The popularity of flash sites like Rue La La, Beyond the Rack and Fab has grown exponentially in the last year, inspiring many brands — both well-known and lesser-known — to partner up and offer their products through them. Of course, brands can still reap the benefits of a flash sale by simply hosting their own. Here are four tips to help your brand’s flash sale succeed.
Make the Most of Your Flash Email Blasts
Email plays a huge role in the success of a flash sale. It represents 18% of the referrals to flash sales websites. They also have more than 2x the increase in transaction rates compared to other offers. These emails are attention-getters, so make sure that your subject line and body of the message communicates the sale clearly and concisely. It might also be worth the time to send customers a reminder email to kick off the sale. Of course, timing is everything in the art of email marketing, so determine the best email send times first and then follow them as a guideline.
Keep the Sale Brief, but Accessible
Although some sites offer flash sales that last a day or two days long, a brand really only needs a few hours for a successful sale. In fact, three-hour flash sales have the best transaction-to-click rates — 59% higher than other sale lengths. The most common flash sale times tend to be around lunchtime and in the evening — this is very important to note, because both times make the sale accessible to potential buyers who work during the day. Overall, however, transaction rates are 23% higher for evening flash sales compared to lunchtime sales.
Don’t Neglect Social
Although social posts don’t refer as much traffic to sales as email blasts, 13% of referrals do actually come from social. Take the time to post about the flash sale on your social sites, with a reminder post just before it starts. It’s also wise to monitor your social accounts closely during the flash sale for customer service-related concerns. Because of the brief nature of a flash sale, customers are looking for immediate answers to their questions and solutions to their problems, so be sure that all of your contact bases are covered ahead of time to solve any problems that may come up.
Keep Careful Track of Inventory
It doesn’t take much to frustrate a potential customer. A study found that 32% of shoppers switch brands when something is unexpectedly out of stock, so keep this in mind when running your flash sale. Be sure that you have enough product on hand to accommodate the sale and then monitor sales, updating inventory information on the site as needed so that customers aren’t caught off-guard. A simple, “Hurry Now! Limited Stock!” blurb beside an item will push customers to purchase while letting them know it’s a low-inventory item.
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