Turkey 12 is Amazon’s nickname for the online shopping rush during Black Friday/Cyber Monday. It is a massive opportunity for sellers to boost their sales and brand visibility, especially thanks to the increased shopper traffic and higher purchase intent during this sales event. If you want to maximize your success during this peak shopping season, it’s crucial to start preparing well in advance. Today, we provide a comprehensive guide to help you navigate the complexities of Turkey 12 and emerge as a top performer.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. When is Turkey 12?
2. Turkey 12 Strategies to Help You Succeed
3. VASO Group Can Help You Achieve Turkey 12 Success
When is Turkey 12?
Amazon’s Turkey 12 (T12) is a 12-day sales event that includes Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Thanksgiving weekend, and Cyber Monday. In 2024, the sales event will take place from November 21 to December 2.
The expansion of the event’s duration comes as a continuation of previous years’ trends, with many retailers (and e-tailers) offering early deals that last for a longer period of time instead of just the traditional 2-day special. This is undoubtedly beneficial for consumers because they have more time to browse deals and make an informed decision on their purchases. On the seller’s side, however, we are faced with more competition: the urgent deep prices of Black Friday/Cyber Monday have transformed into a marathon of discounts. Sellers need to keep their discounts low enough to attract customers, but also not low enough that the extended run time of these discounts would end up hurting their profit margins.
Turkey 12 Strategies to Help You Succeed
1. Inventory Optimization
Before you run any discounts or promotions, make sure you have inventory to sell. Analyze your historical sales and purchase rate to best estimate the demand for your products during Turkey 12, then stock up on your inventory levels to make sure you have just enough for your customers. Any more could result in excess inventory that will cost you money to both store and remove.
• Forecast Demand: Analyze historical sales data, market trends, and promotional strategies to predict demand for your products during Turkey 12. Particularly focus on purchase rate (units per week) and check your weeks on hand (WOH) breakdown from last year to see how much inventory you need to have and when you need to replenish it.
• Optimize Stock Levels: Ensure you have sufficient inventory to meet anticipated demand. Out of stock is the worst thing that could happen to your product, especially best sellers that are flying off the shelves. Not only will it significantly hurt your sales, tank your conversion rate, and make customers dissatisfied with their shopping experience, it can also lead to suppression or advertising ineligibility from Amazon’s side.
• Manage Fulfillment: Determine the most efficient fulfillment strategy, whether it’s Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) or Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM). Consider factors like shipping times, costs, and customer expectations.
2. Product Listing Optimization
Make sure your product listing content is up-to-date, informative, and engaging to your target audience to encourage purchases. Don’t abandon SEO as well; relevance is key when it comes to the Amazon algorithm. Include but don’t stuff your keywords in titles, bullets, and product descriptions. This might also be a good time to reevaluate your content score and see how you can buff your content before this important sales event.
• Keyword Research: Identify relevant keywords and optimize your product titles, descriptions, and backend search terms to improve visibility in search results.
• High-Quality Images: Use clear, high-resolution images that showcase your products from multiple angles.
• Compelling Product Descriptions: Write engaging product descriptions that highlight key features and benefits.
3. Deals & Promotions
Deals and promotions play a big part in your Turkey 12 strategy. After all, how are you going to participate in a sales event without running some sales? Compare your own price point against your competitors’ price points and determine a competitive price that balances both profitability and customer appeal. Then consider in what form your discounts are going to appear (deals or coupons) on your listing. According to a 2023 Turkey 11 recap by Global Overview, it seems that deals seem to draw more success than coupons.
• Early Bird Deals: Offer exclusive deals and discounts to Prime members to encourage early purchases.
• Lightning Deals: Participate in Lightning Deals to generate excitement and drive short-term sales.
• Coupons: Create and distribute coupons to incentivize purchases.
• Bundling and Cross-Selling: Offer bundled deals or complementary products to increase average order value.
4. Marketing and Advertising
Marketing and advertising constitute another important part of your Turkey 12 strategy. No matter if it’s Amazon Ads, social media, or email marketing, make sure your marketing messaging is consistent across channels and invest your marketing dollars where it counts.
• Amazon Advertising: Utilize Amazon’s Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands to reach a wider audience and add more traffic to your organic reach. Ramp up your bids during this event to ensure your ads win auctions and your products show up in the search results.
• Social Media Marketing: Link to Amazon from your social media accounts to create buzz and drive external traffic to your Amazon listings.
• Email Marketing: Send targeted email campaigns to your customer base, highlighting promotions and exclusive offers. Remember to attach links to your Amazon listings.
• Influencer Partnerships: Collaborate with relevant influencers to promote your products to their followers. Consider using affiliate marketing links through programs like Amazon Attribution and earn a referral bonus from Amazon.
5. Customer Service Excellence
Customers who receive good customer service are more likely to convert to loyal purchasers and refer their friends and family to the brand. Customer service is an important part of creating a positive shopping experience for your customers, especially during a high-stress event like Black Friday/Cyber Monday. It’s crucial to provide helpful and prompt customer service to keep customers happy and foster brand loyalty.
• Rapid Response Times: Train your customer service team to respond promptly to inquiries and resolve issues efficiently.
• Proactive Communication: Keep customers informed about order status, shipping updates, and any potential delays.
• Positive Customer Experiences: Strive to provide exceptional customer service to build brand loyalty and positive reviews.
6. Logistics and Shipping
Make sure your products arrive quickly and by the expected delivery date to maintain the positive purchase experience for your customers.
• Reliable Shipping Partners: Partner with reliable shipping carriers to ensure timely deliveries.
• Efficient Packaging: Use appropriate packaging materials to protect your products during transit.
• Optimize Shipping Costs: Explore cost-effective shipping options to minimize expenses.
7. Post-Turkey 12 Analysis
It’s always a good idea to look back and reflect on your performance and identify areas of growth for next season.
• Sales Performance Review: Analyze your sales data to identify top-performing products and areas for improvement.
• Customer Feedback Analysis: Review customer feedback and ratings to gain insights into customer satisfaction and areas for enhancement.
• Inventory Optimization: Adjust your inventory levels based on actual sales data and future demand projections.
• Marketing Campaign Evaluation: Assess the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns and make adjustments for future events.
Additional Tips
Aside from the 7 main strategies listed above, you can also employ the following tactics to keep your business ahead of trends and well-equipped for any important eCommerce events:
• Build Strong Relationships with Amazon: Maintain open communication with Amazon’s account managers to address any issues and seek advice.
• Stay Informed: Keep up with Amazon’s latest announcements and policy changes.
• Test and Learn: Experiment with different strategies to find what works best for your business.
• Utilize Amazon’s Tools: Take advantage of Amazon’s seller tools to streamline your operations.
VASO Group Can Help You Achieve Success This Turkey 12
Our team includes a team of knowledgeable account managers, advertisers, and copywriters who are very experienced with formulating and executing Turkey 12 strategies. We are committed to helping you make the most of this exciting sales event, and will help you assess your performance to make impactful changes for the next year. Let’s get to work and grow your business today.
Let’s grow your business together.