Amazon and Black Friday

IO Scout will explain you what is Amazon Black Friday in 2020. Notice: This year Black Friday will take place in November 27

What is Black Friday?

Heralded as one of the peak shopping days of the year, online and in high street retail, Black Friday is one for every Amazon seller to capitalize on.

But where did it come from?

Black Friday dates all the way back to the 1950s. A phrase used by the police to portray the busy gatherings and traffic flow on the Friday directly after the Thanksgiving celebrations. Black Friday is between 23-29 November, and is the Friday after Thanksgiving. 

In the year, we now see Black Friday as a consumers’ paradise, and a day on which there are an amazing amount of deals to be had – especially in electronics and appliance merchandise!

Cyber Monday

Cyber Monday came about after Black Friday. This occurrence was back in 2005, when it was apparent that retailers trading online experienced a huge surge in sales directly after Black Friday. And so Cyber Monday was born!

Cyber Monday is typically on one of the last days in November, but can vary due to when Thanksgiving falls. This year Cyber Monday will take place in November 30. The sales figures on Cyber Monday historically have been outstanding, and actually tend to be approximately 25% more than Black Friday!

Whereabouts in the world is Black Friday not a thing?

Most countries globally recognize the tradition of Black Friday (around 50 to 60% of countries), however some of them which don’t are as follows:

• North Korea
• Tajikistan
• Iran
• Afghanistan
• Venezuela

It does not come as a surprise to note that the aforementioned countries are against consumerism, and therefore do not participate on the “free-for-all” consumerist attitude of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. 

Amazon is the leading advocate for the “manifest destiny” of fourth quarter entrepreneurship, and has fourteen committed Amazon markets globally, including: 

• USA
• Mexico
• Canada
• Japan
• UK
• Germany
• France
• Brazil
• Australia
• UAE
• India
• Singapore

And every one of these nations celebrate Black Friday as a shopping public holiday. 

Black Friday – The Stats

• Black Friday is the most prevalent shopping day in the USA
• Around 61% of Americans commented that they planned to shop on Black Friday
• An average spend of $361.90 was made during the Black Friday holiday in 2019
• $119 billion was spent online on products on Black Friday 2019
• 142 million shoppers bought online on Black Friday 2019…
• …compared to 124 million shoppers who braved the high streets!
• Best selling items on Black Friday in 2019 were Frozen 2 Toys, Paw Patrol Toys, LOL Surprise Toys, Amazon Fire Stick 4K, Echo Dot, Apple Air Pods and the Echo Show 5.
• 41% of shoppers on Black Friday are seeking out clothes purchases, 38% were after home appliances, 32% on electrical appliances & gadgets for the home, and 25% on toys
• Black Friday 2019 saw Amazon as the top online retailer

Cyber Monday – The Stats

Being prevalent since 2005, Cyber Monday has experienced sales growth as follows:

• 2005:  $484 million
• 2006:  $608 million
• 2007:  $733 million
• 2008:  $846 million
• 2009:  $887 million
• 2010:  $1.028 billion
• 2011:  $1.25 billion
• 2012:  $1.46 billion
• 2013:  $1.74 billion
• 2014:  $2.6 billion
• 2015:  $3.1 billion
• 2016:  $3.7 billion
• 2017:  $4.7 billion
• 2018:  $6 billion
• 2019:  $7.8 billion

1. The typical shopper anticipated they would spend around $431 on Cyber Monday in the year 2019.
2. 50% of consumers stated that they planned to shop during the week of Thanksgiving, and on Cyber Monday.
3. Online shopping sales were greater on Cyber Monday in 2019 than Black Friday in 2019 by roughly $2 billion! And the same situation in 2018, with a difference of around $1.2 billion.
4. Top products bought on Cyber Monday in 2019 included Nintendo Switch, Samsung Televisions, LOL Surprise Dolls, Frozen 2 Toys and VR devices.

What are good things to buy on Black Friday?

• Toys

Black Friday is a super time to make an early start on your kids’ Christmas toy wish list! Save disappointment by stocking up on those trending toys on Black Friday.

