Maximise your success as a platform during Black Friday and Cyber Monday

This month, the ecommerce high season kicks off with Black Friday and subsequently Cyber Monday. Consumers are enticed with attractive deals to buy early for Christmas. Platforms and marketplaces can also cash in on opportunities during this period. As platform experts, we would like to inspire you with some examples and tips. 

Marketplaces and platforms are not yet responding en masse to days like Black Friday. A major reason for this is because it is believed that the dynamics between buyers and sellers are not suitable for this. It is also different from webshops, as buyers are usually responsible for promoting their own products and services and also set the price themselves. Nevertheless, you can play an important role as a platform or marketplace to facilitate special promotions.  
 
A great example we saw last year prior to Black Friday was with our partner Kleinanzeigen, Germany's largest marketplace. The platform offered free shipping for several weeks, which provided an interesting incentive for buyers to make a transaction during that period. The promotion had a great effect, as the number of transactions on Kleinanzeigen increased significantly. 

Section with deals 
To leverage the period around Black Friday and/or Christmas for more conversion on your platform, you can make a lot of impact with relatively small changes. For instance, you can create a specific category or section on your platform for special deals. Sellers can place their product or service in this and, for example, automatically apply a Black Friday discount to the original asking price.  

One platform that has used this successfully is US marketplace Etsy. Last year, the platform encouraged sellers to participate in the bargain fest by offering hefty discounts on their products for five weeks. In return, sellers were given extra visibility in a personalised environment for special deals. This strategy not only generated many transactions but also boosted Etsy's share price. 

Informing buyers at the right times 
If you want to encourage transactions as a platform or marketplace, it is smart to inform buyers at the right times so they never miss out on a deal. For instance, a few weeks before Black Friday, you can offer buyers to subscribe to Black Friday deals. You can also make it possible to set up notifications for specific deals and signal when the discount drops to a certain percentage or price.  

 
Leveraging data 

Furthermore, by using data, you can make a significant difference. Using the data you have on buyers, you can alert them (following privacy guidelines, of course) when a product from their favourite brand is on sale. Another way to leverage data is to give sellers more insight into opportunities by sharing aggregated data on trends you have seen in previous years around Black Friday in their specific product/service area. They can then adjust their strategy accordingly.  
 
As a marketplace or platform, if you provide the right tools, you can help both buyers and sellers get much more out of the period around Black Friday or Christmas. By doing so, as an intermediary, you also bring added value to your users during this season. After all, sellers can sell more, and buyers can find a suitable product at a good price. By doing so, you make your platform or marketplace even more attractive for both parties. 

Green Friday 
Incidentally, Black Friday does not always have to be a way to boost transactions and your sales. As a platform or marketplace, it can also give you the opportunity to convey core values that do not fit with the consumer frenzy generated by Black Friday. For instance, our partner Nature.House has joined the Green Friday initiative. With this, it calls for more attention to the balance between people and nature, precisely during the days dominated by consumption.  

Want to know more about how to optimise your platform or marketplace around seasonal peaks to create the best opportunities for sellers and buyers? We'd be happy to help!