TL;DR:

• An ecommerce business plan maps your online store's strategy, operations, and financial goals to guide growth and secure funding
• Core sections include executive summary, company overview, market analysis, products and pricing, marketing plan, operations, and financial projections
• Unlike traditional retail plans, ecommerce business plans prioritize digital acquisition, logistics partnerships, and technology infrastructure
• A solid plan helps you secure funding, make data-driven decisions, and scale profitably — startups with business plans grow 30% faster
• Use a structured template to ensure you cover all essential components without getting overwhelmed by the process

An ecommerce business plan is your roadmap to build and scale a profitable online store. It outlines your target market, strategy, and financial projections to give you clarity as you grow.

A well-crafted plan keeps you focused on acquiring customers and driving revenue. Unlike traditional retail, ecommerce plans prioritize digital marketing, logistics, and technology infrastructure — the pillars of online commerce. According to research from Wiley, startups with a business plan grow 30% faster. A Harvard Business Review study also found they are 16% more likely to succeed.

This guide walks through every component of an ecommerce business plan. We provide actionable insights and expert tips to help you create a plan that works.

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What is an ecommerce business plan?

An ecommerce business plan is a strategic document that outlines your online store's objectives, target market, competitive positioning, operational approach, and financial projections. It serves as both a roadmap for growth and a tool for securing funding from investors or lenders. This document translates your business idea into a concrete strategy. It identifies potential challenges and shows stakeholders where your business is headed.

Unlike traditional retail business plans, ecommerce plans prioritize digital customer acquisition, logistics partnerships, and technology infrastructure. Your plan should address how you'll drive traffic to your store, fulfill orders efficiently, and leverage data to optimize the customer experience. The business world can be harsh — about 45% of businesses fail in the first five years. A comprehensive ecommerce business plan helps you avoid becoming part of that statistic.

Every ecommerce business benefits from a plan — whether you're launching a new store, seeking venture capital, or scaling an existing operation. Create your initial plan before launch, then revisit it quarterly to adjust for market changes, new product lines, or shifts in customer behavior. Here's who needs an ecommerce business plan:

• New store founders validating their business idea and go-to-market strategy
• Entrepreneurs seeking funding from investors or lenders
• Established merchants planning expansion or new product lines

Core components of an ecommerce business plan

A comprehensive ecommerce business plan includes seven essential sections. Each component serves a specific purpose — from defining your market to projecting your finances. Together, they create a complete picture of your business strategy, operational approach, and growth projections. Below, we break down what goes into each section so you can craft a plan that's both thorough and actionable.

Executive summary

The executive summary is a one-page overview of your entire business plan. It highlights your business concept, target market, competitive advantage, financial needs, and projected outcomes. Think of it as your elevator pitch in written form — concise, compelling, and complete. Even though it appears first, you should write it last. This allows you to distill the most important points after completing all other sections.

Your executive summary should answer these questions: What problem does your store solve? Who are your customers? What makes you different from competitors? How much funding do you need, and what will you use it for? This section needs to grab your reader's attention and convince them it's worth their time to read the entire document. Keep it under 300 words and focus on the most compelling aspects of your business model and unit economics.

Use clear, confident language that reflects your brand voice. Avoid jargon and focus on demonstrating what makes your business unique.

• Business concept and value proposition
• Target market and customer personas
• Competitive advantage and differentiation
• Financial highlights and funding needs
• Key milestones and growth projections

Company overview

Your company overview describes the fundamentals of your business: your name, legal structure, mission, and team. This section gives readers context on who you are and how you're organized to execute your plan. It typically appears second and provides vital details about your ecommerce business, including the size of your company, your location, and what you want to achieve.

Specify your legal structure — LLC, S-corp, sole proprietorship, or partnership — and explain why you chose it. Include your business name, domain, physical address (if applicable), and founding date. If you have a unique founder-market fit story that demonstrates your expertise in the space, share it here. This helps build credibility and shows you understand the market you're entering.

Your mission statement explains why your business exists. In a few sentences, it should describe what you strive to accomplish.

Introduce key team members, highlighting relevant experience and roles. Make sure you paint a picture of your team that showcases their professionalism and finest skills. If you're a solo founder, explain how you'll handle operations and growth as you scale. Consider outlining these team roles:

• Founder/CEO
• Operations manager
• Marketing lead
• Customer service lead

Market analysis

Market analysis is where you prove there's demand for your products. This section should demonstrate both your expertise and provide a thorough analysis of your current market. If you plan on tapping into a new market, you should also analyze it. Start by defining your target market — the specific group of customers most likely to buy from you. You must understand your target market. Never assume that everyone will want to buy your products. Create detailed buyer personas that include demographics, psychographics, pain points, and shopping behaviors.

Calculate your total addressable market (TAM), serviceable addressable market (SAM), and serviceable obtainable market (SOM). TAM represents the entire market for your product category. SAM narrows it to the segment you can realistically serve based on your business model and resources. SOM is the portion you can capture in the near term, considering competition and market dynamics. The industry market size is often a huge factor for investors that will read your business plan. You should also note if the market is declining or growing.

Identify your direct and indirect competitors. You want to know who is thriving in your niche, and why. Analyze their strengths, weaknesses, pricing, and customer reviews. This could be everything from their weaknesses to their web traffic, to their product and pricing strategy. Use a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis to map your position relative to the competition. The more you know about your competition, the better you will be able to position yourself to stand out.

• Direct competitors: Same products, same target market
• Indirect competitors: Different products, same customer need

Highlight relevant trends that support your business case — shifts in consumer behavior, emerging technologies, or regulatory changes. Show investors you understand the market dynamics that will influence your success. This demonstrates your command of the competitive landscape and validates your business opportunity.

Products and pricing strategy

Describe what you sell, including SKU count, product categories, and any proprietary features. Explain your unique selling proposition—what makes your products different or better than alternatives. Describe all of your products, explaining their key benefits and features. They need to address a need that customers have or opportunities in the market. Show how your products differ from competitors. Highlight why customers will choose your product over other options. If you plan to expand your product line, outline your roadmap for the weeks, months, and years to come.

Detail your pricing strategy: cost-plus (markup on COGS), value-based (pricing tied to customer perceived value), or competitive (matching or undercutting competitors). A monetization strategy is a detailed plan about how to generate revenue for your products. Justify your pricing with data on production costs, competitor pricing benchmarks, and customer willingness to pay. Consider these pricing factors:

• Production and fulfillment costs
• Competitor pricing benchmarks
• Target profit margins
• Customer perceived value

If you have patents, trademarks, or proprietary technology, mention them here. Intellectual property can be a significant competitive moat. Even without formal IP, explain how your branding, customer experience, or supply chain creates defensibility. This helps investors understand what makes your business sustainable in the long term.

Marketing and sales plan

Your marketing plan outlines how you'll attract and convert customers. This segment of your business expansion plan is where you share your comprehensive marketing plan, identifying how you plan to promote your products, attract leads, and retain customers. Start with brand positioning—how you want customers to perceive your store relative to competitors. Define your brand voice, key messaging, and value proposition. Your marketing strategy will determine your growth.

