Your Cyber Monday Checklist

Cyber Monday is nearly here, bringing with it a cavalcade of shoppers seeking out the best deals and deepest discounts. This year it’s predicted that over 70% of people’s holiday shopping budget will be spent online, and we want to make sure you get your slice. Most of these billions will be spent in the days directly following Thanksgiving.

Last year, the average American shopper spent $430 on Cyber Monday alone. Adding that into the average consumer spend on Black Friday and you have a trillion dollar start to the holiday shopping season. 

Last year between 7 pm and 10 pm Pacific Standard Time, online consumers spent $11 million dollars a minute. Cyber Monday is the most important online shopping day in America (and gaining substantially throughout Europe). 

We want to make sure your online store is ready to capture and convert as many shoppers as possible. 

Cyber Monday By The Numbers

$6.3 Billion in Revenue

3.4/5
Cyber Monday 2017 - Adobe Analytics

$7.9 Billion In Revenue

4/5
Cyber Monday 2018 - Adobe Analytics

$9.4 Billion

4.7/5
Cyber Monday 2019 - Adobe Analytics
Your Handy Cyber Monday Checklist

Cyber Monday Checklist

Tune-Up Your Ecommerce Website

You always want your website to load quickly and without errors, but Cyber Monday, it’s critical that your site’s page load speed and performance match and exceed your competitors. An extra second of load time or a small error and the online shopper is already gone and clicking over to a different site.

Double-check all product descriptions, checkout process, discounts and coupons (make sure they work) and go over your navigation ensuring that it’s intuitive and easy to understand.

Be Mobile Friendly & Optimized

67% of your online shoppers this year will be viewing your website from a mobile device, so it’s crucial that your online store is optimized for the mobile user. Remember, Cyber Monday is a free-for-all without brand loyalty – consumers are interested in one thing and one thing only – incredible deals. If your site doesn’t look good on their mobile device, you’ll lose instantly.

You don’t want to help your competitors make sales, so optimize your site for the mobile experience.

Use Social Media

Don’t leave a single social media platform behind as you’re posting your special offers, incentives and deals in advance of Cyber Monday. Be certain to incorporate strong keywords in your engaging posts, after all, you want to get and retain attention. 

Your customers – everyone in fact – are used to seeing tons of ads leading up to Cyber Monday, so you have to make yourself stand out. How? Turn your attention to content because that is what it takes to get a shopper’s attention this time of year. Focus on contests, value-added articles with tips and juicy behind-the-scenes details, videos, etc. 

Don’t forget to include additional sales channels this time of year, such as Facebook Marketplace and Google Shopping.

Keep It Simple

Cyber Monday is overwhelming for most online shoppers. Thousands of deals, coupon codes, discounts and special offers. It’s your job to help your customers see through all the shiny objects and focus on your offers. You can only do that by keeping your discounts simple. Don’t create dozens of offers based on specific products or categories. Try to provide a very simple and easy to understand site wide discount and one unbelievably tantalizing sale on a big-ticket or popular item. Keeping your sales simple on Cyber Monday will also make it much easier for you to market on social media and elsewhere.

Grab Them With Guides

Shoppers love gift guides! They’re easy to follow, easy to browse over, and don’t require any critical thinking or creativity. Create a few specific gift guides and post them online in advance of Cyber Monday so online shoppers can effortlessly peruse Single Ladies Cyber Monday Gift Guide or Cyber Monday Toyland Treasures or perhaps The Cyber Monday Must-Haves For Men.

Market Your Customer Service

Customer service is always important, but it is of extreme importance come Cyber Monday. Focus on your stellar customer service and be direct and transparent about all of your store policies. Make sure your return policy is easy to understand and clearly stated throughout your site. This time of year is a great opportunity to highlight your customer service, so monitor all social accounts for any issues or complaints and respond immediately. Be available via live chat if possible and make certain your customers know how to communicate with you easily.

FOMO Is Your Friend

The Fear Of Missing Out is real, and it’s at its peak come Cyber Monday. Be sure to highlight your limited inventory and embrace scarcity marketing to create a sense of urgency throughout your site. Let shoppers know when your inventory is getting low on sale items. Incorporate phrases like, “while supplies last” and “very limited quantity available” throughout your promotional materials. Consider the use of a social proof service like the one offered by ServerWise (if you are a client).

Loyalty Begets Loyalty

Of course every site wants a surge, a flood, an absolute avalanche of new customers spending wildly but don’t forget your previous customers in the process. Remember to reward those who have purchased from you every other day of the year by offering returning customers an even better one-time use discount or special offer. Reach out to your current and past customers with a targeted email campaign offering up a very exclusive discount code (and ask them not to share it). And above all, make sure you thank them for their support those other 364 days of the year.

If you follow this quick checklist, you’ll be ready to cash in on Cyber Monday and hopefully learn a few things for the rest of the year as well. Don’t hesitate and don’t procrastinate. Keep in mind that ecommerce giants like Amazon and Walmart have been preparing for Cyber Monday for months.

Rad Mitkov
Rad Mitkov
Radoslav is a senior motion graphics engineer and designer specializing in 3D modeling prototypes for digital marketing platforms. Rad frequently writes on WordPress, site optimization and cybersecurity topics.