right? 201 00:10:27,183 --> 00:10:28,323 The lifetime value of the customer. 202 00:10:28,323 --> 00:10:30,393 So how do we do that? 203 00:10:30,393 --> 00:10:31,713 So here are some ideas, right? 204 00:10:32,013 --> 00:10:36,303 So one idea to increase lifetime value is whenever you're com 205 00:10:36,423 --> 00:10:38,073 creating your compelling offer. 206 00:10:38,883 --> 00:10:43,503 Use upsells and bundles to enable you to increase the discount and 207 00:10:43,503 --> 00:10:44,973 the average order value, right? 208 00:10:44,973 --> 00:10:48,603 So if I sell this product here, I mean, you know, uh, if you've been following 209 00:10:48,603 --> 00:10:50,523 along with other stuff, I sell this. 210 00:10:50,913 --> 00:10:52,563 Um, is that gonna zoom? 211 00:10:52,593 --> 00:10:53,283 There we go. 212 00:10:53,613 --> 00:10:54,363 I think, there we go. 213 00:10:54,363 --> 00:10:55,233 We've got it focused. 214 00:10:55,833 --> 00:10:59,883 So this is, uh, an Omega-3, a vegan certified Omega-3, which 215 00:10:59,883 --> 00:11:01,293 we sell on Vegetology dot com. 216 00:11:01,293 --> 00:11:02,013 It's one of my websites. 217 00:11:02,013 --> 00:11:03,783 It's a beautiful little product. 218 00:11:03,813 --> 00:11:06,933 Big fan of it on its own 20 bucks, right? 219 00:11:08,073 --> 00:11:10,023 Um, so if I discount that. 220 00:11:12,468 --> 00:11:14,718 I am really tight on margin all of a sudden. 221 00:11:15,078 --> 00:11:18,978 So what I can do is I can say, well, listen, um, we can use upsells, we 222 00:11:18,978 --> 00:11:24,018 can use bundles to create things that, that enabled me to create discounts. 223 00:11:24,228 --> 00:11:26,688 But my average order value increases. 224 00:11:26,748 --> 00:11:29,388 And so if I'm getting someone come into my website, it's never 225 00:11:29,418 --> 00:11:30,978 really purchased from me before. 226 00:11:31,608 --> 00:11:34,818 Um, and you know, we're kind of like. 227 00:11:34,998 --> 00:11:38,508 Uh, just discounting one of our products and they buy it and they don't come back. 228 00:11:38,508 --> 00:11:39,138 That doesn't help me. 229 00:11:39,138 --> 00:11:41,388 So what I want to think about is their lifetime value. 230 00:11:41,388 --> 00:11:44,688 And to do that, I can increase the, the amount they put in the basket 231 00:11:44,688 --> 00:11:48,228 at one point in time, which means I'm okay to discount 'cause at 232 00:11:48,228 --> 00:11:49,848 least I've got some profit in that. 233 00:11:50,268 --> 00:11:52,408 Um, and it enables me to get them. 234 00:11:53,048 --> 00:11:55,718 Especially for new customers to get 'em using more than one product to 235 00:11:55,718 --> 00:12:00,098 get 'em using several products to, you know, increase their chances of coming 236 00:12:00,098 --> 00:12:02,048 back and reusing what's going on. 237 00:12:02,048 --> 00:12:04,508 So, um, we can use upsells and bundles. 238 00:12:04,508 --> 00:12:07,868 So when you're thinking about your offer, what upsells, what bundles 239 00:12:07,868 --> 00:12:11,408 can you throw in there to increase, um, your average order value? 240 00:12:12,728 --> 00:12:13,748 Protect your margin. 241 00:12:13,748 --> 00:12:17,828 I like this strategy of giving your best discounts to your best customers. 242 00:12:17,918 --> 00:12:19,508 Right now, remember. 243 00:12:19,938 --> 00:12:25,428 Um, the 80 20 rule here, in other words, that, uh, 80% of your profits come from 244 00:12:25,428 --> 00:12:28,848 20% of your customers or whatever the specific ratio is for you in your company. 