Cyber Monday, the digital counterpart to Black Friday, reigns as a pivotal moment in the Australian e-commerce industry. It occurs on the first Monday after Thanksgiving, heralding the start of the holiday shopping season. This day’s significance lies in its power to drive online sales and redefine the shopping experience.
Early reports predict that in 2024, both Black Friday and Cyber Monday will boost retail sales by $69.7 billion. This uptick in sales will translate to a 2.7% increase from 2023’s figures.
As we delve into the significance of Cyber Monday’s in Australian e-commerce, we celebrate the growing impact of online shopping—a transformative shift that offers unparalleled convenience and accessibility to consumers. In this article, we explore the manifold benefits of Cyber Monday for e-commerce businesses in Australia, providing actionable strategies to leverage the surge in online shopping during the sale and turn it into an extravaganza success.
In this article, we explore the manifold benefits of Cyber Monday for e-commerce sellers in Australia, providing actionable strategies to leverage the surge in online shopping during the sale and turn it into an extravaganza success.
What is Cyber Monday?
Cyber Monday is a marketing term for e-commerce transactions on the Monday after Thanksgiving Day in the United States. It was created by the National Retail Federation (NRF) in 2005 to describe the surge in online sales that they had noticed on the Monday after Thanksgiving in previous years.
When is Cyber Monday 2024
Cyber Monday typically occurs on the last Monday in November, between November 26 and December 2. This year, the Cyber Monday Sale 2024 falls on December 2.
It is considered the online shopping extension to Black Friday, the traditional day for shopping at brick-and-mortar stores. Many retailers offer special deals and discounts on both Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but some retailers choose to focus their sales on one day or the other.
It is considered a popular day for online shopping worldwide and marks the start of the holiday shopping season.
Cyber Monday Sale (Australia)
Looking Back at Cyber Monday 2023
During the 2023 sales period, Australian Shoppers spent nearly $9 billion during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales combined, snatching away products marked at great discounts. This was significantly higher than the anticipated spending of $6 Billion in response to the nation’s sentiment against rising inflation.
What’s interesting to note here is that the combined retail spending up to the Cyber Monday sales was a record 22% jump from the previous sales season. During the Cyber Monday Sale 2023, it is interesting to note the part retailers played in stimulating the shopping frenzy. Sellers listed their Cyber Monday product lineup at a discounted average of 27%. What ideally seemed to be an extension of the Black Friday sale had shaped to be an important retail event in Australian e-commerce.
In 2023, e-commerce sales represented more than 76 percent of shopping transactions during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. As Online purchases continue to rise in 2024, Australian Sellers must leverage the potential of Cyber Monday sales to increase sales opportunities and revenue.
What Australians Shopped during Cyber Monday 2023
During Cyber Monday Sales, Australian Shoppers were motivated by great value deals, products at discounted prices, and an opportunity to spend ahead for the holidays. Shoppers who missed out on the Black Friday deals got a second chance with the Cyber Monday sale 2023.
Australians during Cyber Monday spent generously on:
- Fashion and Accessories
- Consumer Electronic Gadgets/ Appliances
- Beauty, Skincare, and Haircare products
- Toys and Gifts
- Home goods and decor
- Footwear and Accessories
What Sellers Can Expect During Cyber Monday 2024
According to IG, Australians are expected to spend around $6.7 billion during the four-day window that ends with the Cyber Monday Sale 2024, a 5.5% increase from last year’s sales. The average Australian shopper’s spending is expected to be $707, a $61 increase from 2023’s average.
The Cyber Monday Sale is expected to attract Australians who are planning their holiday shopping earlier than expected. According to News.com.au’s editor, Nearly 59% of Australian Shoppers plan to buy gifts on sale this year.
What Australian Shoppers Will Buy This Cyber Monday 2024
While the majority of shoppers will look for electronic gadgets, accessories, and appliances, retailers are also targeting shoppers who could have missed out on Black Friday sales.
Australian Shoppers will be looking to shop for the following during the Cyber Monday Sale 2024:
- Consumer Appliances
- Electronic gadgets and accessories
- Fashion and accessories
- Skincare, beauty and haircare
- Home decor
- Everyday essentials
Benefits of participating in Cyber Monday
Cyber Monday is a major shopping event in Australia, with millions of Australians expected to take advantage of the deals and discounts offered by retailers. Cyber Monday is a great opportunity for retailers to tap into the post-Black Friday sales frenzy, increase sales and revenue, acquire and retain customers, clear old inventory, gain brand exposure, and improve the e-commerce experience.
