4 Compelling Reasons to Hold a Black Friday or Cyber Monday Sale

Black Friday and the holiday buying season is almost upon us!  Are you planning an event to kick start holiday spending for your wedding business?

Confession: I hate shopping.  Black Friday is my worst nightmare.  I never go near the stores after Thanksgiving, and I’m afraid of my email on Cyber Monday because of the deluge of sales and offers.

As much as I personally can’t stand this insane buying frenzy, Black Friday and Cyber Monday offer a perfect opportunity to make money for your wedding business.  Here’s why…

#1 – Limited time offers boost sales.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday specials are limited time, one day only events.  Psychology tells us that when something has limited availability, customer desire increases, resulting in more sales.

This is the Scarcity Principle you can use to increase sales, as described by Robert Cialdini in his book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.  The less available something is, the more we want it and the more likely we are to buy.

Remember Beanie Babies?  They were these cute little bean bag animals.  Cute, and I’m being generous here, but definitely nothing special.

Except that they made only a certain number of them available.  As soon as people found out they couldn’t get the most recent Beanie Baby, they HAD to have it.  Demand increased and they were able to charge ridiculous prices for the limited editions.

Originally, Beanie Babies cost about $5, but people went so nuts for these things that a royal blue Peanut the Elephant, which was only produced in limited quantities for a short time in 1995, could sell for over $3,000.

Create a scarcity offer and you will boost your sales.

#2 – People buy more when they are in an emotional buying state.

While we like to think that we analyze the information and carefully weigh the facts before making a purchase, this simply isn’t true.

Psychology studies reveal that people ALWAYS buy due to a change in their emotional state; then they immediately use logic to rationalize the purchase.

Guess what happens on Black Friday?  Oh, yes.  Emotional buying state hits a frenzied peak.  It’s much easier to get someone to spend money with you when their wallet is already open.

When you make a special offer over the holidays, your sales will increase because your customers are riding that emotional buying high.

#3 – It’s the perfect time to reach 24% of the buying population you might normally miss.

Neuroeconomic experts have identified three types of spenders: Spendthrifts, Average Buyers and Tightwads.  (See this infographic.)

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are a Tightwad’s dream!  These buyers make up 24% of the population, and are typically more difficult to deal with because they are driven to find a bargain.

Tightwads are out en force for the post-Thanksgiving sales, and a special offer is guaranteed to get their attention.

#4 – Shoppers are glued to their email on Cyber Monday.

Ultra time-sensitive offers, such as Amazon.com’s hourly specials, keep many of your potential customers glued to their email.  They’re on the lookout for deals and bargains.

Normally, your email is easily lost in the inbox.  But when you have a subject line like: Cyber Monday Special, today only! it gets opened.

Last year, Black Friday and Cyber Monday specials generated $52.4 billion and $1 billion in sales respectively, according to figures reported by Statistics Brain.  Isn’t it time you got in the game?

What do you think about holiday sales and specials?

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