Retail sales are a great way to boost your salon’s earnings, so it seems like a no-brainer that you should get involved with the biggest shopping day of the year.
It can be easy to assume that Black Friday is only for the big retailers but as the annual event grows in popularity, offers are popping up everywhere from department stores and supermarkets to small, independent businesses.
If you want to boost your retail sales and get involved in Black Friday, here are our top 10 tips and tricks.
It’s not all online
If you’re worried that you’ll miss out to online retailers, fear not. This retail report found that shoppers are hunting out Black Friday deals both online and in store to make sure they get the very best price. Promoting your offers on social media and in salon gives you the best chance to grab the attention of these bargain hunters.
Encourage gift voucher sales
If you offer gift vouchers, there’s no doubt that you’ll see an increase in sales in the run up to Christmas and the Black Friday weekend is the perfect time to really push these. A study found that gift vouchers are on eight out of ten Christmas lists and with three quarters of shoppers waiting for Black Friday to start their present shopping, it’s peak season.
Get social
Obviously, social media is your biggest asset when it comes to pushing Black Friday. It’s important you post at peak times to make the most of your social media messages. From trials on our own social media accounts, we find things posted at lunchtime or in the evening (7pm-9pm) perform the best as people tend to scroll through their phone when on a lunch break or on the sofa at home.
This works for us but you know your clients best, so see what works for you.
Offer exclusive discounts for special clients
To maintain client loyalty and say thank you to those people that have been coming to you for years, why not offer them a personalised Black Friday promotion? If they return for their brows doing every 4 weeks, you could give them a treatment discount or get in touch to let them know the product they just can’t live without is now reduced for one weekend only.
Take part in #SmallBusinessSaturday
The week after Black Friday is Small Business Saturday. An initiative started by American Express to support small, local and independent businesses, Small Business Saturday is growing significantly each year. In fact, an estimated £812m was spent with small businesses across the UK on 2018’s Small Business Saturday. Once Black Friday has finished, make sure you’re talking about #SmallBusinessSaturday, which falls on Saturday 7th December.
Use hashtags
Using hashtags is a really easy way of helping new people find you on social media. When posting about your offers, obviously you should be using #BlackFriday, but try out hashtagging the products and treatments included in your sale (e.g. #HDBrows).
We have even more info on using hashtags here.
Host a special event
Worried that you might not get the footfall of a high street shop? That doesn’t mean you can’t get people through your doors. Try hosting an exclusive event in salon over the Black Friday weekend where you can showcase products, demo treatments and let everyone know about your limited time offers. We all like the VIP treatment, so free fizz, food and special offers is sure to go down well. Plus, after a busy day of sale shopping, an evening of relaxation would be a welcome treat.
Get your timings right
If you’re planning on sending out emails to your clients to promote your offers, send them at the peak times for top success.
This study found the best times to send out your emails are:
- Black Friday – 8.30am
- Black Friday – 6.00pm
- Saturday – 8.00am
- Sunday – 7.00pm
- Cyber Monday – 8.00am
- Cyber Monday – 7.30pm
Although this study involved a lot of research, you may need to tweak slightly according to your business. No one knows your clients like you do.
Make it last
In a bid to avoid one hectic day (and boost sales even more), Black Friday offers are now lasting more than one day. Start them early and let them run all weekend to get maximum impact. To avoid clogging up your social media with the same Black Friday message, why not push a different offer or product each day?
Get involved
No matter how big or small your offer may be, it’s worth getting involved to give your sales a boost. Experts are forecasting that UK shoppers will spend £7 billion over the week of Black Friday, with the average shopper planning to spend £304. Be sure to get involved and take your share of some of these sales.
Here’s to a successful Black Friday. If you have any top tips for a busy Black Friday, be sure to share them in the comments below.
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