Increased sales and revenue
Cyber Monday is one of the biggest shopping days of the year in Australia, with online sales expected to reach billions of dollars. Retailers can take advantage of this by offering attractive deals and discounts on their products.
Customer acquisition and retention
Cyber Monday is a great opportunity for retailers to acquire new customers and retain existing ones. As Black Friday has passed, shoppers may turn to online shopping to take advantage of deals they may have missed. By offering attractive deals and discounts, retailers can encourage customers to try new products and services. They can also use Cyber Monday to reward loyal customers.
Clearing old inventory
Cyber Monday is a good time for retailers to clear old inventory. E-commerce retailers can identify slow-moving, dead stock and products closer to expiry in addition to mapping seasonal products that get sold during the holidays. They can offer deep discounts on products to increase their chances of purchase rather than paying high holding costs for the inventory. This can help to reduce operational costs and free up space for new inventory.
Brand exposure
Cyber Monday is a great opportunity for retailers to gain brand exposure. By participating in Cyber Monday and offering attractive deals and discounts, retailers can reach a wider audience and promote their brands.
Marketing opportunities
Cyber Monday is a good time for retailers to implement multichannel marketing campaigns as shoppers tend to remain active on social media to spot deals and refer great deals to friends and family. This involves using a variety of channels, such as social media, email promotions, and search engine marketing targeting campaigns, to reach customers and promote Cyber Monday deals.
Data collection and marketing insights
Cyber Monday is a great opportunity for retailers to collect data on their customers and shopping habits. You will understand what shoppers are looking to buy, stock that sold out quickly and bundles that were highly sought after. This data can be used to improve marketing campaigns and product offerings.
Incentive to improve the e-commerce experience
Cyber Monday is an incentive for retailers to improve their e-commerce experience. This includes ensuring that their website is fast and easy to use and that they have a good selection of products and payment options.
Top tactics to boost sales on Cyber Monday in 2024
The Cyber Monday sale in 2024 is a great opportunity for Australian sellers. But, have you wondered what tactics can get you there? Here are some tips for you to get started.
Do your research
Before you start planning your Cyber Monday sale 2024, it is important to do your research. This includes understanding the latest trends in online shopping, identifying your target audience, and analyzing your competitors.
Some key areas to research include:
- What products are popular on Cyber Monday?
- What are the latest trends in online shopping?
- Who is your target audience? What are their needs and wants?
- What are your competitors doing on Cyber Monday?
Spring clean your online store
Before you launch your Cyber Monday sale, it is important to spring-clean your online store. This includes making sure that your website is efficient and easy to use, that your product descriptions are accurate and informative, and that your checkout process is smooth and efficient.
Here are some specific tips:
- Make sure that your website is mobile-friendly. More and more people are shopping online on their smartphones and tablets.
- Test your website speed and make any necessary improvements. A slow website can lead to abandoned carts and lost sales.
- Make sure that your product descriptions are accurate and informative. Include clear and concise information about the product, such as its features, benefits, and specifications.
- Offer high-quality images and videos of your products. This will help shoppers to get a better understanding of the products they are considering buying.
- Make sure that your checkout process is smooth and efficient. Reduce the number of steps required to complete a purchase and offer multiple payment options.
Plan your marketing strategy
Once you have done your research and spring-cleaned your online store, it is time to start planning your marketing strategy. This includes identifying your key marketing messages, choosing the right marketing channels, and setting a budget.
Here are some tips for planning your Cyber Monday marketing strategy:
- Identify your key marketing messages. What are the main benefits of your Cyber Monday sale? What do you want your customers to know?
- Choose the right marketing channels. Where does your target audience spend their time online? Consider using a mix of marketing channels, such as email, social media, and search engine marketing.
- Set a budget. How much money do you have to spend on marketing? Does your e-commerce platform offer in-app and cross-channel promotions? Make sure to allocate your budget wisely and focus on the channels that are most likely to reach your target audience.
Prompt those who abandoned cart to finalise their purchase
Many shoppers abandon their carts during the checkout process. This can happen for a variety of reasons, such as unexpected shipping costs or simply changing their minds.
On Cyber Monday, it is important to prompt those who have abandoned their carts to finalize their purchase. You can do this by sending them an email reminder with a link to their cart. You can also offer them a special discount to encourage them to complete their purchase.
Set up social commerce
Social commerce is the process of selling products and services on social media platforms. Social commerce is becoming increasingly popular, as it allows retailers to reach a large audience and make it easy for shoppers to buy products without having to leave their favourite social media platforms.
