Black Friday Brazil: the definitive guide for your ecommerce

Black Friday Brazil was first adopted by merchants in 2010. Back then, only 50 shops joined the first edition, and ecommerce revenue that year reached BRL 3 million.

Today, the Brazilian Black Friday is now a major commercial date expected by many e-shoppers around the country. According to Ebit|Nielsen, in 2018 the date registered BLR 2.6 billion in ecommerce revenue! This represents a major leap, even when compared to the year before, with a 23% growth.

Additionally, research carried by Méliuz prior to the 2018 Black Friday already indicated a larger purchase intent from customers: 24% of interviewees said they were willing to spend between BRL 1,000 and BRL 2,999 during the period. Another 22% reveled they intended to spend between BRL 100 and BRL 299.

This data highlights the fact that not only is Black Friday winning the hearts of Brazilian online customers, but also that merchants can expect a significant growth for the 2019 edition. With this in mind, it is important that ecommerce stores prepare for the date as best they can.

In this article, we’ve listed the most common problems customers face while shopping online during Black Friday and the special efforts ecommerce stores should make to provide an excellent customer experience.

 

Problems customers face while shopping on Black Friday

In 2018, despite the highest sales record in the history of Brazilian Black Friday, Reclame AQUI registered 11,991 complaints between Thursday and Saturday, which represents a 22% growth. This shows that, even with high demand, businesses are likely to have a large range of unsatisfied customers who fail to complete a successful purchase. For that matter, preparation is key when it comes to Black Friday Brazil. Stores should spare no effort to provide an excellent shopping experience.

Here are the most common types of problems customers face in ecommerce:

 

Bad navigation experience

Navigation issues are a common problem customers face during Black Friday. In fact, most cart abandonment cases occur due to problems of this sort.

Unclear information is one of the main aspects that harms customer experience while shopping online, as many are surprised with additional shipping costs that they are not informed about until they proceed to checkout. In addition, the high volume of visitors to the website may slow down page loading or even cause a crash, not allowing buyers to complete their purchases.

 

Checkout issues

Imagine your customer’s frustration once he’s finished shopping and proceeds to the checkout, only to face issues that prevent him from completing the transaction. A slow confirmation process, in addition to not offering a transparent checkout – thus redirecting the user to an external environment – may impact conversion rates.

Another common problem users face is not having the proper discount applied once they proceed to checkout, forcing them to abandon the cart. This serious issue may occur due to problems in the ecommerce platform or even set-up errors.

 

Frauds

Brazil is one of the leading countries when it comes to online frauds, and, during commercial dates such as Black Friday, criminals take advantage of this scenario to profit or to purchase products illicitly.

With all the types of credit card frauds, it is important to mention the friendly fraud. In this case, this sort of fraud may be one of two versions: in one of them, the cardholder completes the purchase and requires a chargeback, even if the product or service was successfully delivered. The second kind is when someone close to the cardholder uses the credit card to shop without the owner’s authorization. The cardholder, once notified about the purchase, then requests a chargeback.

There are also frauds associated with the boleto bancário, like the bolware fraud – when a malware intercepts the document and alters the invoice data. However, this type of fraud has been reduced since the implementation of the registered boleto: now, whenever an invoice is issued, it is registered in Brazil’s Central Bank with both the merchant’s and the customer’s data. Even so, it is important to advise the customer to check the invoice’s data before proceeding with payment. The information exhibited on the confirmation screen should be the same as the one shown in the boleto.

In addition, there is one specific fraud that ecommerce businesses should be aware of: stock abduction. In this case, a competitor purchases a large amount of items with the boleto bancário but does not pay for the invoice. As the payment day is usually set to expire within a few days, transactions are not confirmed immediately. In addition, most boleto payments are confirmed with a delay of up to three business days. Both factors combined mean the parcel is not immediately released for delivery and shows as unavailable for other customers. Ultimately, the stock is retained, and the competitor can sell their products to the same target audience. Even though this criminal practice does not affect the customer directly, it may cause great losses to the merchant.

