Hot Sale: How Ready Is Your Brand?

May 24, 2021 8 min read

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There is no doubt that in the last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic it has left great lessons for the marketing and sales departments, because in the face of confinement they have had to use different strategies and technological tools to respond to the new habits of consumer purchase.

In that sense, this year some brands arrive at the Hot Sale with a more robust and clearer leverage compared to 2019, when there was no health emergency. While, other companies are still in the process of implementing digital resources that allow them to be successful in this type of event.

And it is that, in the face of confinement, few companies had a well-defined strategy for online sales, others hardly had time to react; Despite the setbacks that companies had, in a matter of months in Mexico, what was expected in five years in ecommerce issues evolved.

Only at the end of 2020 in the country, electronic commerce registered a growth of 81%, compared to the previous year, with a total value of 316,000 million pesos. The product categories with the most growth during that year were: food delivery (66%), fashion (57%), beauty and personal care (52%), according to the study estimates of online sales 2020 prepared by the Mexican Sales Association Online (AMVO).

Therefore, today more than ever, brands have to continue strengthening their digital strategies in events such as the Hot Sale because, although the traffic light of activities in different states moves to green, the trend in online sales is that they continue to grow at double digits in the next years.

In addition, we must not lose sight of the fact that this event is one of the most important for online sales, only in the last edition, it reached 20 billion pesos in total sales, with the participation of 7.1 million new buyers and 29.1 million items sold, according to the 2020 Hot Sale results report, prepared by the AMVO.

But, what strategies should a brand adopt to make its e-commerce more successful? What aspects does it have to focus on to achieve this transition without failing in the attempt? What tools can help make your campaigns more effective?

Currently there are four aspects that can help brands improve their campaigns and online sales within the framework of the aforementioned event:

1. Campaigns: One of the aspects that become relevant is to carry out specific campaigns for this type of event, to establish instruments that allow monitoring the behavior they are having, and if they are meeting their objective or generating an impact on online sales or in physical stores.

Currently there are new tools that support e-commerce campaigns to have greater penetration in users, these consist of making use of micro-influencers, since in various studies it has been shown that potential customers are more willing to listen to recommendations of a person whom they admire and trust, than in advertisements or other messages, so they should not rule out including these types of resources in their strategies.

There are currently platforms on the market that offer “Performance-influence marketing” tools, through which brands can learn about this information and evaluate the results, without paying for what does not add value to brands in terms of profitability.

Platforms like this make it easier for them to design, execute and measure campaigns with influencers, making one hundred percent use of technology, which allows them to offer brands to pay only for results, under a Cost per Action (CPA) model.

^{There are four aspects that can help brands improve their campaigns and online sales / Image: Depositohotos.com}

In our experience we have seen that companies can reach a large number of new users, through Influence Marketing campaigns and in relatively short periods it is possible to obtain hundreds of new leads and increase the number of potential customers.

Due to the results that have been demonstrated, and the ability of influence marketing to quickly reach, this type of strategy is a bet that every company that carries out e-commerce would have to include in its sales strategies.

2. Omnichannel: Consumers are now increasingly demanding, seeking immediacy and effectiveness in the communication channels of the brands of their interest. Therefore, companies that have their online store must include omnichannel in their strategy, to offer a better shopping experience to their customers.

The purchase intention report on the AMVO Hot Sale 2021 indicates that 9 out of 10 consumers plan to purchase products and services combining the physical and digital channel, since omnichannel is still relevant and covering different purposes, from comparing costs in line until you can go out and “change of scenery” to physically touch and see products.

For this reason, now more than ever, brands must worry about creating unique experiences for the consumer at any point of contact, which allows them to interact with the company and thus be able to transmit confidence to achieve a high degree of loyalty (physical store, website, mobile applications, social networks and call center ).

3. Security: Security is a key element in buyer confidence. For this reason, companies have to ensure that their websites are protected, as this will not only give their consumers certainty and confidence when buying, but also that their data and money are not in danger.

It is estimated that 8 out of 10 Internet users made a purchase online in 2020, where offers, convenience and price were the key triggers, and 64% of them said that they have increased their confidence in purchases made through e- commerce, according to a study that the IAB Mexico carried out jointly with the consulting firm Kantar.

As a consequence, companies must bet on the adoption of technology, innovation and diversification of products and services to provide safe and agile payments, since electronic fraud has increased with confinement. According to data from the Bank of Mexico, the country ranks eighth worldwide in this crime.

4. Information: To be successful in online sales, there is no better strategy than to have a consumer-friendly page. Given this, it is important that companies provide all the information on their products and services.

In this regard, you have to have high-quality images of the product in question, which is detailed: its availability, its characteristics (such as measurements, color, etc.), delivery time, guarantee, price, if it is on a discount or has a promotion.

It is also important that they establish on their websites information regarding shipments, if they are free or have an additional cost; what is the step to follow in a return process, if they have a guarantee, among others. These details simplify and facilitate the consumer’s shopping experience.

The Hot Sale is an opportunity for companies to professionalize their websites, improve and consolidate their e-commerce. The important thing is that brands take into account actions that make them make a difference with respect to their competition.

This article is from Entrepreneur.com