• Movies

DVDs sell really well on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and make great Christmas gifts, too.

• Video Games

Xbox Live, Playstation, Nintendo – all the big players and more. 

• Trainers

If you’re in the market for a new pair of sports trainers, Black Friday and Cyber Monday could be the time! There are often heavily discounted prices for active wear during this time. 

• Smart Devices

Voice assistant appliances and devices are right up there on the hottest items for sale on Black Friday and Cyber Monday like Alexa, and the Apple and Google alternatives. 

Here is some Black Friday ads and deals and Cyber Monday deals

What should you avoid buying on Black Friday?

• Jewellery

The biggest discounts for jewellery are not often seen during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The best time for this is directly after Valentine’s Day!

• Travel

Last-minute travel deals are usually prevalent on Cyber Monday, rather than Black Friday. So hold on a couple of days, and you may be in for a treat!

How can you capitalize on Black Friday as an Amazon Seller?

Being successful on Black Friday and Cyber Monday as an Amazon merchant requires some heavy planning. And, as we’ve mentioned, these special dates are a great opportunity to rid yourself of stock that’s been gathering dust on the FBA warehouse shelves. 

Have you considered selling products on Amazon from liquidated Amazon stock? Re-selling, as it were, as these are products which have been returned to Amazon for one reason or another, and now are given the chance at another life in the form of being sold as part of a pallet of liquidized Amazon stock.

If you didn’t know about this method of sourcing products to sell on Amazon before, it may be worth your while considering it as a viable way of making even more money on Amazon’s Marketplace, and really striking whilst shoppers are in serious buying mode!

How do you to maximize profits through liquidated stock?

You would be wise to navigate carefully when negotiating with a liquidation distributor , as it’s very easy to spend a lot of capital on a lot of stock, only to find out its not what you were expecting, and therefore losing a lot of money in the process. Some top tips to maximize your profits are as follows:

• Obtain a Resale certificate (very often a requirement from liquidation distributor businesses)
• Carefully scrutinize the manifest and obtain as much detail as possible about your shipments 
• Be aware of manifest differences – if you end up with liquidation pallets that are wildly different from the original manifest, you have cause for complaint, and potentially, your money back
• Liquidation stock requires a lot of time to sort and categorize, so factor this time into your costs
• Understand the liquidation distributors’ grading system. Once you’ve worked with a liquidation company a while, you will have a feel for the quality and features of the products
• Check dates for expiration of products
• Don’t throw all your capital at liquidation stock instantly. It’s best to build up, investing in small amounts of liquidation stock at a time, until you can be confident with your liquidation distributor and the quality/types of products you can expect to receive

Starting a liquidation business

Starting down the road of buying liquidated stock means you take these steps:

1. Find a liquidation distributor who you feel you can have a good working relationship with – there are plenty of reviews online about these companies, so definitely check them before placing any orders and committing with your capital
2. Once received, sort your inventory and categorize your products accordingly
3. Get the goods on Amazon to start selling them!

Arranging out your liquidation stock

This is a process that does require a lot of time, but if time is on your side, and you are organized, you can simply follow the process each time you take delivery of new liquidation stock. It’ll be a well- oiled machine in no time!

Check if the goods are:

• Discontinued
• In good, sellable condition
• Packaged in good, sellable condition
• An authentic brand (if that’s what you were expecting)
• Included with a warranty

Selling your liquidation stock

You may want to think about setting up your own Amazon Store. 

Amazon Stores were launched back in 2017, and Amazon allows you to create your own brand by way of an Amazon store. By doing this, you can increase your sales because your brand is getting much more traction and visibility on the platform. Shoppers who are in “buying mode” during Black Friday, and indeed, Cyber Monday, will be glad of an immersive, enjoyable experience such as an Amazon store during this time. 

An Amazon store is a visually rich platform where you can showcase your products, and create a lovely shopping experience for your customers. Due to the nature of Amazon stores, by having one you automatically enhance your consumers’ shopping pleasure, and drive more sales, as it makes it even easier to buy from you, and therefore, your brand. 