List your primary acquisition channels: organic search (SEO), paid ads (Google, Meta), social media, email marketing, influencer partnerships, or affiliate programs. For each channel, estimate customer acquisition cost (CAC) and expected conversion rates. Here are the primary channels to consider:

• Organic search (SEO and content marketing)
• Paid advertising (Google Ads, Meta Ads)
• Social media (Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest)
• Email marketing and SMS campaigns
• Influencer partnerships and affiliate programs
• Referral programs and word-of-mouth

Calculate your customer lifetime value (LTV)—the total revenue you expect from a customer over their relationship with your brand. Your CAC should be significantly lower than LTV (ideally a 3:1 ratio or better). Map the customer's path from awareness to purchase. Identify key conversion points and drop-off risks.

Explain how you'll retain customers through lifecycle marketing: welcome campaigns, post-purchase follow-ups, loyalty programs, and win-back campaigns. To retain customers, consider rewarding them through a loyalty program. Retention is often more profitable than acquisition, so plan for it from the start.

Gymshark example: This go-to-market (GTM) strategy turned Gymshark into a category leader in athletic apparel, demonstrating the power of a well-executed marketing plan.

Operations & logistics

Operations and logistics cover how you'll source, store, and ship products. This section accounts for the day-to-day operations of your ecommerce store. Describe your supply chain: Will you manufacture in-house, work with wholesalers, or dropship? Identify key suppliers, lead times, and minimum order quantities (MOQ). Production is a very important component of success, so be very detailed.

Choose your fulfillment model: in-house (you handle storage and shipping), third-party logistics (3PL), or dropshipping. Each has trade-offs in cost, control, and scalability. Define your service level agreements (SLAs) for shipping speed and accuracy. Consider whether you will sell your products to international customers, how long it will take to package and ship them, and whether a third party shipment company will be necessary.

List the technology you'll use to manage operations: ecommerce platform (Shopify, BigCommerce), warehouse management system (WMS), inventory tracking tools, and shipping integrations. Explain how you'll monitor inventory turns and avoid stockouts or overstock. Here, you should include how much inventory you have at any given time and plan for how you will store, handle, and track product lines. Key operational metrics to track include:

• Inventory turnover rate
• Order fulfillment time
• Shipping accuracy and on-time delivery
• Supplier lead times

Transformer Table example: Transformer Table scaled globally by partnering with reliable 3PL providers and optimizing their shipping strategy. Their business plan included detailed logistics planning, allowing them to fulfill orders efficiently across multiple countries while maintaining high customer satisfaction. This operational excellence became a key competitive advantage.

Financial plan

Your financial plan proves that your ecommerce store can be successful. Start with your revenue model: How do you make money? Detail your pricing, sales volume projections, and expected growth rate. Create a three-to-five-year P&L (profit and loss) statement showing projected revenue, COGS, operating expenses, and net income. You will have the opportunity to demonstrate profitability by translating all the components of your business into numbers.

List your startup costs: inventory, platform fees, marketing, legal fees, and initial payroll. Undoubtedly, equipment will be required for your business to operate — list out what you have on hand, what you will need before you launch, and what you might need as your business grows. Build a cash flow forecast showing monthly inflows and outflows for your first year. Cash flow statements show the cash that comes in and goes out each month. Identify your break-even point — the moment when revenue covers all expenses.

Startup Costs: Inventory, Platform fees, Legal & licensing, Initial marketing

Operating Costs: Marketing, Payroll, Shipping, Platform fees

Calculate your unit economics: gross margin per product, CAC, LTV, and CAC:LTV ratio. These metrics show whether your business model is sustainable. If you're seeking funding from investors, specify how much you need, what you'll use it for, and when you expect to reach profitability.

Runway is how long you can operate before running out of cash. Build in contingency plans for slower-than-expected growth or unexpected expenses. Forecasting cash flow is very important, even if it is an imprecise practice. It allows you to prepare for a variety of different circumstances, such as a quiet season, and demonstrate how you will adapt your ecommerce business strategy accordingly. Investors want to see that you've thought through downside scenarios.

Platform & tech stack for your ecommerce business

Your ecommerce platform is the foundation of your online store. Popular options include Shopify (easy setup, extensive app ecosystem), BigCommerce (scalability and built-in features), and WooCommerce (flexibility for WordPress users). Choose based on your technical skills, budget, and growth plans. The platform you select will influence everything from your site's performance to your ability to integrate essential tools.

Beyond your platform, you'll need a payment gateway (Stripe, PayPal), CRM for customer service (Gorgias), email service provider (Klaviyo, Mailchimp), and analytics tools (Google Analytics, Shopify Analytics). Each tool should integrate seamlessly with your platform to create a unified tech stack. Your business plan should list the software, hardware, and machinery critical to the success of your operations. Here are the must-have tools:

• Ecommerce platform
• Payment gateway
• CRM and helpdesk
• Email service provider
• Shipping and fulfillment software
• Analytics and reporting tools
• Marketing automation platform

Customer service is revenue-critical for ecommerce. A helpdesk like Gorgias centralizes support across email, chat, social media, and voice — integrating with Shopify to provide agents full customer context. AI Agent can automate repetitive inquiries, freeing your team to focus on high-value interactions. Gorgias integrates with Shopify and over 100 ecommerce tools. This helps you streamline customer service and drive revenue with personalized support. Planning for customer support infrastructure from the start ensures you can scale efficiently while maintaining customer satisfaction.

Template & examples

We've created a structured approach to help you build your ecommerce business plan efficiently. A template includes all seven core sections with prompts and guidance to help you cover every essential component. Starting with a clear framework ensures you don't miss critical elements and helps you organize your thoughts systematically.

You now have the resources and tools to write a comprehensive business plan.

Traditional business plans are comprehensive (20-30 pages) and ideal for seeking funding. Lean business plans are shorter (1-2 pages) and focus on key metrics — perfect for internal planning or quick iterations. Choose the format that matches your immediate goals:

Traditional business plan:

• Comprehensive detail (20-30 pages)
• Includes appendices and supporting documents
• Best for investor presentations and funding applications

Lean business plan:

• Concise overview (1-2 pages)
• Focuses on key metrics and assumptions
• Best for internal planning and rapid iteration

Expert tips for writing your ecommerce business plan

A strong business plan is built on solid research. Before writing, gather data on your market, competitors, and customers. Use tools like Google Trends, SEMrush, and industry reports to validate your assumptions. The more evidence you provide, the more credible your plan. This research phase is critical — it's the foundation that supports every claim you'll make about your business opportunity.

Avoid jargon and buzzwords. Write in plain language that anyone — investors, partners, or team members — can understand. Use short sentences and paragraphs to improve readability. Bold key terms like SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) and use bullet lists to break up dense information. Your goal is to communicate clearly, not to impress with complex terminology.

Your business plan isn't static. Revisit it quarterly to adjust for market changes, new product launches, or shifts in customer behavior. Treat it as a living document that evolves with your business. Your business plan helps you attract investors. It also helps you overcome common obstacles that ecommerce businesses face. By planning ahead, you increase your chances of success and help to ensure that your business will enjoy a continued fruitful future.

