Hey hey hey. The CMBF period is just around the corner! And we all know it’s both a huuugee opportunity to boost sales and a huge challenge - to keep up with the pace. So here is a checklist for the upcoming CMBF season!
If you'd like to copy and paste it as a checklist,
HERE IS THE LINK TO IT!
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Peak sales season will be here soon, between Prime day #2 in October, BFCM in November and holiday shoppers in December. Here are some tips & tricks to be prepared, by no other than Kathleen Sullivan Garman .
Having a strategy for this is going to determine whether this is fantastic for your bottom line or stressful for the entire team. Make sure all departments are working together to ensure not only proper fulfillment but protection of profitability and creating relationships with the customers so they will return again at full price.
📦 Black Friday Operations Pull Inventory Reports Then build your demand plan. If you don't have enough inventory, the increase in sales will only frustrate your customers. If you have enough inventory - fantastic! Proceed to next step
If you are short on inventory, run an analysis on whether it's worth it to bring more in at a faster pace. Can you air freight? Will your supplier charge rush fees? Add all of that into your cost of goods analysis to make sure you're still making your profitability goals. If it looks like it's not worth it to rush more inventory, then assess what you have in stock. What do you have too much of? Can you build that SKU into a BOGO or a bundle?
Amazon or 3PL Inbound? Make sure you have inbounded the right amount of FBA inventory (and with enough time for Amazon's slow as snail pace to get it ready for fulfillment),
If not, make sure you have your fulfilled by merchant settings on so the orders can go to your own warehouse instead. Check inventory at 3PL warehouses to make sure there is enough there to meet what sales & marketing is offering. How to find the best 3PL? Check out our guide !
Warehouse Management for DTCs Meet with your warehouse team
Set SLA expectations for Prime Day orders. Have them run a cycle count to make sure inventory numbers are correct.
Order Flow Make sure your Order Routing or Location settings will work to send orders to alternate locations if the initial location is out of stock. Set multiple routing cards that are rules based. Take into account:
Check out our guide for successful DTC Inventory Management !
💼 Black Friday Sales and Marketing Content Creation for Black Friday Create content for all of your sales channels that will attract shoppers.
Check with Ops on inventory and structure promotions to use in stock SKUs Create bundles to utilize slower selling inventory or products with a near expiration that need to be moved Create BOGO for the same reasons
What do customers need? Clear communication on what's being offered, provide metrics on value or discount Give options for where they can purchase. Driving traffic to your own website can be more profitable than to marketplaces for existing customers. Marketplace customers may be discovering your brand for the first time, give them a reason to return. Use strategic pricing to maximize profit based on SKU, sales channel and delivery methods
🤑 Black Friday Finance Run an S&OP - (Sales & Operations Planning) Make sure sales understands Cogs and can price promotions to still protect profits Work with Ops on ordering inventory, freight methods and budget for disruption to make sure profitability is protected
💻 Black Friday Customer Service Heart & Soul! You are the first voice the customer hears and the last voice whether they're satisfied or not Work with Ops to understand inventory and fulfillment promises Work with Sales to know what's being offered, at what price and what restrictions Breathe! Be patient and remember that you are the one that can create that great experience to get the customer coming back. Customer Experience isn't just an administrative cost, you can drive future revenue.
Learn to rock your viral moments. Whether it's for something like BFCM, Prime Day, Shark Tank or another reason for a surge in orders, make sure to have all the tools set up and your Ops and CS team trained on how to use them.
Also, remember to check out our Black Friday Countdown checklist!
Big thanks to Kathleen Sullivan Garman
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