It's no surprise that this year's biggest shopping weekend will be dominated by online shopping. With fewer brick and mortar opportunities, it's time for your business to prepare for an influx of virtual sales - and quick!

Here are some steps that will allow you to have an easier time setting up your website for Black Friday.

TESTING YOUR WEBSITE TRAFFIC

With more online shoppers this season, you will want to make sure you stress-test your website! There are several tools on the market that can help test if your servers can handle a huge spike in traffic. Keep in mind that these types of load and speed-test simulations can get pricey, depending on the available features. 

Tools to Consider:

• Loader | Starting at $0
• Load Runner | Starting at $0
• Google Lighthouse | Starting at $0
• K6 Cloud | Starting at $59/month

These tools will allow you to analyze your speed, performance and reliability of your online store before the big day.

accelerate your e-commerce

Is E-commerce the revenue stream you've been thinking about, but just haven't had the time to prioritize? If your website is currently without E-commerce capabilities, this Black Friday season is an excellent opportunity to invest in your online store.

Whether you're looking to increase your shopping experience on mobile, embed E-commerce into an existing site, or starting from scratch... We understand what it takes to create a beautifully designed, fully-optimized E-commerce website that doesn't compromise on strategy or aesthetics. From popular plugins like WooCommerce to powerful CMS platforms like Shopify, we're masters in our craft. Connect with us today to discuss the future of your online shopping presence. 

OPTIMIZE YOUR ORDER FULFILLMENT STRATEGY

A large volume of sales in a short period of time can make it difficult to fulfill orders AND ensure they arrive to your customers in a timely manner. In other words, it's time to organize and optimize your fulfillment network this Black Friday season. 

Order your products early. Even with an uptick in online orders due to Black Friday promotions, it's important to remember that we are still operating in a global pandemic. Improve the speed and accuracy for orders by ensuring you have enough inventory to get the job done.

Maximize your workflows. Many production facilities and supply chains are managing at a much slower pace than usual; make inferences about your estimated sales before they happen - leaving your distribution network with more than enough time to fulfill orders.

It's inevitable that this Black Friday season will be one of the biggest surges in online shopping activity that we've ever seen. When in doubt - chat with the experts at H&C Inc. We're here to help!