Get support for your ecommerce business

Customer service is a critical component of your ecommerce business plan — it directly impacts retention, revenue, and brand reputation. Planning for customer support infrastructure early ensures you can scale efficiently while maintaining high satisfaction. When you map out your operations and technology stack, include how you'll handle customer inquiries, resolve issues, and turn support interactions into revenue opportunities.

Gorgias is built specifically for ecommerce businesses, integrating seamlessly with Shopify, Magento, BigCommerce, and 100+ other tools in your tech stack. Our AI Agent automates up to 60% of repetitive customer inquiries — like order tracking, returns, and product questions — freeing your team to focus on complex issues and personalized service. With full customer context at your agents' fingertips, you can deliver the kind of support that drives loyalty and repeat purchases.

Your business plan should account for customer service as a growth driver, not just a cost center. Gorgias helps you:

• Automate workflows and AI-powered responses to reduce response times
• Drive revenue through personalized support and upselling
• Scale efficiently without proportionally growing your support team
• Use insights from customer conversations to improve products and operations

See how Gorgias can support your ecommerce growth — book a demo today.

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By doing quality assurance on the support side, you’re able to see what’s working, what triggers customers and how to train your team to improve. It’s also a great tool for your team’s personal development as a support agent.

Since it’s time consuming though, everyone wants to find a way to streamline. 

The good news?‍

Klaus can do it, and there’s officially an integration that you can use with your Gorgias account to streamline it. Klaus is a quality review tool that helps you create a perfect customer experience for buyers and potential buyers

So, how does this help with the issues you may be facing with customer support quality assurance?

Let’s dive in.

It’s A Time Saver

As we just talked about earlier, customer assurance can be a time sucker. You may be manually looking at transcripts and organizing everything yourself, but there’s no need to do it this way. You know at Gorgias how much we love saving you time, so here’s how to reduce that with our new Klaus integration.

By pulling conversations automatically from your helpdesk, you can get instant review samples with erases the manually part of copy and pasting transcripts. Using Klaus, there’s also manual filtering options to help you quickly, and seamlessly, find specific cases or keywords you’re looking for.

For example, say you were curious about those tickets that took several responses to solve, or ones that received negative ratings from customers, you can easily pull those up in an instant

Notifications are also automatic when it comes to using Slack or email. By setting up these notifications, you’re able to ensure that none of your support agents misses a piece of their feedback. Thus saving you time, and constant reminders, to ensure that they receive these reviews. 

It’s Efficient

You all know how we love having all our data and information in one place, and Klaus is the same as Gorgias. Their dashboard which allows you to track you team’s performance over time, see the aspects of their communication they may be struggling with and looking into their quality scores (which will get into), really makes things easy. 

This full overview makes things efficient for you to see the overall health of your customer support team for your ecommerce business.

On top of that, reporting efficiencies are really easy. Reporting, no matter the department, tends to take up a lot of time. With Klaus, you can have all your efforts easily viewable in the dashboard. 

Chris Lavoie, Tech Partner Manager
It’s Personalized

No matter the size of your ecommerce business or support team, you’re always going to want to know how each of your members are doing. Using customizable scorecards with Klaus you can create these to add in a rating criteria for a number of different situations (an unlimited about by the way!). 

This is helpful when it comes to working with multiple teams or support channels since it allows you to efficiently track quality in as much detail as you need based on what you’d set the customizable scorecards for.

Klaus also lets you choose between different rating scales. For example, a binary thumbs up/down suit some people, while others would rather use the 3 or 5 point scoring system -- you choose what you prefer!

At Gorgias, we’re continuing to work on partnerships that will make your life easier, and Klaus is one of those that will make the difference in a critical part of your strategy. Haven’t tried Gorgias out yet? Give it a try for 7-days free and see how it can make your life more efficient and simple when it comes to your ecommerce store and customer support.

Your online store, mixed with the e-commerce helpdesk Gorgias, and topped with the quality review tool Klaus - that’s how you cook purr-fect customer experiences for your buyers. 

You don’t even have to write this recipe down because we’re excited to announce that we’ve just released the native Gorgias and Klaus integration! You can now pull your customer conversations from Gorgias seamlessly into Klaus for internal support QA and provide consistent feedback to your agents. 

There’s a number of reasons why Gorgias can be the best solution for your online store. And there’s a lot of sense in using it together with Klaus if you want to provide your customers with top-notch customer care.

Let’s look into the magic that you can unleash with the Gorgias and Klaus integration.

Gorgias for extraordinary e-commerce experiences

If you’re running an online store then you probably already know that e-commerce customer service is not just about helping your users. It’s about converting customers, increasing sales, and growing your business. 

To reap the benefits of having a revenue-driving e-commerce support team, set your team up for success with the right tools. A regular helpdesk may be enough to give timely answers to your online visitors’ questions, but it might not reveal the full potential of each of your customer interactions.

That’s why dedicated ‘e-commerce helpdesks’ are a thing now, and why Gorgias has become so successful in this category. Here’s what sets Gorgias apart from other more generic helpdesk solutions:

• Focus on converting visitors into customers: Give your customers the same kind of personalized service that you would when visiting a physical store. Chat with customers to give recommendations, feedback, and special offers.
• Engage with people before they visit your store: Gorgias allows your agents to respond to people’s questions and comments on your social media ads and posts. Increase your ad effectiveness and sales results in one go.
• Track your support team’s sales results: See which support interactions - in text messages, social media answers, and live chat conversations on your website - lead to sales. Build your sales and support strategies to maximize the results. 

Gorgias also delivers information about the customers’ previous orders and other nifty functionalities that help you turn your customer service team into a sales department - and, as a matter of fact, a very successful one.

But how can you make sure that your customer service agents actually nail every sales opportunity hiding in your support interactions? That’s where Klaus comes in.

Klaus for consistent customer care quality

Klaus is a conversation review and support QA tool dedicated to helping your agents make the most out of every support interaction. It’s a platform for having a systematic insight into your customer conversations, providing consistent feedback to your agents, and gaining control over support performance. 

You can’t improve your support quality if you don’t measure it. And Internal Quality Score - the metric of conversation reviews - does just that. It makes the quality of your customer service quantifiable and allows you to track and compare your team’s performance over time. 

While some smaller teams prefer to manage their internal quality reviews in spreadsheets, companies like Automattic, Wistia, PandaDoc, and Geckoboard, have trusted the manual work behind support QA to Klaus. Here’s why:

• Instant review samples: Klaus pulls conversations automatically in from your helpdesk. That means no manual copy-pasting of ticket data and saves you a good few hours every week.
• Advanced filtering options help you find the specific cases you’re looking for - e.g., those that took several responses to solve, or those that received a negative rating from your customers. 
• Customizable scorecards: Create as many scorecards as you’d like. If you’re working with multiple teams or support channels, you can create a separate rubric for each. Add the rating criteria that makes sense to each particular situation, and track the quality in as much detail as necessary.
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• Klaus also allows you to choose between different rating scales: a binary thumbs up/down suit some teams, while others prefer the 3- or 5-point scoring. The choice is yours. 
• Quality metrics dashboard: Track your team’s performance over time, see which aspect of their communication they are struggling with the most, and zoom into specific agents’ quality scores. You’ve got a full overview of how your team performs against your quality standards.
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• Klaus’ quality dashboard makes reporting ridiculously easy, too. All the efforts you put into training and coaching can now easily be seen reflected in your team’s performance. 
• Automatic notifications: Slack and email notifications make sure that none of your agents ever miss a single piece of their feedback. Learning about their areas of improvement is the only way your team can become better at what they do, so make sure your agents get the feedback they need.

