Are You Ready for Cyber Monday?

Cyber Monday, the newest shopping holiday, was made up early in the 21st century, with the idea that people who had shopped on Black Friday and Small Business Saturday would get back to work with some of that consumerist fever still running through their veins, and would respond to special online deals they could snag during their coffee breaks.

Shoppers completely went along with the idea. At this point, online merchants start touting Cyber Monday specials before the malls begin playing “Marshmallow World” and consumers are expected to relax after their turkey dinner by shopping at their favorite online stores, so the whole Cyber Monday phenomenon may, like Black Friday and Small Business Saturday, be swallowed up in an relatively undifferentiated shopping season which will take place online, in physical stores, and in parking lots on smartphones from September through January.

Except for those of us who are taking #OptOutside seriously.

This may not be a sustainable plan for the future of America, but it is the new reality of holiday shopping and you might as well get in on it. If you have a promotion you’re willing to offer, and people can buy it online, you are not too late to go for it.

Here’s how to cash in on Cyber Monday fast.

• Get a good graphic. People will be shopping in the places they already like, and seeing a nice big Cyber Monday sale image will encourage people to go ahead and shop with you. Your visitors on Cyber Monday will in fact be hoping you have something special for them. The special shopping holidays may not be as exciting for the average consumer, who now has lots of price information and knows she can get discounts all through the season, but the people shopping on those holidays are the ones who like the thrill of the search for the lowest possible price. Provide that thrill.
• Produce some Cyber Monday content. People who are searching for terms like “Cyber Monday deals” will probably be offered either the Cyber Monday Deals websites or the major players like Amazon. Trying to show up for searches for “Cyber Monday deals” is not practical for most of us. However, your customers and your local potential customers may very well be offered your website if you have a great page for “Cyber Monday deals on fitness planners” or “Cyber Monday deals on flu vaccines.” Get Cyber Monday special content into your pages, descriptions, and meta descriptions wherever it makes sense to do so.
• Test your website’s path to purchase and make sure it works well. The shopper’s path to purchase is longer than just your website, but the path they follow through your website, from finding that standing desk or physical therapy package to paying for it, had better be low on friction. Remember, lots of Cyber Monday purchases still are made at work, and the boss might be just around the corner. Cyber Monday purchases need to be fast and smooth.