245 00:12:29,538 --> 00:12:32,058 I'm a big fan of this as a principle. 246 00:12:32,238 --> 00:12:35,868 Um, we are, all I say, we are all, I'm gonna assume we are all 247 00:12:35,868 --> 00:12:39,228 partakers of insurance companies and mobile phone companies that give 248 00:12:39,228 --> 00:12:40,938 deep discounts to new customers. 249 00:12:40,998 --> 00:12:44,868 And I cannot begin to tell you how many podcasts I listen 250 00:12:44,868 --> 00:12:46,998 to and there's an advert for. 251 00:12:47,523 --> 00:12:50,358 Uh, a mobile company, which says, we are doing this 252 00:12:50,853 --> 00:12:52,593 available to new customers only. 253 00:12:52,593 --> 00:12:56,403 So if you're an existing customer, you can knickers and we devalue 254 00:12:56,403 --> 00:12:59,523 you, and it's like it's their new customer acquisition strategy. 255 00:13:00,033 --> 00:13:02,403 It just sends a wrong message to existing customers. 256 00:13:02,403 --> 00:13:05,763 And so Black Friday's one of those times where actually you can put offers, 257 00:13:06,153 --> 00:13:10,173 uh, to your best customers, give your best discounts to your best customers. 258 00:13:10,173 --> 00:13:12,093 Don't make 'em available on the general website. 259 00:13:12,093 --> 00:13:15,393 Create a specific landing page, send 'em to that land landing page and say, 260 00:13:15,393 --> 00:13:16,863 this is available only for you guys. 261 00:13:17,358 --> 00:13:18,078 'cause you're awesome. 262 00:13:18,138 --> 00:13:19,158 You are our best customers. 263 00:13:19,158 --> 00:13:23,208 We really value you and to do, to show you that we're gonna give you something 264 00:13:23,208 --> 00:13:24,558 that no one else has got access to. 265 00:13:24,648 --> 00:13:24,978 Okay? 266 00:13:25,038 --> 00:13:28,403 So, um, I'm a big fan of giving your best discounts to your best customers. 267 00:13:30,153 --> 00:13:35,223 Uh, another strategy here is are better offers available to email subscribers. 268 00:13:35,523 --> 00:13:39,843 So similar to this, um, giving your best deals to your best customers, 269 00:13:39,843 --> 00:13:43,953 you can put a notice on your website, um, uh, saying, listen, sign up to our 270 00:13:43,953 --> 00:13:48,303 emails newsletter now, because when it comes to Black Friday, um, and it's 271 00:13:48,303 --> 00:13:51,243 October when I'm recording this, so you know, I'm not far away when it comes 272 00:13:51,243 --> 00:13:54,363 to Black Friday offers, we're gonna put some offers on the website, but 273 00:13:54,363 --> 00:13:55,578 if you really want the best offers. 274 00:13:55,923 --> 00:14:00,453 Sign up to our emails newsletter because, um, that's where they're gonna be, right? 275 00:14:00,453 --> 00:14:02,853 We're gonna give the best offers to our email subscribers. 276 00:14:03,213 --> 00:14:05,763 Uh, and that gets your email list even more active, right? 277 00:14:05,763 --> 00:14:08,763 People signing up to your email list and just make sure you follow 278 00:14:08,763 --> 00:14:12,513 that through that actually the best offers go to your email subscribers. 279 00:14:14,388 --> 00:14:15,528 Uh, another one here. 280 00:14:15,528 --> 00:14:17,538 GWP gift with purchase. 281 00:14:17,538 --> 00:14:22,668 So that can, that's a great way to protect margin, a great way to protect margin. 282 00:14:22,668 --> 00:14:26,268 Something that I have used many times over the years. 283 00:14:26,268 --> 00:14:27,138 Gift with purchase. 