Prepare for Black Friday: Here’s Your Connectivity Checklist

After a decidedly bleak year for so many businesses and retailers, we’re sure that most of us are looking forward to a bumper Black Friday in 2020. If there was ever a time to prepare for Black Friday, then this year is certainly it. 

Now, we aren’t up to speed with the latest fonts or colouring to use on your sale boards, nor do we profess to understand the best psychological messaging tips within your store. 

What we do know, however, is how to make sure that your POS system and, in fact, your whole business connectivity system, is in peak operating condition. 

Prepare for Black Friday 

International eCommerce giant Shopify has this to say:

“This year’s Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) will be unlike any other. Fears around COVID-19 and subsequent retail closures have shifted consumer spending online and away from brick-and-mortar—a shift we believe will continue well into the holiday season and beyond.”

Are we ready?

Start Now

Did you know that a recent study found that over half of all Black Friday/Cyber Monday shoppers begin looking for deals in October already? Yep, that’s right now!

That means that your website needs to be firm, fast, and fully functional, running on the quickest and most stable connection available to you. 

Is it? 

If not, then don’t wait another moment. Chat with us and find out what is the best internet connection available in your area and make that switch. Get connected and allow time for testing and tweaking to avoid last-minute stresses and the inevitable surge on BFCM traffic.

Check out your checkout

Right up there alongside the speed and user-friendliness of your website is your checkout process. 

When you consider that customers are planning ahead and may well have a list of websites that they plan on visiting on Black Friday, a slow checkout process is going to hurt your business. Abandoned carts will be the order of the day, and your competition will happily scoop up those lost shoppers. 

Have you tested your checkout process recently? Is it running as smoothly as it should? 

Create a contingency plan

In-store POS systems are put under extreme pressure on Black Friday and other seasonally busy times. 

The very last thing we want is for shoppers to abandon their carefully selected purchases when they spy the mile-long queue at the checkout desk and frantic staff performing percussive maintenance on slow card terminals. 

Considering that people are far more likely to pay by card than to carry cash – especially on Black Friday – your card machines need to whizz through those payments as fast as possible.

What happens if your Wi-Fi connection is overloaded and slow? What is your plan if the power goes down? What would be your Plan B if your wired connection fails? 

Did you know that Huge Connect has a robust failover system for card terminals which will allow them to function even when the lights go out? 

Connect

If the focus for Black Friday is to attract and process as many sales as possible, then surely you would want as many communication channels as possible available to your customers. 

• Does your website offer a live chat function?
• Can your customers contact you quickly and easily by multiple online channels such as email or Facebook?
• Are you optimised for mobile and accessible via WhatsApp?
• Do you have a stable voice connection and the facility to forward and prioritise calls during this busy time?

Beat Black Friday Setup Stress

If you have already started planning for the Big BF, then well done! Smart business people are those who think ahead. 

Before the preparation time runs out, however, are you confident in your connectivity systems? Are you completely certain that you are offering the best service to your customers and can guarantee them a seamless shopping experience?

If you have niggling doubts or even a few questions, please get in touch with the team at Huge Connect. It will be our pleasure to guide and assist you where we can.