Klaus is a very dynamic and customizable tool and that’s why it works well with all customer service teams. If you want to boost your online store sales results through your support team, make sure you create the respective rating categories, measure your agents’ performance in them, and give regular feedback on how to score higher. 

We’re firm believers of support-driven growth and we’ve written more about building customer loyalty through customer service here. Go forth and prosper!

Gorgias + Klaus join forces

Your e-commerce customer service is running on Gorgias and now you want to start improving your customer service quality and drive more sales with Klaus? Can be done easily. 

Connecting your Gorgias account with Klaus is easy as one-two-three with our native integration seamlessly connecting these software solutions. To set up the connection:

1. Sign in to your Klaus account or create one if you don’t have it already (comes with a 14-day free trial, no strings attached).
2. Connect your Gorgias account with Klaus with the help of your Gorgias’ subdomain (yourcompanyname.gorgias.com) and API key.
3. Create your quality scorecard: define your quality criteria in rating categories and accompany it with a suitable rating scale.
4. Invite your team members to the Klaus party. We’ve already pulled the list of your team members over from your Gorgias account, all you have to do is decide who gets to be the reviewers, agents, and admins of your account.
5. Review your first conversation (and the second, and the third - we know, it’s addictive). Track your team’s progress in the quality dashboard.

There you go, you’ve built yourself a scalable way of assessing your support team’s performance and providing individual feedback to your agents with no unnecessary hassle. 

The Gorgias and Klaus integration can give your customer service such an advantage that it almost sounds unfair. Poor competitors of yours!

Getting control over your support interactions and turning them into your sales reps is an art that not everyone can master. Working with the right tools is a quick shortcut to success.

We’re excited to welcome Gorgias into our extended family connected through our native integrations. Which other integrations would you like to see on our list? Share your thoughts in our online CX community The Quality Tribe.

Eli Weiss, OLIPOP’s CX team. OLIPOP is a drink that is a healthier alternative to soda and has taken the beverage industry by a storm. It has achieved great accomplishments such as generating $10,000 of sales, without any discounts, in less than 15 minutes and has over 2,500 subscribers, making up 35% of their business. Working at the frontlines of customer experience, Weiss emphasizes that a good customer service team is the key to a successful business and he imparts two important takeaways in the podcast. Subscribe to Hello Gorgias on Apple, or listen below.

It's also worth nothing that we're able to get results like these, because of our integration with Postscript for SMS marketing.

Want to try Gorgias? Use Eli's special link, and we'll send you a free case of OLIPOP.

As a special bonus, anyone who listen's to Eli's podcast episode and does a trial of Gorgias using his special link will receive a free 12 pack variety case of OLIPOP.

‍Leverage Your Customers as A Marketing Channel

Customers want to feel like they are an important part of a brand – that they are helping to build the company and that they are not just going through a revolving door. They want to know that they are cared for and not just seen as a walking and talking wallet. By adding a little bit of individuality in each message, even by doing something as simple as referring to them by their first name in an email, it shows the care and consideration that the customer service team has for their clients. Although problems such as shipping estimates and an unsatisfactory drink flavour are out of the team’s control, the customer’s satisfaction is. After all, it is five to ten times easier and cheaper to retain an existing customer than it is to acquire a new one, so it is essential to keep the client base happy.

Asides from making them feel like they are an important part of the company, it is also essential to develop a long-term relationship with them and SMS is a perfect tool to do so. A lot of brands have started to abuse SMS, sending out marketing messages so frequently and without any personal touch that it pushes interested parties away. SMS is an intimate tool, allowing companies to jump into a person’s cellphone, so when it is taken for granted, customers tend to leave. Brands should not always think about the fastest way to make money and bring in customers because, in the end, it can do the exact opposite. By growing at a slower but steady pace, people will begin to follow. They will appreciate the freedom and flexibility and remember this in the long-term.

Create A Solid, But Flexible, Macro for Your Customers

At the end of the day, everyone is human – especially the customers. They may seem like just another order or a small percentage of the total revenue, but no one wants to be viewed as a ticket number or a computer. It is important to view everyone as an individual and by making each message personal and different for each customer, it demonstrates exactly that. Rather than sending an email that simply says, “here is your refund”, make it unique by acknowledging that the customer is heard and felt. Therefore, while it is good to have a solid macro, it is also important to make it flexible for the team to adjust it.

This also applies to macros for negative experiences. Just as it is important to keep the customers happy, the CX team needs to be content as well. When employees are not valued, they become burnt out, exhausted, and contribute to a high turnover rate. They will not interact with the customers in the way that the company needs so having a macro that they can refer to, it allows for interactions to flow the way they are supposed to. Furthermore, it saves their mental health by letting them take a step back.

The Overall Lesson Of Human Support

Customer service is built on empathy and integrity. A long-term relationship with a client base is impossible if they are not treated properly, but it is also impossible if the customer service team does not get the proper support that they need.  Just as marketing needs a large budget for the brand to be successful, customer service needs one as well to thrive. Weiss has seen this experience first-hand and cannot emphasize enough how important it is to remember that everyone behind a computer screen is still a human being.

To speak to Weiss and hear about his enthusiasm for his customers and Gorgias, he can be reached via Twitter at @eliweisss.

No matter what product or service you sell, customer support is always one of the highest priorities. If you don’t give your customers the best support and experience possible, a few things can happen:

1. You can lose customers… fast
2. Receive poor reviews
3. Stress out your own internal team
4. And much more.

The good news is, if you’re here you’re already thinking in the right way -- you want to enhance your support so that it’s seamless for both the customer, and your team. 

That’s why all BigCommerce store owners can now integrate with Gorgias to deliver an outstanding customer support experience to consumers. 

Gorgias is all about the customer-first model and this aligned vision with BigCommerce stores can bring your business to the next level.

But Why Does It Matter?

We touched on that a little bit already, but let’s dive in more on why support actually matters. 

Countless business owners view the support side as a cost centre, but when you look at it as more than that, this is when you really start seeing success. By improving satisfaction overall, you’re able to maintain loyal customers, which is key to growing your store. On top of that, you can increase engagement on-site and also across social channels because when people have a good experience with a brand, they love to share the story.

Of course, at the end of the day, it also heavily contributes to sales. Using live chat and other means of customer support channels you can advise people quickly on what the best product for them is. When you create those loyal customers, word of mouth can be one of your strongest driving forces.

How To Actually Give Customers World-Class Experiences

Nowadays your audience and customers are everywhere. On top of that, they want the same experience across all channels which can sound very overwhelming. That being said, it is possible to make everything from social media to live chat, phone and beyond (we’ll talk about that in a little bit) work together seamlessly. By making all these channels easier to check on and respond on, it’ll help immensely with organization and responsiveness.