284 00:14:27,138 --> 00:14:31,518 So, um, the classic example was a few years ago when it came to Black 285 00:14:31,518 --> 00:14:36,498 Friday, we went and got, um, some candles made and they were made by a 286 00:14:36,498 --> 00:14:38,808 company that also did candles for let's. 287 00:14:39,378 --> 00:14:42,078 Well, let's not name drop, but they did candles for a very, 288 00:14:42,078 --> 00:14:44,028 very popular candle shop. 289 00:14:45,318 --> 00:14:47,778 Uh, and so we knew the quality was good and we knew that 290 00:14:47,778 --> 00:14:49,338 people would like the smell. 291 00:14:49,338 --> 00:14:52,548 So we were like, we could get those candles. 292 00:14:52,548 --> 00:14:57,408 And we sold them on our website for like 20, 25 pounds, something like that. 293 00:14:57,408 --> 00:14:59,478 I can't remember the exact price if I'm honest with you. 294 00:14:59,628 --> 00:15:03,168 Um, and they were a high perceived item, but the cost of manufacture 295 00:15:03,168 --> 00:15:04,938 was like four quid maybe. 296 00:15:05,388 --> 00:15:05,898 Um. 297 00:15:06,813 --> 00:15:09,573 And so we had good margin in the candle, like most candle people do. 298 00:15:09,573 --> 00:15:11,253 And so we were like, okay, this is interesting. 299 00:15:11,253 --> 00:15:15,663 So what we did, rather than giving deep discounts on Black Friday, was 300 00:15:15,663 --> 00:15:18,963 we said, listen, if you spend over 50 pounds, we will give you, or even 301 00:15:18,963 --> 00:15:23,673 over 25 pounds, we will give you, uh, this candle worth 25 pounds. 302 00:15:24,168 --> 00:15:25,008 Totally free. 303 00:15:25,008 --> 00:15:26,028 That's our Black Friday offering. 304 00:15:26,028 --> 00:15:27,258 People are like, this is amazing. 305 00:15:27,258 --> 00:15:29,688 So I'm, I'm getting this sort of free 25 quid candle. 306 00:15:29,688 --> 00:15:34,488 If I spend 25 quid, that's almost like I'm not spending any money at all. 307 00:15:35,088 --> 00:15:38,808 Uh, and so that worked really, really well. 308 00:15:38,808 --> 00:15:42,588 Rather than just saying, oh, here's three pounds off your order, which just didn't 309 00:15:42,588 --> 00:15:44,988 feel very sexy, if I'm honest with you. 310 00:15:45,228 --> 00:15:49,278 So, gifts with purchase, uh, if you've got them and got the ability to get stuff in. 311 00:15:49,633 --> 00:15:52,063 Oh, great word of caution here. 312 00:15:52,063 --> 00:15:56,023 I have done it in the past where we've gone, we've got a load of stock 313 00:15:56,023 --> 00:15:58,663 that no one's bought, so I'm gonna give that as a gift with purchase. 314 00:15:59,913 --> 00:16:02,373 But there's a reason no one's bought the stock. 315 00:16:02,403 --> 00:16:05,583 And there's a reason why they don't care if that's a gift with purchase. 316 00:16:05,583 --> 00:16:06,933 'cause they don't want it. 317 00:16:07,233 --> 00:16:10,893 So, um, you can offload stock with gifts, with purchase, increase 318 00:16:10,953 --> 00:16:14,643 perceived value, but if you don't try and offload stuff that people 319 00:16:14,643 --> 00:16:18,993 don't really want, it just becomes a bit, nah, nah, sort of falls flat. 320 00:16:19,623 --> 00:16:21,483 Try gift cards with purchase. 321 00:16:21,483 --> 00:16:24,063 This is a really clever trick that I have seen. 322 00:16:24,423 --> 00:16:26,943 Um, I, I first saw this with Ikea. 323 00:16:28,038 --> 00:16:33,858 Ikea did this thing where, um, if you went to their shop, was it a few years ago? 324 00:16:33,858 --> 00:16:34,368 I saw it. 325 00:16:34,848 --> 00:16:40,908 You went to their shop and it said if you bought a Christmas tree from them, it was 326 00:16:40,908 --> 00:16:42,078 around, obviously around Christmas time. 327 00:16:42,438 --> 00:16:46,248 If you bought a Christmas tree, a real Christmas tree for like, I 328 00:16:46,253 --> 00:16:48,918 can't remember the figure, let's assume it was like 50 bucks, right? 