Black Friday – Chance For Foreign Brands To Make Their Mark!

By: Rabia Tanveer Posted on Thu, 26-11-2015

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Black Friday is quickly becoming a worldwide phenomenon. Started in Philadelphia, this shopping madness has taken a new face and now people from all over the world are joining in and taking advantage of this biggest sales day. Although, this is a huge sales day in a handful of countries, many more countries are joining in. Most of these countries are using this day and implementing it in their retail stores, however, many online retailers and e-commerce websites can take advantage of it and attract many international clients and turn a profit.

First it was the United States of America, later this day was joined by France, United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, India and Romania. Now, it is joined by countless other countries, including Australia, Pakistan, Brazil, Costa Rica, Panama, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, Bolivia, Denmark, Columbia, Sweden, Lebanon, Nigeria and South Africa.

Now, it may sound a little difficult, but if you have a good backup, you can actually pull this off. There are many translation agencies and translation service providers who also offer website translation services. They will localize your website and make it better for your Black Friday sale day.

Here is what you will need to do.

Know What You Want To Do

If you have a plan, you will have a road map. Make a list of things you want to do. For example, first of all:

  • You will need to gather data. You need to see how many international clients you have and if it will be worth it to have your website translated and localized. If you have a decent amount of international clients, move onto the next step.
  • You will need to hire a translation service that offers website translation service and localization services. For that you will have to do a little research and make sure that the company you choose has the right amount of experience and talent.
  • You will need to gather the content you need in that language. This is a very long process. Your main content, your product descriptions and even your checkout process need to have a translated version.
  • After that, you need to keep focus on having your marketing and promotional material translated and ready to go live before the Black Friday madness begins.

Find Your Gold

Your main focus should be on items that are already popular with your clients. Do not go for items that are more expensive. Place a promotional offer for the item, but make sure that you have promotions on items that are your best sellers with the international clients. Remember that their likes and dislikes are different from your local clients, so when you are thinking about “exclusive” deals and promotions, make sure that you peruse their data.

Clear the Sale Day

You will have a Black Friday sale for your local crowd as well, so make sure that you mention the day and time to your international clients. Simply create an email or a newsletter in which you mention the day of the sale in your client’s time zone. This will clear any confusions because time zones can create a lot of issues with your sale.

Keep Your Focus

Just because you are not a retail giant doesn’t mean you cannot take advantage of the opportunity. Keep your focus and run promotions that already popular with your clients. Do not try to run multiple sales on multiple items. Look at your best sellers and focus on them to make sure you do not lose money.

Make a Big Show

Showing off a little is not bad, especially in this type of sales day. Show your holiday spirit by making good designs and animations on your website. Run an animated video when your clients drop in. This will put your clients in a great mood and entice them to shop. Let the video talk about your promotions and make it extra sweet for your international clients by having it in their language.

Be Generous

If you can afford free shipping or even a discount on free shipping, offer that to your clients. Even shipping and posting companies feel generous on these occasions, so try to find them and use their services on these services.

Some to Talk To

It makes sense to have an interpreter and translator on hand. Your customer service will get a lot of attention on this day, especially if you are thinking about drawing in your international customers. If you have live chat facility on your website, make sure that you have an interpreter or a translator in your team to help your customer service team. Try to get a translator for every language your international client speak. For example, if you have an influx of customers from France and Germany, have a German and French native translator in your team.

Join In the Fun

Lastly, do not forget to join the fun. Even if your regular live chat operators are handling your international clients, make sure that you teach them some greetings in another language. As Black Friday will be celebrated a day after Thanksgiving, teach them to say “Happy Thanksgiving” or simple “hello”, “Goodbye”, “Have a Nice Day” and “Thank You for Shopping with Us” to your employees.

This is all about making things happen for you. Just because your competition is using a different strategy, it doesn’t mean that it will work for you too. Also, remember that this is mostly trial and error. Some things will work and some won’t. Find a combination that works for you and your clients and work on perfecting that.