The Ultimate Black Friday Guide for Repair Shops returns with its fifth installment into our ongoing series. Bringing insight and useful tips into how repair shops everywhere can maximize their Black Friday takings, this guide will talk about how to best handle the delivery of products/services and the associated expectations with it.
The RepairDesk Ultimate Black Friday Guide for Repair Shops
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Black Friday has conventionally been a season for shopping in stores and snagging the best discounts for the holiday season. While the spirit of the season remains true this year, the way it is celebrated has definitely changed.
Because of the threat of coronavirus still prevailing, Black Friday this year needs to be different. There are going to be major changes in the way people get their deals, and for a cellphone or computer repair shop, it might be tricky to figure out how to about it. That’s what this guide is for.
Here, we’ll be breaking down the different ways in which your customers can do business with you and receive the products or services they paid for. Additionally, we’ll also be looking at the sort of expectations that they have, so you can take care of them and make customers for life.
The Black Friday Change-Up
One of the major troubles for shoppers on Black Friday is getting the deals that they want in time. Going to the store and waiting in line is not fun for anyone, and let’s not even talk about the mad dash afterward. Instead of clamoring over other people to get the items that you want, you’ll have to make do with sitting at home instead.
But that’s not all a bad thing. In the US alone, consumers are expected to spend more than 43.3% this holiday season online. That means more people will be getting their Black Friday deals from the comfort of their couches, and it’s the store owners who have to figure out a way to deliver to them. Online digital platforms are popping up more in 2020, providing a convenient way for people to receive what they ordered.
Naturally, it would be a good idea to go the way of e-commerce and offer things online. It is the popular choice right now, with 62% of people shopping more online than before the pandemic. But how to go about it and ensure that items get delivered to your customers? That’s what this guide will help you with.
Keeping deliveries on-point
To have your sales run successfully on Black Friday, you need to create the perfect delivery mechanism. Orders need to get ready, get sorted, get sent off, and get delivered to customers. That’s part of the essential building blocks of an e-commerce (or any online) business. Getting everything pinned down and on-point requires you to consider a number of smaller things that come into play.
Select a delivery medium
The first question you need answering is, who is going to deliver your goods? You’re naturally going to have to contract a courier service to get the items from your store to your customers. Here, it would be wise to do your research and look at the different options out there that you can offer.
In many cases, local post can take care of the job in an inexpensive way. The postal service is a reliable source of delivery for many businesses to people, and sending goods through them generally gets the job done, though it does take a fair bit of time.
If you want a faster shipping option, then be prepared to have your customers pay a premium for it. Services like DHL, FedEx, UPS, and others will get your deliveries to customers in record time but are costly. The best way to mitigate these costs is to pass them on to the consumer since not everyone will be willing to pay astronomical shipping charges for every little thing. However, be sure to add it only as an option that they can go for. It allows for greater flexibility for your customers on how they want their package to arrive and increases goodwill.
To figure out what the best rate is for your deliveries, you can compare prices online and make a reasonable decision on what you want to go with.
Keep labels prepared
Black Friday sales usually have people purchasing items in droves. Oftentimes, stores are overwhelmed with the orders, and their delivery process slows down because of it.
To save time, it’s a great idea to have your labels printed and ready beforehand so that you can easily make good on deliveries. Labels will allow you to scan the items sold into your POS system and will make deliveries easier. Getting an adequate amount of labels and printing them to manage your inventory is a smart idea. It also helps the delivery crew in identifying packages. Plus, the extra time you save from printing and labeling parcels at run-time means you can focus more on your business.
Mind the weight
A major factor to consider when shipping items is the amount of weight it carries. Every delivery service charges extra if a package exceeds a certain weight. Your prices will climb astronomically if you send out big, bulky packages that require extra space. Therefore, it’s always a smart idea to pack light and keep your overall weight down to a minimum.
For cellphone repair shops, this might not be an issue, since the weight is generally manageable. However, if you’re running a computer repair shop, you might want to keep an eye out for weight. Most components and systems are hefty and carry a lot of weight, making it all the more troublesome and costly for you.
Keep packaging protected
Anything that you send through a courier service is liable to damage or wear-and-tear. Therefore, it would serve you best if you took extra precautions to keep items protected while they’re on their way to your customer.
Using bubble wrap, air cushions and Styrofoam in your packaging keeps them safe while they are on their way. These packaging safeguards also help keep costs low and products safe while they’re on their merry journey.
Subsidize your shipping
There’s nothing people love more on Black Friday than a good deal! That’s why it’s a good idea to give them the best value that you can. Shipping is one area where they will be expected to pony up, but if you can sweeten the deal for them, you’ve got yourself a customer.
Offering special discounts on shipping will go a long way to help retain customers and make more sales. Since you’re going to be selling more units and handling more repairs, you can afford to cut down on shipping costs. This gives customers extra incentive to turn to you for their needs and spend more during the holidays. Additionally, it gives you a competitive edge over other repair shops that don’t offer shipping discounts.
Make sure it’s safe
The last thing you want is for your delivery to be the cause of a disease vector. It’s going to be extremely bad for business, that’s for sure! To avoid such a catastrophe, make sure to cover all your bases before sending off items for delivery to your customers.
Take the time to disinfect all items and go through the necessary precautions when packaging. Find out what safety measures your delivery company will be taking to ensure that the spread of coronavirus remains in check. Most deliveries made nowadays are contactless, so it’s a good idea to have someone who offers that and takes care of disinfecting the package for you as well. Better to be safe than sorry.
The Final Word
Sending out deliveries and mailing in repairs is going to be at the forefront of the Black Friday experience this year. So, make sure you’re well-versed and well-equipped on taking this approach. Deliveries will need to be considered very carefully, especially since there’s going to be a lot more people ordering in this year. The more hassle-free you make the whole delivery experience, the more sales you can look towards earning this holiday season.
Don’t let any sales pass you by; get a repair shop software that lets you flawlessly place every sale online and off. RepairDesk is the repair shop software that takes care of all that you need at your store. Our repair shop management system helps create repair tickets, manage inventory, generate invoices, order items for your stock, collect customer payments, and take care of virtually everything your repair shop needs. Use any of our 40+ integrations to make life easier for yourself, and remove the hassle from everyday work. With RepairDesk, you’ll have everything you need to make your repair shop a success this Black Friday. Sign up now for a free 14-day trial.