329 00:16:49,368 --> 00:16:51,618 If you bought a Christmas tree for 50 bucks from them, they 330 00:16:51,618 --> 00:16:56,503 would give you a gift card with that purchase, four 50 pounds. 331 00:16:58,083 --> 00:17:01,683 And you kind of think, hang on a minute, then I'm getting a free Christmas tree. 332 00:17:01,683 --> 00:17:03,758 I'm spending my money now and you're giving me a gift card. 333 00:17:04,443 --> 00:17:08,553 So you then read the fine print of the gift card, which says this gift card 334 00:17:08,703 --> 00:17:13,233 can only be redeemed between the 1st of January and the 31st of January next year. 335 00:17:13,533 --> 00:17:16,923 Which meant I would have to go back to the store to use that at a very specific time 336 00:17:17,163 --> 00:17:19,413 where it was ordinarily quiet for them. 337 00:17:19,563 --> 00:17:19,983 Okay. 338 00:17:20,373 --> 00:17:22,323 How many people redeem that gift card? 339 00:17:22,503 --> 00:17:27,663 I'm gonna suggest maybe 10, 15%, which is how they could afford to do it. 340 00:17:27,663 --> 00:17:28,323 Something like that. 341 00:17:28,323 --> 00:17:29,433 I don't actually know what the numbers are. 342 00:17:29,433 --> 00:17:30,663 I was a total guess, by the way. 343 00:17:30,663 --> 00:17:32,163 So, uh, don't quote me. 344 00:17:33,498 --> 00:17:36,918 But the gift, um, cards with purchase are a really great thing to do. 345 00:17:36,918 --> 00:17:42,738 Now, you don't have to do that, spend 50 quid, get a 50 quid gift card, uh, 346 00:17:42,768 --> 00:17:46,608 but you can only use that gift card between the hours of 4:00 PM and five 347 00:17:46,608 --> 00:17:49,788 plus four on the 31st of March, right? 348 00:17:50,118 --> 00:17:50,898 Uh oh. 349 00:17:50,958 --> 00:17:52,368 The camera has gone off. 350 00:17:55,668 --> 00:17:57,948 Sorry about that, ladies, gentlemen, we are now back. 351 00:17:57,948 --> 00:17:58,608 Yes we are. 352 00:17:59,088 --> 00:18:02,118 So, yeah, I was saying you don't have to do, you know, the real sort 353 00:18:02,118 --> 00:18:07,848 of, um, high gift card with a really narrow time when you can redeem it. 354 00:18:08,328 --> 00:18:11,688 Um, but gift cards with purchase are a great way to bring people back. 355 00:18:11,688 --> 00:18:14,748 Remember, we're thinking about increasing average order value, lifetime value. 356 00:18:14,748 --> 00:18:16,668 Remember, this is the two things. 357 00:18:16,668 --> 00:18:20,238 And so, um, rather than giving a hefty discount, we can say, you know. 358 00:18:20,568 --> 00:18:24,858 Uh, instead of giving a 20% discount, give 'em a 20% gift card to spend 359 00:18:24,858 --> 00:18:27,618 on your website, or even a 30% gift card to spend on your website. 360 00:18:28,098 --> 00:18:30,318 Uh, might be worth it. 361 00:18:30,378 --> 00:18:31,428 You know, you can always try it. 362 00:18:31,728 --> 00:18:35,028 Like, again, my tip is make sure the gift card, they can't 363 00:18:35,028 --> 00:18:36,588 redeem it on that specific order. 364 00:18:36,588 --> 00:18:38,088 They have to come back to the website. 365 00:18:40,398 --> 00:18:40,698 Okay? 366 00:18:40,698 --> 00:18:42,858 Free delivery is another good way to protect margin. 367 00:18:42,858 --> 00:18:45,858 So if you don't do free delivery as a sort of standard. 