We all know that the faster you respond the happier the customer will be. The issue is, countless stores have a low response time, and this offers a big opportunity for those who can do better. Not only does it lead to higher customer satisfaction, but it can lead to more sales too.. For instance, if someone is asking your support team about a particular product, there’s a good chance they have other stores open in other tabs, and if you can answer that customer first they may be more likely to go with your product over another.

Lastly, don’t forget that sounding robotic isn’t cool and customers can usually read right through it. By being human, you’re able to have a more personal relationship with customers as opposed to something strictly transactional. By personalizing answers, your customer will truly feel like you care and know them, making it far more likely that they’ll purchase from your store again.

How can Gorgias help BigCommerce brands?

Well, let’s start with a couple words from Iris Schiefer, Sr. Strategic Partnerships Manager, EMEA at BigCommerce. She knows what Gorgias can do to help shop owners out, saying that it “allowsBigCommerce merchants to offer an exceptional support experience and deepen relationships with customers.”

This is fairly broad, and that’s because there’s lots of ways Gorgias can benefit your BigCommerce store. By using Gorgias, you can actually cut your customer support first response times and ticket resolution time without losing that precious human touch element. 

Gorgias allows BigCommerce merchants to offer an exceptional support experience and deepen relationships with their customers. We are strongly aligned in terms of both our values and dedication to providing best-of-breed solutions to our merchants - We couldn't be happier to have Gorgias on board as a BigCommerce partner.‍

- Iris Schiefer, Sr. Strategic Partnerships Manager, EMEA at BigCommerce

We understand, it sounds too good to be true, but it is possible. So, let’s dive into a few things you’ll be able to do if you integrate Gorgias into your BigCommerce store.

One place for customer support

You can connect BigCommerce along with all your communication channels including email, social media, phone, live chat and more to Gorgias. This centralizes everything into one platform so that it's all in one place. This allows you to not miss any requests, and handle responses much faster.

With Gorgias, you can view your customer’s order history easily from the BigCommerce backend. This way, you can ensure speed and accuracy in responses as opposed to switching between tabs or cutting and pasting.

Personalization becomes easy and far less time consuming as well. With Gorgias, you can integrate data provided by BigCommerce like first name, shipping address and much more. This gives you the opportunity to send automatic and accurate messages for a personalized customer experience.

Repetitive questions can get frustrating, but Gorgias also has a function to get to these quickly and easily. You can automate answers to common questions to save valuable time for your team, that way they can focus on new customers and those with more complicated requests.

When you integrate Gorgias, you’re also using advanced machine learning to detect the intent, along with sentiment of each and every message. This means that by learning about tracking updates, return policies and urgency, Gorgias helps set priorities and categorize tickets based on what they’re all about.

Just like every other area of your business, tracking customer support performance is essential. Using Gorgias you can track KPIs to ensure you and your team are on track to delivering incredible support.

How does the Gorgias + BigCommerce integration work?

By integrating Gorgias, you’ll be able to also integrate with some of the biggest Apps in the BigCommerce Marketplace including Klaviyo, Omnisend, Smile.io and many more. 

Now, how do you get started? It’s easier than you might think:

1. Sign up for Gorgias (if you haven’t already).
2. Go to your BigCommerce account and Install the Gorgias App.
3. You’ll receive a request to access your store from Gorgias then click Confirm, then Connect.
4. From there, you just add in your Gorgias authentication credentials, which is simply just your Gorgias helpdesk name.
5. After hitting save, you can now sync your BigCommerce customers who haven’t placed an order by selecting “sync customers who haven’t placed an order.” Then select the order cut off and hit Save.
6. Now, you’ll see an active green icon and this means you’re good to go! 

You can find a more detailed step by step guide here.

Are you building out your ecommerce tech stack and seeking more app recommendations for BigCommerce? Check out our lists of:

• Best live chat apps for BigCommerce
• Best overall BigCommerce apps
• 150+ top ecommerce tools

By the way, if you haven’t already signed up for Gorgias, you can start off by getting a free, 7-day trial to test it out on your BigCommerce store!

The fact is that content marketing can help an eCommerce brand immensely, given that content is a foundational element for visibility in the SERPs, social media engagement, the cultivation of thought leadership and industry authority, lead generation, customer self-service, and other vital business activities.

But the reality is that most blogs fail, and for a variety of different reasons. One of the most prevailing is that it doesn’t generate immediate results, ultimately discouraging future content creation.

However, there are various tactics that merchants can use to cultivate traffic to blogs and boost conversions as a result of those visits.

For merchants who want to take advantage of the benefits that content marketing has to offer, here are seven ways to boost conversions with eCommerce blog content.

Focus on User Intent

One of the best ways to gain more site visitors who turn into paying customers is to create content that targets the intent of the user.

Of course, “user intent” is the reason behind the individual’s Google search. It is the outcome they aim to achieve.

For instance, if a consumer searches "best Bluetooth headphones," the intent behind the user's search is to obtain information that will narrow down their purchase options to just a couple of products.

When looking at how people search, there are three main types of user intents, often referred to as “Do, Know, Go.” Those intents are:

• Transactional (Do): Here, a consumer is aiming to make a purchase or some other form of transaction.
• Informational (Know): With this type of search, people are looking to learn, as in the aforementioned headphones example.
• Navigational (Go): When conducting such a search, users are trying to get to a specific website or location. These can often be branded searches.

When creating content for a blog, merchants will likely be targeting information queries. These types of searches will result in a consumer finding high-ranking materials that relate to their search for knowledge.

Alternatively, a transactional search will often lead shoppers directly to product pages.

However, this isn’t to say that sellers shouldn’t link to their item listings within information blogs, assuming that the product is relevant to the piece. This can actually be a great way to pull a shopper from the top of the funnel down to deeper stages. More on this momentarily.

The sales funnel model is something that marketers use to delineate the path to purchase that consumers take. While there are numerous iterations of this model, the basics are that:

• Consumers become aware of a product
• Prospects then begin to consider the product, research and compare their options
• Consumers make a decision and purchase a product or service

The job of site owners is to get consumers to move through the entirety of the brand’s sales funnel. Since awareness and research are highly dependent on the content offerings available to shoppers, merchants must craft quality content that targets top-of-funnel prospects.

Optimizing top-of-funnel content relies on uncovering and integrating long-tail keywords into various pieces. Since long-tail phrases are highly-specific and generate less search volume (and more conversions) than broad-head keywords, these phrases are a must.

Fortunately, a variety of tools such as Answer the Public, Keyword Tool, Ubersuggest and many others are geared specifically towards this task.

While all of these tools are extremely useful, Answer the Public is a favorite as it provides long-tail keywords questions that consumers are searching, thereby cluing in retailers even further as to what precisely potential buyers want to know.

In addition to these tools, sellers can also mine incredibly useful information about consumer queries from sites like Quora, Reddit and similar boards.

Speaking of answering questions, we also recommend you host an FAQ page on your website to help customers. Check out our free FAQ template to get started.

