{"id":68567,"date":"2019-11-19T07:46:49","date_gmt":"2019-11-19T05:46:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/?p=68567"},"modified":"2026-01-29T15:56:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T13:56:06","slug":"how-to-prepare-your-sme-for-black-friday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/how-to-prepare-your-sme-for-black-friday\/","title":{"rendered":"How to prepare your small business for Black Friday"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"entry-header has-dark-background-color entry-header--has-illustration entry-header--has-illustration--generic\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__row row align-center\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col col-lg-7 col-xlg-6 entry-header__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"component component-single-header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__misc text--subtitle text--uppercase text--small\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/category\/strategy-legal-operations\/\" class=\"entry-header__link\">Strategy, Legal &amp; Operations<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-title-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"entry-title\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tHow to prepare your small business for Black Friday\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"entry-header__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"single-post-details container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"posted-on \"><time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2019-11-19T07:46:49+02:00\">Nov 19, 2019<\/time><\/span><span class=\"reading-time\"> min read<\/span>\n\t\t<button\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\tclass=\"social-share-button button button--icon button--secondary js-social-share-button\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-title=\"How to prepare your small business for Black Friday\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-url=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/how-to-prepare-your-sme-for-black-friday\/\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-text=\"Please read this interesting article\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__share-label\">Share<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-label\" hidden>Copy Link<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-tooltip\" aria-hidden=\"true\" hidden>Copied<\/span>\n\t\t<\/button>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/header>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-author has-dark-background-color alignfull\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"co-authors\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-author-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"entry-author\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/author\/vireshharduth\/\">\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"40\" height=\"40\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2020\/04\/Viresh-Harduth-Sage-2-350x350.jpg\" class=\"entry-author__image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<span class=\"entry-author__name\">Viresh Harduth<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Last year, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iol.co.za\/business-report\/economy\/revealed-south-africans-spent-r29bn-on-blackfriday-2018-18395311\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">South Africans spent almost R2.9 billion<\/a> on Black Friday \u2013 almost 16% more than in 2017. Even more remarkable is that <a href=\"https:\/\/black-friday.global\/en-za\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sales in South Africa<\/a> were 1952% higher on Black Friday than on any other day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The American shopping tradition grows year-on-year in South Africa, with this year expected to be the biggest yet. And, since Black Friday falls after payday \u2013 on 29 November \u2013 consumers will likely have more disposable income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are some more interesting stats from last year:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Consumers bought an average of 4.5 products,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The peak shopping time was between 8am and 11am, and<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>South Africans spent around R1700 each.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>So what does this mean for your small business? Yes, it\u2019s an opportunity to increase sales, but small businesses have traditionally struggled to compete with bigger retailers: while large retailers reported record sales last year, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.businesslive.co.za\/bd\/economy\/2018-11-29-black-friday-how-a-sales-gimmick-is-changing--sas-retail-sector\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>small businesses<\/strong><\/a><strong> reported a 10% drop in sales revenue and a 2% drop in sales volume, even though they offered more and larger discounts<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rather than trying to keep up, why not approach Black Friday as an opportunity to grow your customer base and prove your loyalty to your existing customers?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><mark class=\"highlight-and-share\">As a small and medium business owner, you can stay competitive this Black Friday by ensuring a seamless customer experience, testing your technology to handle higher online and in-store sales volumes and foot traffic, and letting consumers know about your business and what you offer<\/mark>. Get these elements right and you could boost your customer base significantly, which should be the ultimate goal of Black Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To prepare your small business for the big day, ask \u2013 and answer \u2013 these three questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><br><h2><strong>Should you try to compete with the behemoths?<\/strong><\/h2><br><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Consumer shopping habits have changed. With Black Friday happening a month before Christmas, many consumers buy gifts and holiday supplies in November, which means they have little disposable income to spend on December and January sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You might feel like you have to go toe-to-toe with the big retailers by offering the same \u2013 or bigger \u2013 discounts. The reality is that you likely don\u2019t have the same inventory levels, buying power, and budgets as larger retailers. But with some <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/6-black-friday-strategies-for-smes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">smart marketing tactics and by focusing on the customer experience above all else<\/a>, you can secure a customer for life, which is worth far more than a once-off Black Friday sale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"2\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><br><h2><strong>Can your technology cope?