368 00:18:46,803 --> 00:18:47,853 Many websites don't. 369 00:18:48,183 --> 00:18:50,043 Uh, you can offer free delivery around Black Friday. 370 00:18:50,043 --> 00:18:51,423 That really, really does kill it. 371 00:18:51,423 --> 00:18:52,953 And it protects the margin on your products. 372 00:18:52,953 --> 00:18:55,563 And again, people perceive like they're getting greater value. 373 00:18:56,343 --> 00:18:59,763 Uh, buy now later, uh, buy now later, buy now, pay later. 374 00:18:59,763 --> 00:19:02,043 Works really well if you wanna increase lifetime value. 375 00:19:02,043 --> 00:19:03,273 So people tend to buy more. 376 00:19:03,273 --> 00:19:07,533 If you offer that as a feature on your website, there are some questions around 377 00:19:07,533 --> 00:19:09,423 that that you have to work through. 378 00:19:09,993 --> 00:19:13,983 Um, if you don't already have buy now, pay later on your website for me. 379 00:19:14,988 --> 00:19:20,088 There are questions around encouraging people into debt that doesn't quite 380 00:19:20,088 --> 00:19:23,448 totally sit right with me, so I'd have to be really careful on the messaging. 381 00:19:23,778 --> 00:19:27,678 Um, uh, that's just something a a about us as a, at a, at a company. 382 00:19:27,678 --> 00:19:31,638 I appreciate, you know, people are using credit cards to buy this stuff, but, um. 383 00:19:32,283 --> 00:19:35,193 I just don't know if I personally want to be seen to be promoting 384 00:19:35,193 --> 00:19:37,593 that, but I get why people do it. 385 00:19:37,953 --> 00:19:39,933 Um, it's not something I'm totally opposed to. 386 00:19:39,933 --> 00:19:42,393 I would personally have to be really careful about it, but it 387 00:19:42,393 --> 00:19:45,123 is something that you can do to increase, um, lifetime value. 388 00:19:46,383 --> 00:19:49,683 Charity promotion is a great way to protect margin. 389 00:19:50,043 --> 00:19:53,943 Uh, when creating com a compelling offer for Black Friday, you can 390 00:19:53,943 --> 00:19:56,613 have, uh, a charity to promote. 391 00:19:56,613 --> 00:19:59,823 So instead of discounting your product, say, listen, we were gonna discount 392 00:19:59,823 --> 00:20:03,993 our products by 10%, but rather than do that because the the time that we're 393 00:20:03,993 --> 00:20:07,508 in, like, um, as things currently stand at the time of recording, there is a. 394 00:20:07,773 --> 00:20:10,863 Sort of, you know, cost of living crisis here in the uk. 395 00:20:11,283 --> 00:20:13,173 I'm seriously tempted to say, right. 396 00:20:13,563 --> 00:20:16,713 Uh, rather than discounting, what we're gonna do is everybody 397 00:20:16,713 --> 00:20:18,213 that orders, we are gonna donate. 398 00:20:18,273 --> 00:20:18,303 Uh. 399 00:20:19,443 --> 00:20:26,463 X amount of pounds to this charity that is gonna help, um, the elderly, their 400 00:20:26,463 --> 00:20:29,343 homes this Christmas as well as keep food on their tables because I think 401 00:20:29,343 --> 00:20:31,293 it's a real crisis that is looming. 402 00:20:31,773 --> 00:20:35,913 Um, and we can use Black Friday and people's desire to buy stuff as 403 00:20:35,913 --> 00:20:37,653 a way to raise money for charity. 404 00:20:38,493 --> 00:20:40,143 I really like that as an idea. 405 00:20:40,323 --> 00:20:42,243 So I can include charity promotion. 406 00:20:42,513 --> 00:20:43,353 Just don't do it. 407 00:20:43,353 --> 00:20:44,163 I've mentioned this before. 