Optimize for SEO

While this idea was touched upon slightly with targeting long-tail terms and phrases, there is a lot more to optimizing content for conversions than just plugging in a few keywords.

For retailers to get the visibility required to earn clicks and conversions, it is necessary to optimize blog posts according to Google’s SEO ranking factors. Some tactics that merchants will want to utilize include:

• Optimizing for the targeted keyword
• Employing keyword variations
• Adding images and optimizing alt tags
• Linking to authoritative, relevant external pages
• Including related links to internal destinations
• Ensuring content is readable/scannable
• Creating a proper meta title

Additionally, while meta descriptions have no bearing on SEO performance, they do influence clicks, which does impact rankings. Therefore, crafting a concise, alluring and accurate meta description is also a necessity.

Link to a Relevant Product

Linking to a product within a piece of content is a simple yet effective tactic for driving clicks to product pages and earning conversions.

However, the key thing to remember here is that the item must be relevant to the content. If sellers create a blog centered on ways to remedy plantar fasciitis and then include a link to great running shoes, that link will generate very few clicks and even fewer sales.

Alternatively, if a seller talks about and links to shoes or inserts for plantar fasciitis, it is far more likely that the content will earn sales as a result of the internal link.

The point of the post is to solve the reader's problems. If merchants have a product that can achieve that goal, then it is vital to include a link to the item. That said, do not promote products that are not relevant to the piece just for the sake of promotion. Doing so could damage a store’s credibility in the consumer’s eyes.

Employ Social Proof

Social proof has become a necessity in the eCommerce industry. With all the shady dealings that are happening online, consumers want to know that what they are getting is the real deal.

Therefore, including social proof within content and on product pages is a powerful strategy for increasing conversions and encouraging that elusive second purchase.

Some excellent forms of social proof that can be deployed in content or on product pages include:

• Testimonials
• Reviews
• User-generated content from social media

By providing the evidence that other customers love their purchase, others are more likely to follow the same path.

Utilize Visuals

Visuals are a critical element for content.

Including images throughout blogs dramatically increases the readability of the piece and helps consumers to retain more of the information contained therein. The fact is, nobody likes reading massive walls of text.

Therefore, several ways that merchants can increase the readability of a piece and keep it engaging include:

• Using screenshots to demonstrate ideas, topics of discussion or uses of a product
• Employ visual indicators like graphs or charts to highlight figures
• Summarize blog posts using embeddable, easily shared infographics

There are a slew of tools out there for creating such visuals, including Canva, Pablo, Easil and many others.

If merchants are looking to create content that converts, visuals are a must.

Include a Clear Call-to-Action

No matter if merchants are looking to drive traffic to product pages, get readers to share a post or simply generate comments, including a clear, direct call-to-action is vital to meeting that goal.

The fact is that if a merchant wants to achieve something with their content, they often must make it explicit by letting consumers know what step they should take next.

By including a call-to-action at the end of a piece for visitors to check out a product page or other content, retailers are far more likely to generate conversions than if they were to leave consumers to their own devices.

Retarget Content

For retailers who employ tracking pixels, those who visit their site can be retargeted to on Google, through social media and other popular online destinations.

Retargeting is an essential tactic for earning more conversions as consumers have already shown interest in a brand’s offerings–be they content or products.

While some consider retargeting to be an off-putting practice, looking at the facts about retargeting shows that this strategy is extremely useful in reaching consumers, generating sales and optimizing conversion rates.

In today’s attention economy, merchants must remain top-of-mind. Retargeting adverts help them achieve that end.

Final Thoughts

Creating eCommerce content that drives conversions is critical for merchants to compete in the increasingly crowded online retail industry. Moreover, by targeting user intent with such pieces, sellers can reel in new readers and bolster their customer base while still catering to existing shoppers.

For other ways to grow your ecommerce store, check out our list of ecommerce growth tactics.

Utilize the strategies listed above to help ensure that your company’s content earns the visibility it needs to generate clicks and conversions from shoppers–new and old. Don't have enough time to start a blog? Check out our ecommerce customer service automation guide to see how you can save time by automating many of the repetitive tasks that go into running an online store.

You might be assuming that there’s really nothing you can do to change this outside of overworking your team, or hiring more people.

This is completely normal, but there’s no need to panic. That’s because with Gorgias you can now integrate Loop in your ecommerce store. In case you’re wondering, Loop is an on-demand portal that allows customers to get the product they want, with less support touchpoints. 

Using Loop, there are many ways you can reduce one of the biggest and more time-consuming support-related requests… returns. Plus, they do this while still giving your customers a seamless experience. 

So, let’s dive in.

What’s the problem?

Did you know that 40% of support tickets are order related, with 5% being about returns? It might not seem like something worth looking into, or too problematic, but it is. 

Though these customers returning items do deserve a great level of customer care (everyone does), it’s not the most valuable way to actually use your support team’s skills. 

Why? Glad you asked.

There’s already a lack of resources

It’s always good to remember that your support team is juggling a lot more than you think because there’s so many different types of requests that come through. One of those requests that takes a lot of time is, you guessed it, return requests. While these are important, they don’t exactly require a human touch since they’re very straightforward and focus heavily on process. 

If your support team isn’t able to address other requests in a timely manner, that could mean losing new customers or returning ones because of those support tickets. 

Luckily, return-requests can be easily automated.

Customers want to control their returns

It may come as a surprise to hear that your customers don’t actually want a high touch support experience for returns from your team. They actually want to be the ones to choose where and when they want to engage with support teams. 

Since customers want a more on-demand experience when it comes to returns and something that happens fast, automation doesn’t hurt in these scenarios since it can be quick. 

What’s the solution? Enter Loop.

Bringing Loop and Gorgias together for a seamless customer experience that saves your team time is like a dream come true. 

But how exactly, can this address the issues we’ve been discussing?

First off, this partnership will allow your support team to use that extra time in valuable ways that make sense and benefit the business. For example, focusing more on new customers, shipping issues and more.

Secondly, it benefits your customers since it allows them to take control of their returns and do things on their own time. This makes it more seamless and makes them feel like the return process is easier than ever. 

Using both Loop and Gorgias together will create a better environment all around, decreasing stress both within your support team and customers so that your team can focus on conversions instead of returns.

Whether you’ve been looking for a way to reduce your support requests related to returns, or if it’s something new on your radar, it’s worth thinking about. Thankfully, you can sign up for a free 7-day trial with Gorgias and add in the Loop integration to see just how much time it can save.

A quick look into BigCommece, and you'll quickly see one of the main advantages about

As eCommerce-Aholic says in their YouTube video: 5 reasons to choose BigCommerce over Shopify, when deciding whether a SaaS ecommerce platform is right for you, you have to consider APIs.

What does this mean for you?

Because more often than not, you don’t have access to the underlying code fuelling your ecommerce website. 

This is where APIs come into their own.

In short, API stands for 'Application Programming Interface.' This enables two apps to communicate with each other. As such, this is what allows you to extend the overall functionality of your chosen ecommerce platform.

With that in mind, let’s delve into this subject a little deeper. 