This is done in a few ways:

• Gives you a chance to get your brand out there to customers you haven’t reached before.
• Gives your existing customers a new look at your brand, and to tempt them into buying from you again.
• You can create slideshows of your products with images, text, and videos, and is wonderful for launching new products, and making a huge fuss about it!
• Heightens your SERPs within Amazon in an organic manner. 

The primary factor that drives Amazon entrepreneurs to set up their own Amazon Store is to encourage more sales – sales with their existing customers, and sales with their brand-new customers. If you make your Amazon Store a really enticing place to be, and a pleasant shopping experience, more sales will come. It’s a very accessible method to shop, and one which shoppers enjoy – so why not go ahead and create that very platform for them to enjoy – and buy from you? 

Your Amazon Store is not restricted to desktops, either. The mobile shopping experience is second to none, so you can capture your prospective shoppers’ interest whether they are browsing your Amazon Store on their own computer, or mobile, or out and about. 

Benefits of an Amazon Store

1. Easy to set up, with customizable templates for you to simply follow, and populate with your products.
2. You don’t need to be a web developer! Setting up an Amazon Store does not require any coding knowledge or skill whatsoever. Bonus.
3. Visually rich, Amazon Stores are a pleasant place for your customers to be – as they immerse themselves in your product images and videos.
4. You can create more than one page of products, depending on your own unique business requirements. 
5. Your Amazon Store can be tailored exactly to your own specifications, making it unique to your business brand, and to stand out from the rest of the competition. 
6. You have the option of social sharing integration with your Amazon Store, to drive more engagement, traffic, traction to your products, and, of course, sales. 

An item page on an Amazon Store which converts, and converts astoundingly well, looks like this:

• A thorough explanation of the item
• Item pictures which are high-quality and professional (this includes videos, too)
• Qualified for Amazon Prime and all its elements
• An appealing title, which is also accurate and relevant to the item in the listing

Best Amazon Selling Categories in 2020

• Toys and Games
• Cameras
• Electronics
• Video Games
• Cosmetics

Goods to avoid re-selling on Amazon

• Handbags
• Luggage
• Jewellery
• Baby Products
• Clothes
• Beauty Products
• Health Care Products and Medications

Amazon Sellers who Succeed on Amazon

There are some certain products and categories which sell especially well on Amazon’s Marketplace. 

• Unique/Bespoke Items

Amazon Sellers who craft their own jewellery, for example. These unique and bespoke items sell well as they are generally one-off items, which aren’t easy to replicate, and also have low competition from other sellers. Often you’ll find that these items can demand higher prices as there’s not often something similar on the market already = more profit!

• Niche Items

Items which fall into a niche category are often successful, as it’s extremely unlikely that Amazon itself would start investing in these categories. Therefore, you probably wouldn’t have competition from Amazon with these niche items. 

• Used Items

Refurbished or used goods have a lot of interaction on Amazon by shoppers. Shoppers who are driven by price, and not so much on delivery times.

The key message really when it comes to buying liquidation stock to re-sell on Amazon’s Marketplace is to start slow, and build from the ground up. Until you have confidence with your liquidation stock supplier, invest small and often, without risking too much capital up front. 

Get this process right, and you really could see your Amazon selling business reaching new heights – as your consumers get more and more deal-friendly. You can expect to be able to offer your customers really competitive prices for products that you sell on Amazon, when you invest correctly into Amazon liquidation stock. 

Prep for Black Friday as a Merchant

In preparation for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, you can start writing your blogs as a countdown or lead up to the big event. Once a week is enough to get your message out there, and ensure your loyal existing customers know what you are promoting during this event!

You can also have a Black Friday/Cyber Monday specific homepage for your website, highlighting the promotions you plan to offer, perhaps with a countdown timer.

Black Friday in Essence

Black Friday, and now Cyber Monday, is an occasion not to be missed for savvy Amazon sellers. Yes, it is a purely consumerist event, but one to capitalize on.

For some online retailers, Black Friday is a wonderful time to kick-start those Christmas sales, and get shoppers in the buying mode. It can also be used as an opportunity to finally sell off off those discontinued lines that have been hanging around on the shelves of the Amazon Fulfillment Centres!