408 00:20:44,163 --> 00:20:45,603 Don't do it in a cheesy way. 409 00:20:45,783 --> 00:20:47,553 Don't do it in an inauthentic way. 410 00:20:47,553 --> 00:20:49,653 Be real, be genuine with it. 411 00:20:50,103 --> 00:20:52,203 Um, but you could totally look at doing something like that. 412 00:20:53,718 --> 00:20:58,338 Create a top tip, create a sense of urgency. 413 00:20:58,338 --> 00:21:03,558 So with your compelling offer, whatever you do, create a sense of urgency. 414 00:21:03,858 --> 00:21:05,928 Uh, well, I came across this, I thought it was clever. 415 00:21:05,928 --> 00:21:07,998 They put like a little countdown time on it. 416 00:21:08,268 --> 00:21:11,958 Hurry up, uh, 50 books off this, uh, Halloween only. 417 00:21:11,958 --> 00:21:13,638 So this is obviously an offering up to Halloween. 418 00:21:13,638 --> 00:21:16,008 They've got like a countdown timer going on there. 419 00:21:16,398 --> 00:21:18,023 Um, only 12 left in stock. 420 00:21:19,308 --> 00:21:20,868 Please don't lie. 421 00:21:21,108 --> 00:21:24,588 Uh, if, if there, if there's 400 in stock, don't just put 422 00:21:24,588 --> 00:21:27,138 12 'cause that's inauthentic. 423 00:21:27,558 --> 00:21:28,698 I'm not telling you to do that. 424 00:21:28,698 --> 00:21:30,888 What I am saying is create a sense of urgency so you can put 425 00:21:30,888 --> 00:21:31,938 the countdown timers on there. 426 00:21:32,088 --> 00:21:34,038 This offer expires in three days. 427 00:21:34,043 --> 00:21:38,693 Two days, one day, four hours, 10 minutes, dot, dot, dot, dot, and create 428 00:21:38,693 --> 00:21:40,703 that sense of urgency in your offers. 429 00:21:40,703 --> 00:21:41,663 Put an end date on it. 430 00:21:41,693 --> 00:21:45,473 This is only available for dot, dot, dot, uh, and more people 431 00:21:45,473 --> 00:21:47,003 will take advantage of it. 432 00:21:47,003 --> 00:21:48,113 So that's the top tip. 433 00:21:48,473 --> 00:21:51,833 Whenever you are creating your compelling offers, use a sense of urgency. 434 00:21:52,163 --> 00:21:54,803 So take all those things that, uh, we've gone through. 435 00:21:55,638 --> 00:21:57,078 Remember the key thing that we're thinking of? 436 00:21:57,078 --> 00:22:00,468 Black Friday, maintain margin as much as possible. 437 00:22:00,468 --> 00:22:03,228 Obviously we're gonna have to discount with Black Friday in some way or give 438 00:22:03,228 --> 00:22:04,878 some perceived level of discount. 439 00:22:05,388 --> 00:22:05,718 Um. 440 00:22:06,663 --> 00:22:09,453 And contrast that ratio with lifetime value. 441 00:22:09,693 --> 00:22:13,353 If I increase discount, can I increase lifetime value of that customer? 442 00:22:13,623 --> 00:22:14,973 How do I maintain that? 443 00:22:14,973 --> 00:22:16,353 How do I keep that going? 444 00:22:16,473 --> 00:22:16,803 Right? 445 00:22:17,013 --> 00:22:18,153 That's super, super important. 446 00:22:18,153 --> 00:22:22,983 I don't mind sacrificing margin today if I have more and greater lifetime 447 00:22:22,983 --> 00:22:25,203 value for customers in the future. 448 00:22:25,388 --> 00:22:26,283 Play that balance. 449 00:22:26,283 --> 00:22:28,983 Well use the tips that we've told you, create your compelling 450 00:22:28,983 --> 00:22:30,753 offer and let me know. 451 00:22:31,348 --> 00:22:33,268 What you're doing, because I would love to see it. 452 00:22:33,628 --> 00:22:36,148 Um, I'm, I always love to learn from others actually, what 453 00:22:36,148 --> 00:22:37,108 they're doing around Black Friday. 454 00:22:37,108 --> 00:22:40,168 So do let me know, uh, would really, really appreciate that. 455 00:22:40,168 --> 00:22:44,428 And then I will see you in the next video where we talk about 456 00:22:44,758 --> 00:22:46,468 your first time buyer strategy. 