<\/strong><\/h2><br><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Every year, videos of in-store Black Friday chaos do the rounds. To avoid the pushing, shoving, and altercations, many consumers choose to shop online from the quiet of their living rooms\u2026 until a website crashes or they miss out on deals because of limited online stock and long virtual queues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While large businesses can invest in back-up technology and server capacity and hire more customer support personnel, many small businesses don\u2019t have the flexibility to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/sage-business-cloud\/accounting\/\">scale their technology on demand<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"single-cta\">\n\t<div class=\"single-cta__positioner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__wrapper has-dark-background-color\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"single-cta__title h3\">Get your free 30-day Sage Business Cloud Accounting software trial to boost your business.<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Reduce time spent on admin by up to 80%<\/p>\n<p>Free yourself from admin with easy-to-use features, built around you. Ideal for entrepreneurs, start-ups, and growing businesses.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/sage-business-cloud\/accounting\/\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"single-cta__button button button--primary\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tid=\"cta-id-620\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdata-button-location=\"cta_box\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>Sign Up<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1064\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/04\/GettyImages-619403886-1064x810.jpg\" class=\"single-cta__image\" alt=\"Small business accountant\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/04\/GettyImages-619403886-1064x810.jpg 1064w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 48em) 33vw, 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>But there are other things you can do to manage and stagger the increased traffic to your site or store, to ensure the shopping experience is as smooth as possible. Here are a few ideas:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Encourage your customers to <strong>create wish-lists<\/strong> before Black Friday. When something on their list goes on sale, send them an email or notification, with a direct link to the product.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Schedule <strong>deals throughout the day<\/strong> rather than putting all your sale items up at once. Remember the peak shopping times of 8am to 11am.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Use <strong>countdown clocks<\/strong> to show how many units of an item are still available. This creates a sense of urgency and encourages people to purchase faster.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Run <strong>load tests<\/strong> on your site beforehand and identify pages that can be compressed to reduce loading times.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Automate as much as possible, from invoice generation, to payment and delivery, so you\u2019ll have more time to focus on your customers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"3\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><br><h2><strong>How will you handle i<\/strong><strong>mpatient customers<\/strong><strong>?<\/strong><\/h2><br><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Amid the excitement of bagging a great deal, people can become impatient and irrational on Black Friday. <mark class=\"highlight-and-share\">Most people have an idea of what they want, which means they expect a seamless process that allows them to find it, pay for it, and move on to the next item on their list. Nothing should hamper this: not your technology, processes, or customer service<\/mark>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When customers have a good overall experience, they\u2019ll tell their friends and family \u2013 and word-of-mouth marketing is a great way to cut through the Black Friday noise caused by every business punting every offer. Get the experience wrong, though, and consumers will not hesitate to name, shame, and drive business away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Avoid this by making dealing with you as pleasant as possible. Offer exclusive deals to your loyal customers and make sure that your delivery partner can keep up with the increased demand. Simplify your processes and try to put a personal touch on the day. You might not be rewarded immediately, but customers will remember the gesture and give you repeat business throughout the year \u2013 and that\u2019s the best Black Friday deal your business could hope for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/shop.sage.co.za\/accounting-software\/\">Get Sage Business Cloud today and save 20% on your annual subscription<\/a>. With a real-time overview of your inventory and sales, as well as insights into your past performance and future forecasts, you can save time and money, and handle whatever Black Friday throws at you.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"single-cta\">\n\t<div class=\"single-cta__positioner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__wrapper has-dark-background-color\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"single-cta__title h3\">Subscribe to the Sage Advice enewsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Get a roundup of our best business advice in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"#gate-84fe79b5-668d-41f8-a0cc-6229018c4ac9\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"single-cta__button button button--primary\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>Subscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1440\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1181404518-1440x810.jpg\" class=\"single-cta__image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1181404518-1440x810.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 48em) 33vw, 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last year, South Africans spent almost R2.9 billion on Black Friday \u2013 almost 16% more than in 2017. Even more remarkable is that sales in South Africa were 1952% higher on Black Friday than on any other day. The American shopping tradition grows year-on-year in South Africa, with this year expected to be the biggest [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":812,"featured_media":68570,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sage_video":false,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,27],"tags":[316,325,207],"business_type":[2],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[15,16],"imagine_tag":[73,96,85],"coauthors":[413],"class_list":["post-68567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-getting-customers","category-strategy-legal-operations","tag-business-strategy","tag-customer-acquisition","tag-sales-management","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-za","author_name":"Viresh Harduth","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2019\/11\/Black-Friday-1675x1275.jpg","imagine_tags":{"73":"Money Matters","96":"Retail","85":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice South Africa","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/812"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/68570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68567"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=68567"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=68567"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=68567"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=68567"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=68567"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=68567"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-za\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=68567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}