Ever since Black Friday was introduced to the UK from America, retailers have used the holiday to shift a lot of their old stock and boost sales at a time of year that people are eager to shop. In retail, like many other industries, there has been a huge shift to online purchasing. Developing a comprehensive e-commerce programme will enhance your offering and better prepare you for the peak period. Don’t be left behind in the lead up to Christmas. So, how best should you develop your e-commerce programme and strategy in the lead-up to Black Friday?What your strategy should focus onTesting and learning is an ongoing process that should be fed into your e-commerce strategy. Addressing the following areas will improve the ability of your businesses to attract more customers.Pricing ranges Reviewing and amending discounted products is important to ensure that you are making regular sales throughout the holiday. If you price your stock too low, you won’t make money. On the other hand, if you go too expensive, you will lose the sale to your competition. Planning throughout the year and keeping products in stock ready to sell will better prepare you for the discount period.MarketingDigital marketing professionals must market products in the right way online, through adverts and messaging that resonates with the type of customer that they want to attract. Using testing to learn which messaging and platforms work best will help to boost sales.Audience targetingOn most online platforms that offer advertising, there are opportunities to make your advertisements and posts targeted to your audience. This is crucial, as the performance of these can help to increase sales and revenue for your business. Typically, companies that focus on specific strategic product lines, will perform better throughout the sales period. Offering discounts on a wide range of stock may seem like the way forward, but looking at your sales history and determining which products would do better if they were discounted, is a way to ensure the sale. It is important to look at what sells seasonally and reduce what would work best in November, before the Christmas holiday. Measuring successWhen you are aiming to improve your programme, it is important to continuously review your data to see what is working. Through the utilisation of analytics, you can track traffic, sales, conversion rates, and click-through rates to determine whether or not your advertisements or adjustments have impacted positive change.Furthermore, looking at year-on-year revenue can also help to determine success. Reviewing the profit margin and how much money has been made will be a simple, but clear indication, if your e-commerce strategy has positively impacted your bottom-line.What do customers want from Black Friday?Customer needs are always developing. Therefore, the demand for your e-commerce model to be as forward-thinking and innovative as possible is becoming more expected by consumers. People desire quick and easy purchasing, and Amazon is leading the way with offering people a service that provides maximum reward with minimal effort. The big retailers now offer personalised sales data and know everything about the customer. This ensures that they are shown products that pique their interest and have an online experience that suits them and their needs. It is now crucial to ensure that nothing gets in the way of a purchaser's online journey. As if it does, it is likely they will give up and you will lose out on a valuable sale and likely future business as well. Recruit the right talentThere are key professionals that you will need on your team to drive your e-commerce strategy forward. Buying, trading, and merchandising areas of expertise controls product and stock. Key decisions are made by them in terms of what goes out to be sold.Digital marketing is used to track customer activity and develop online advertisements to increase sales.Performance marketing is used to track and report on how products are doing, and to recommend changes to boost ROI.Pay per click (PPC) offers a tactical paid advertising of your products helps during high turnover periods as it can be turned on and off according to business need.UX and customer journey will help to ensure that the customer experiences an enjoyable and easy purchasing journey.When you are looking to develop your e-commerce programme, it is important to consider both a business need and the needs of your customer. Aligning your strategy to their requirements, will go a long way in driving business growth.If you are interested in hiring top e-commerce professionals to your business, please get in touch with one of our specialist recruitment consultants. 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