457 00:22:46,858 --> 00:22:47,488 See you in there. 458 00:22:48,590 --> 00:22:49,010 Wow. 459 00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:50,360 Back from me to me. 460 00:22:50,660 --> 00:22:53,600 I hope you found that, uh, useful and helpful. 461 00:22:53,930 --> 00:22:57,890 The key takeaway, black Friday isn't just about discounting. 462 00:22:58,280 --> 00:23:02,690 It's about creating offers that increase customer lifetime value 463 00:23:02,990 --> 00:23:04,315 whilst protecting your margins. 464 00:23:04,825 --> 00:23:06,505 At all times where possible. 465 00:23:07,045 --> 00:23:12,205 Next week we are diving into the first time buyer strategies for Black Friday. 466 00:23:12,475 --> 00:23:15,865 Like how do you turn those bargain hunters into loyal customers? 467 00:23:16,075 --> 00:23:19,285 How do you build relationships, not just transactions? 468 00:23:19,555 --> 00:23:24,025 Well, that's in episode two of our Black Friday mini series. 469 00:23:24,385 --> 00:23:28,405 Uh, and it's gonna build on perfectly from what we've covered today. 470 00:23:28,855 --> 00:23:29,335 So. 471 00:23:30,335 --> 00:23:34,895 Quick reminder, all of this content comes from the e-commerce Cohort archives. 472 00:23:35,195 --> 00:23:37,955 There's lots more where this has come from. 473 00:23:37,955 --> 00:23:40,475 So make sure you subscribe to the show. 474 00:23:40,715 --> 00:23:42,455 And you know, I've talked about this before in the show. 475 00:23:42,455 --> 00:23:45,425 We are updating our newsletter that's starting in September. 476 00:23:45,635 --> 00:23:48,335 If you haven't subscribed to the newsletter already, join the thousands of 477 00:23:48,335 --> 00:23:50,135 other people that are on that newsletter. 478 00:23:50,135 --> 00:23:53,015 Get on it, because all of this stuff actually is going 479 00:23:53,015 --> 00:23:54,395 into the newsletter first. 480 00:23:54,395 --> 00:23:57,005 So if you wanna be the first people to see it and get connected with it. 481 00:23:57,470 --> 00:23:59,120 Uh, do check that out. 482 00:23:59,120 --> 00:24:03,140 There's more information about all of this at eCommerce Podcast dot net. 483 00:24:03,590 --> 00:24:05,480 You can find out about how to sign up to the newsletter. 484 00:24:05,510 --> 00:24:09,230 You can find out about the new free version of eCommerce Cohort, 485 00:24:09,500 --> 00:24:12,200 where we're gonna put all this content there, you can access that. 486 00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:17,660 Plus we have member, we have groups where we zoom, call Google meets 487 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:20,330 with other eCommerce entrepreneurs and just shoot the breeze. 488 00:24:20,330 --> 00:24:22,520 Talk about our ideas, what's working, what's not working. 489 00:24:22,765 --> 00:24:26,275 Always great to connect with peers from around the world and talk about eCommerce. 490 00:24:26,275 --> 00:24:27,895 So you can do that for free. 491 00:24:28,345 --> 00:24:32,005 Uh, just find out more eCommerce Podcast dot net. 492 00:24:32,365 --> 00:24:34,795 Don't forget to let me know what you think about this new format, 493 00:24:35,065 --> 00:24:36,955 but that's it from me this week. 494 00:24:37,015 --> 00:24:39,715 Uh, I will see you in episode two. 495 00:24:39,925 --> 00:24:42,925 Until then, start planning those Black Friday offers. 496 00:24:43,255 --> 00:24:43,855 That's it from me. 497 00:24:44,275 --> 00:24:44,725 Bye for now.