Winter is here, and along with the cold comes the need to find that special gift for our family and friends. Therefore, it’s the perfect opportunity to offer the biggest discounts of the year to boost sales.

What is Black Friday and how did it originate?

Black Friday originated in the United States more than 50 years ago (in 1961, to be exact) in the city of Philadelphia, where the term was used to describe the heavy traffic of people and vehicles that crowded the streets the day after Thanksgiving.

Over time, the term “Black Friday” took on a new meaning, referring to the black ink used in accounting records (red ink denoted losses, while black ink denoted profits). The ultimate goal of every store, of course, was to turn losses—written in red—into profits.

In 2010, Apple decided to bring this American tradition to Europe, and since then, this celebration has been gaining more and more momentum.

When is Black Friday celebrated?

This year (2019), it is celebrated on Friday, November 29, followed by Cyber Monday on Monday, December 2, although in some countries the sale period extends throughout the entire week. These dates vary from year to year, falling on the Friday following the traditional “Thanksgiving” celebration in the United States.

How can Black Friday help me increase my sales?

If this article has inspired you enough to give Black Friday a try, here are a few tips to help you boost your sales during this period:

  • Use your social media to reach customers of all ages. Some customers will see your ad on Facebook, others on Instagram, or while reading their favorite newspaper. These days, it’s very easy to run a paid campaign on your social media platforms. We’ll show you how below.
  • To win, you have to spend—or rather, invest. Don’t be afraid to allocate a substantial budget to your advertising campaigns—you’ll see that they’re worth it.
  • Extend the Black Friday period. Don’t limit it to just one day, since many people won’t have time to make a purchase (either in-store or online) on that specific day.
  • Lure potential customers with a big discount. More and more businesses are jumping on the Black Friday bandwagon, which means you’ll have to fight to be at the top of the list. Now’s the time to be aggressive.
  • Seek advice from professionals. There are many companies that can help you position your promotions and reach your ideal audience. Contact us if you need help.

How do I configure my TuriTop booking system to offer a Black Friday discount?

Setting up this type of discount is very simple. The goal is to create a promo code (BLACKFRIDAY19, for example) that can only be used on Black Friday itself or throughout the entire week, but never before or after. This doesn’t mean the customer can’t enjoy the tour or activity on another day; however, they must book during that time frame.

  • Step 1: Log in to your TuriTop dashboard.
  • Step 2: Go to Services >>> click on the service you want to apply the Black Friday discount to.
  • Step 3: Go to Prices and Discounts. There, you can create different types of discounts; we’ll focus on a 10% discount off the final price if the customer enters the code BLACKFRIDAY19 only from November 25, 2019, through November 30, 2019. Take a look at the image below to see how we’ve set it up:
  1. Enter 10 to apply a 10% discount.
  2. Enter BLACKFRIDAY19 (or whatever you want). This will activate a new field in your booking widget where your customer can enter the code, allowing you to track how many people viewed your promotion and ultimately decided to make a purchase using the Black Friday discount.
  3. Select the “Purchase Date Range” option. This is very important because we’re going to have the system take the purchase date into account, not the date of the tour or activity.
  4. Enter the start date (11/25/2019) and end date (11/30/2019). If you want the discount to apply only on Black Friday, select the “Single Purchase Date” option and choose 11/29/2019.

How do I promote my Black Friday discount?

You have countless tools at your disposal to reach your audience. In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to use an email marketing tool; in this other tutorial, we’ll show you how to promote yourself on social media; and here’s an infographic on how to use #hashtags correctly.

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