BigCommerce APIs

BigCommerce's API coverage is incredibly impressive. As is the number of API calls that BigCommerce can process per second. In fact, it can handle 100 times more API calls per second than Shopify Plus! 

Shopify limits you to just two API requests a second, or four API per second if you’re a Shopify Plus user. Whereas BigCommerce can handle a whopping 400 API calls per second!

How Often Will You Need to Hit an API Call?

Let’s take synchronizing your entire stock list with BigCommerce’s Catalog API as an example. This API enables you to integrate your BigCommerce store with your POS and multiple online sales channels...so that you can handle everything from a single platform. Needless to say, this makes selling on popular third-party platforms like Amazon, Walmart (Jet), Wayfair, Best Buy, Houz, etc. a breeze!

So, suppose you’re running a large enterprise and have thousands of items to synchronize (or have tons of different product options). In that case, 25,000 products could take over four hours to sync on Shopify! Whereas, with BigCommerce, that same volume of merchants would take around a minute. 

Following this same logic, if you're syncing multiple systems with your ecommerce store, you’ll be thankful that BigCommerce handles so many API calls per second. After all, there are only so many hours in the day!

The biggest perk?

But, that isn't the best thing about BigCommerce's APIs. In fact, it's the real-time information your shipping and logistics partners feedback to your store that's of the most value. 

Of course, this also has a knock-on effect on the quality of your customer support. Slow and unreliable API calls adversely impact your store's inventory levels and shipping updates for customers.

‍Customer Support

While we're on the topic of customer service, just think of the kind of high-quality customer support you could provide, using one of your many APIs to connect your BigCommerce store with Gorgias. 

You'll be able to offer all the following at lightning speed:

• Real-time live chat (you can even trigger automatic live chat campaigns depending on your visitor's web page).
• Centralize customer communications - social media, email, phone, etc. You can answer all pending support tickets from the convenience of one dashboard.
• You can create template answers to respond faster to FAQs - just write your response once and save it as a macro. Then you'll be able to reuse it automatically.
• Utilize machine learning to detect what customers will ask - shipping updates, refunds, exchanges, etc. Then, you can send laser-targeted automated responses to proactively answer their questions. 
  

How to Utilize API Calls

On top of the obvious benefits listed above, you can also use BigCommerce's API points to create mobile apps using data retrieved from your online store. Not only does this make app development much easier, but ultimately, it'll also provide a seamless experience for the end-user. Win-win!

For the sake of ease, we've listed some of the different kinds of BigCommerce APIs you can use and how they could benefit your online store. Hopefully, this provides some much-needed inspiration for making the most out of your abundance of APIs.

Storefront APIs: This enables you to manage customer carts and checkouts (from the client's side and your back end). For instance, you can add products to a shopper’s cart, gather and display customer order info, update billing addresses, and erase current e-shopping trolleys. 

GraphQL Storefront API: Similar to above, you can also use this API to access your customer's product info and modify customer details and orders. But more unique to this API, you can build frontend apps. This permits you full control over the look and feel of your brand. 

Scripts API: You can insert any scripts for analytics, single-click apps, live chat, support plugins, and theme extensions for any apps or integrations you’ve downloaded, so you'll no longer have to manually paste code into your control panel.

Widgets API: Here, you can create modular blocks of content to reuse wherever you want. Similarly, you can also develop tools to empower non-techy users to manage your content. Trust us, your team will thank you for not making them go to the trouble of modifying the theme files.

Payments API: As its name so aptly suggests, this API facilitates the acceptance of customer payments. You can create custom checkouts either using a Server-to-Server Checkout API Orders endpoint or via the V2 Orders endpoint.

Getting Started with BigCommerce APIs 

First off, you need to obtain the API credentials.

From there, you can experiment with your APIs using BigCommerce's in-built 'Request Runner.' Here, you just copy and paste your store_hash, client_id ID, and access_token. 

Then once you've done that, hit 'Send.'

Alternatively, you can use the REST Client extension to make API requests, using the Visual Studio Code. Once you've installed this extension, you'll need to create a new file called BigCommerce.http. 

Then you'll need to paste the following:

@ACCESS_TOKEN = your_access_token

@CLIENT_ID = your_client_id

@STORE_HASH = your_store_hash

###

GET https://api.bigcommerce.com/stores/{{STORE_HASH}}/v3/catalog/products

X-Auth-Token: {{ACCESS_TOKEN}}

X-Auth-Client: {{CLIENT_ID}}

Content-Type: application/json

Accept: application/json

Now, hit 'Save.' 

This should trigger a 'send request' link to display above GET. Click 'send request,' and the API response will appear in a split window.

There are other ways to start using BigCommerce APIs, but we don't have time to go through them all in this article. Hopefully, this has been enough to help steer you in the right direction. For more information, take a look at BigCommerce’s API documentation. 

Are You Ready to Start Using BigCommerce?

We hope having read this article, you have a better idea of what you could achieve with BigCommerce's generous API allowance. The BigCommerce API lets you sync inventory across channels, and locations, connect to apps, and offer exceptional customer support. How have you used the BigCommerce API?

For most retailers, Black Friday is the busiest and most profitable day of the year. However, not everyone is into shopping on Black Friday. Every year, more and more activists are protesting the consumer culture by celebrating ‘Buy Nothing Day.’

Never heard about it? Although the anti-consumerism celebration has been gaining traction in the last couple of years, it’s still not well-known among the general public.

How did we come to this point? That’s what we’ll learn today.

You’ll find out:                      

• A short history of Black Friday
• What’s Buy Nothing Day All About
• Black Friday vs. Buy Nothing Day

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The History of Black Friday

As high-speed Internet spread across the planet so did Black Friday. What initially started as a mall craze has evolved in an online phenomenon. But do you know how Black Friday started? When and where did it happen and how did it spread?

How Black Friday Started

The holiday got started in the early-50s, in Philadelphia. The term was used to describe the heavy traffic on the day after Thanksgiving when hordes of tourists and suburbanites would storm the city in advance of the annual Army-Navy football game. 

While we don’t know for certain, the term “Black Friday” was possibly coined by the members of the Philadelphia police department to describe the shoplifting, traffic jams, and general mayhem. Yes, Black Friday incidents are nothing new.

Even though retailers tried to change its name to “Big Friday” during the late 60s in an effort to avoid the negative connotations, the original name persevered. In the mid-80s, marketers started using the term in connection to “being in the black” after a financially bad year. 

Cyber Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Black November

Black Friday sales became commonplace across the United States, in the early 90s. By the mid-2000s, online shopping started gaining traction. In 2008, online shoppers spent $534 million on Black Friday. 

During the same period, Cyber Monday got its start. The holiday took off when the staff at Shop.org noticed a 77% increase in online sales on Monday after the Black Friday weekend. Since Cyber Monday was so successful, some of the largest store chains in the US, like Walmart and Amazon merged the two into a single shopping weekend. 

Soon after, retailers started creating different spin-offs of the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend. For example, the day after Black Friday is called Small Business Saturday. That’s why some retailers now celebrate Black November all month long. 