On Cyber Monday, you can use social commerce to promote your sales and reach a wider audience. You can do this by creating social media posts about your sale, using relevant hashtags, and running social media ads on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat, among others.
Capitalize on Thanksgiving and Black Friday returns
Many shoppers return products after Thanksgiving and Black Friday. Promote your Cyber Monday sale to shoppers who have returned products after Thanksgiving and Black Friday.
You can capitalize on these returns by encouraging shoppers to exchange their unwanted items for new products or in-store credits to ensure that they shop with you during your Cyber Monday sale. You can also offer shoppers free shipping on exchanges.
Get ready for the rush
Cyber Monday is one of the busiest shopping days of the year. It is important to make sure that you are prepared for the rush. This includes planning your shipping and logistics and ensuring your website can handle the increased traffic.
Here are some tips for getting ready for the Cyber Monday rush:
- Plan out your shipping and logistics. Ensure that you have enough inventory on hand in strategically positioned warehouses that speed up dispatch and delivery.
- Ensure that your website can handle the increased traffic. Test your website’s scalability and make any necessary improvements.
- Consider using a load-balancing service to distribute traffic across multiple servers.
How Locad Can Help Sellers Maximise Gains this Cyber Monday Sale
Here’s how Locad can help sellers create an impact and accelerate their sales pipeline during Cyber Monday 2024:
Curate the Ideal Cyber Monday Product Lineup: The Locad Logistics Engine, the tech platform, help e-commerce sellers consolidate sales across different marketplaces in one unified dashboard. This, coupled with inventory levels, expiry management, and sales insights, will help sellers clear inventory, identify bundling opportunities, and minimise potential holding costs that dead stock will occupy. And with Black Friday performance, sellers can identify the products that resonated well with customers and double down on them.
Multi-channel Selling to Maximize Cyber Monday 2024 Reach: Cyber Monday sales can be big on marketplaces like Amazon and eBay, while custom websites may require additional marketing and promotional push. Shoppers may visit these platforms in search of great deals. In such cases, Locad helps sellers manage demand across multiple channels by reserving dedicated stock per channel from a common inventory pool. This helps sellers maximise on sales opportunities across marketplace-supported stores and their websites.
Demand Management During Cyber Monday: Locad helps sellers log their expected sales based on their Black Friday performance and Cyber Monday promotion. In a flexible storage infrastructure, this means the forecast will help regulate staffing requirements to manage picking and packing for timely order fulfillment.
Cyber Monday Order Packaging: Sellers use packaging to raise awareness, and improve brand recall. During high-volume sales periods like Cyber Monday, Locad enables sellers to ship orders in custom branding and include inserts encouraging repeat shopping. With Cyber Monday Shopping sellers can also identify popular add-ons and bundled items to increase order value. With Locad, sellers get kitting, bundling, and assembly services done prior to minimise pick and pack errors and speed up dispatch.
Offer Great Cyber Monday Value Shipping Deals: With Locad powering storage and fulfillment during Cyber Monday sale 2024 in Australia, sellers offset costly overheads and offer great discounts without hurting their margins. By distributing inventory across warehouses in Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, and Brisbane, sellers can reduce storage costs and ship faster. Customers are likely to choose brands that offer great discounts and faster shipping, making it a win-win for sellers.
Partner with reputed last-mile partners for fulfillment: The Cyber Monday sale is right after Black Friday, which impacts the last mile due to price surges and service black outs. With Locad, sellers can access a network of last mile partners and auto-assing carrier partners with the cheapest shipping costs automatically. This helps sellers offer diverse shipping options, faster fulfillment and lower shipping costs that will help them drive sales during Cyber Monday 2024.
Final Takeaways
Cyber Monday is one of the biggest shopping days of the year in Australia and offers many benefits to e-commerce businesses that participate. It is a great opportunity to increase sales and revenue, acquire and retain customers, clear old inventory, gain brand exposure, and improve the shopping experience.
As holiday shopping begins, it is important for e-commerce businesses to capture shopper’s interest by meeting their expectation. The need for faster shipping at affordable rates can become a primary differentiator and could give your business that competitive advantage.
Partnering with a 3PL provider in Australia like Locad can help you prepare for and execute a successful Cyber Monday sale. Leverage an impressive range of services like flexible warehousing, tech platforms to seamlessly automate order processing, access to best-in-class last mile partners, and an expert team to handle picking, packing, shipping, and tracking your orders. Having logistics completely off your area of responsibility can allow you to focus on other parts of the business and allow you to fulfil all your Cyber Monday sale orders on time!