Pros and Cons of Black Friday

Last year, retailers from all over the world saw more than 93 million people shopping online, during the Black Friday weekend. While a huge number of people are looking forward to the holiday, there are some that aren’t as nearly excited. 

The holiday has its positive and negative sides. Some of the Black Friday pros include:

• Most consumers are able to save a lot of money on great deals
• Retailers are able to make a good percentage of their yearly revenue during BFCM
• It’s great for the economy; 30% of retail sales happen between BFCM and Christmas 
  

Of course, we need to take into consideration Black Friday cons as well:

• People tend to overspend during BFCM and buy things they wouldn’t otherwise
• Some retailers that artificially heighten their prices in the weeks leading up to BFCM
• Some small businesses can’t compete with large discounts offered by large chains  

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The History of Nothing Day

Not all people see Black Friday as a great opportunity to buy that 40-inch smart TV for a fraction of its price. Some see it as nothing more than a decadent celebration of commercialism. That’s why some people opt to celebrate Buy Nothing Day.

Never heard of Buy Nothing Day before? You’re not alone. A lot of people haven’t. But don’t worry, we’re here to explain everything… 

How Nothing Day Started

Now, Buy Nothing Day is actually nothing new. The anti-holiday was originally thought out by a Canadian artist by the name of Ted Dave way back in 1992. His anti-shopping campaign started gaining steam once it got picked up by the non-profit magazine, Adbusters.

According to the official Adbusters website, the day is meant for ordinary consumers to re-examine their spending habits and take a look at the “issue of overconsumption.” 

During the 90s and 00s, this anti-holiday was mainly “celebrated” in the US and Canada, but in the last couple of years, thanks to the Internet, it reached a worldwide audience. While it’s certainly not popular as Black Friday, it’s slowly catching on.

How is Buy Nothing Day Celebrated

Seeing how Buy Nothing Day is still new, it’s no wonder that different people celebrate it in different ways. However, over the last decade, certain traditions have developed. Here a few universal ways in which people celebrate Buy Nothing Day:

• Cutting Up Credit Cards: This is perhaps the most extreme way in which people celebrate Buy Nothing Day. Some consumers gather in front of shopping malls on Black Friday to cut up their credit cards in protest of consumerism. 
• Starting Whirly Marts: Another “on-location” way to celebrate Buy Nothing Day is to take a shopping cart and create a long -conga-like line around the mall. As you might’ve guessed, the shopping carts are traditionally empty. 
• Taking Buy Nothing Hikes: A less confrontational way to celebrate it is to ignore the stores and shoppers completely and go for a group hike. This allows people to leave the stress-filled spending day behind them and enjoy nature. 
  

Pros and Cons of Buy Nothing Day

People who are preoccupied with the negative aspects of commercialism are obviously more likely to participate in the Buy Nothing Day celebration. But just like its consumerism-celebrating counterpart, Buy Nothing Day has its negative and positive sides.

Let’s go over the positive aspects first:

• It encourages people to think about how much money they’re needlessly spending
• Also, it helps consumers control the urge to buy things compulsively and spend wisely  
• Finally, it shows that your personal happiness doesn’t revolve around material objects
  

Nothing is perfect and Buy Nothing Day isn’t the exception. Here are some negative aspects:

• Not overspending for a single day doesn’t mean you won’t do it for the rest of the year
• Consumerism drives a country’s economy, so it’s not always the most sustainable protest. 
• Not shopping for a single day won’t prevent consumerism on a large scale 

Black Friday vs. Buy Nothing Day

As a retailer, are you wondering if you should be worried? Can Buy Nothing Day turn some of your customers against you, destroy your relationship, and hurt your sales? Let’s see how the BFCM weekend will stack up against Buy Nothing Day in 2020. 

The Emergence of the Conscious Shopper

Consumers have become more conscious in recent years. They’re more worried about global problems than ever before, and they would like the companies they’re dealing with to share their concerns. 

But if overspending in rampant consumerism is such a problem, why isn’t Buy Nothing Day bigger? You have to remember that the day is competing with well-established holidays. Also, Black Friday backlash has been much more noticeable outside the US.

For example, just last year in France, protesters gathered in an attempt to block an Amazon warehouse in the suburbs of Paris. In other European countries, lawmakers are considering banning Black Friday altogether, due to the negative environmental impact.

Make Black Friday Green Again

Speaking of France, a collective known as MFGA (Make Friday Green Again) recently formed in the country, in order to help the citizens become more conscious about their consumption. More than 450 brands signed up to support the MFGA initiative in 2019. 

Faguo, the organization behind the movement is inviting consumers to drop unwanted clothing items into their stores and encouraging consumers to take part in their tree-planting campaign. 

The #OptOutside Campaign 

In the United States, REI, an outdoor-gear manufacturing company is doing its part to slow-down overconsumption during the BFCM weekend. On Black Friday, the REI officials close all of their stores, give their employees a paid day off, and encourage people to go outside for a walk, hike, or a campaign trip. 

Their Opt Outside campaign not only helps their consumers become more physically active and financially responsible, but also spreads awareness about their values. The fact that the healthy activities they promote are what their products are made for is not a coincidence.  

Buy Nothing Day vs Ecommerce

Will Black Friday sales suffer from Buy Nothing Day? Not really. While some will choose to ignore the BFCM weekend, most people are either not aware of Buy Nothing Day or don’t feel like they have any trouble controlling their spending. 

Large stores probably won’t feel any consequences. However, their small-to-midsize counterparts might feel the hit. 

Around 60% of all online spending during BFCM goes to a dozen or so large retailers. None of them will feel the impact of Buy Nothing Day. The rest of the money goes to thousands of small stores. They’re the ones that could potentially feel the hit. 

How to Do Your Part

Should you be concerned about Buy Nothing Day? Yes and no. On one hand, you have to be aware that as a small business owner, you can’t afford to lose any customers. On the other, it’s not likely that many of your customers will choose Black Friday to ignore you. 

There’s a simple solution if you feel like Buy Nothing Day may be a problem. To get the younger, socially-aware crowd on your side, you just have to show them that you care. 

You can use your website to encourage people to spend more time outdoors or promote a good cause. Take DoneGood for example. In 2018, the Boston-based ecommerce website donated Black Friday revenue to the RAINN foundation.   

Looking Beyond Black Friday 2020

It took nearly 50 years for Black Friday to become a worldwide phenomenon. Although information travels fast nowadays, it’s not realistic to expect for Buy Nothing Day to become a large-scale protest against consumerism any time soon. 

When done right, Black Friday can be a great day for both retailers and shoppers. If you’re a store owner and you want to make it great for your customers, here’s what you need to do:

• Creating catered, personalized experiences
• Taking a mobile-first approach to ecommerce
• Becoming more environmentally-conscious
• Focusing on creating a great customer support experience for Black Friday shoppers
  

One thing is certain: your customers should always come first. You need to show them that you share their values, respect their concerns, and that you’re ready to take that extra step to keep them satisfied. And you can’t do that without a good helpdesk. 

With Gorgias helpdesk, you can attend to your customers, establish, and nurture relationships with ease. 

Go ahead, sign up for Gorgias, get your 15-day free trial, and see your customer satisfaction rates skyrocket.