 

6 steps to increase conversion rates on Black Friday Brazil

We have prepared a step-by-step guide so your ecommerce can get the best out of the 2019 Black Friday Brazil.

 

1. Provide clear information

First things first: you will need to provide your customer clear information at every step of the purchasing journey. This includes providing information regarding delivery due dates, shipping costs, and available products.

In addition, it is crucial that ecommerce businesses provide real and attractive discounts: according to Procon Foundation, 34.23% of complaints registered for the 2018 Black Friday were related to misleading advertising. This malpractice is even nicknamed by Brazilian customers as “Black Fraud.”

The same research carried out by Procon also revealed that nearly 20% of complaints were related to order cancelation from the companies’ side, and roughly 18% of registered complaints were due to price change at checkout. This shows ecommerce should prepare their stock before launching any promotion, and, additionally, test if the proper discount is applied to the product.

 

2. Set up your marketing campaigns

After these adjustments, it is time to set up your marketing campaigns. Creating a specific landing page in order to provide pre-registration and build expectations through e-mail marketing campaigns is one way to go. Additionally, creating a seasonal Google Ads campaign is also advised, as well as social media strategies.

 

3. Optimize your website performance

With the high volume of offers in many different ecommerce stores, customers have an even lower tolerance of bad website performance. If your website has speed issues, unclear information, extensive bureaucratic procedures while registering, and checkout problems, your potential customer will not hesitate to leave your website and go for the competitor.

To ensure website performance, you may want to hire additional hosting services to support the higher volume of visitors. In addition, on-site optimization such as decreasing thumbnail image size and reducing redirects is crucial for performance enhancement.

 

4. Prepare for mobile

According to Ebit|Nielsen, m-commerce revenue in Brazil grew 43% in the first half of 2019, generating a total of BRL 9.6 billion. With 67% of the adult population having access to smartphones, it is no surprise your ecommerce store should optimize its website for mobile devices. One of the main complaints from mobile e-shoppers is slow pages.

To optimize the mobile experience, prioritize testing with Google’s PageSpeed Insights, as this tool will show you aspects you can improve on your website.

 

5. Offer local payment methods

There are over 45 million adults in Brazil who do not have a bank account but are still economically active. The boleto bancário is the second most used payment method, accountable for nearly 20% of ecommerce purchases, according to the 40^th edition of Ebit|Nielsen’s Webshoppers report.

In addition, most credit cards issued in the country are limited to domestic purchases, so if you are a cross-border ecommerce business selling into Brazil, offering international credit cards as the only payment method will seriously harm your conversion rates. Furthermore, Brazilians often pay in installments using their credit card. In fact, Social Miner’s 2018 Black Friday Report showed that 43.91% of purchases were made in six installments.

This is why choosing the right payment processor is crucial for your conversion rates. Not only will you want to offer local payment methods, you will want to provide a positive experience from beginning to end in the customer’s journey. And, as we mentioned previously, checkout issues are one of the main aspects that harm the e-shopper’s experience. With promotions as time-sensitive as Black Friday, you do not want your customer to face this sort of problem.

PagBrasil offers a wide range of payment methods, including the exclusive Boleto Flash®, which confirms payment in less than an hour, and PEC Flash®, which allows customers to pay for their online purchase in cash in any of the 13,000 lottery agencies of the country. This way, not only do ecommerce stores raise their conversion rates, but parcels are quickly sent to the customer – guaranteeing an agile delivery and preventing retained goods.

 

6. Shield your website against frauds

Brazil has one of the strongest consumer defense legislation in the world. This means banks are required to accept chargebacks immediately, which reduces the chances of successfully disputing unjustified chargebacks.

With the sales increase during Black Friday, chargeback rates often rise as well – and many of these cases are due to friendly frauds, as mentioned above. Hiring anti-fraud solutions prevents these situations.

Black Friday Brazil is a major commercial event, and ecommerce businesses not adopting it are missing out on great opportunities. In fact, Social Miners’ 2018 Black Friday report showed that nearly 10% of customers that purchased on the date returned to the online store for a second purchase in the following months – and highlights that this rate could be even higher if ecommerce businesses invested more in customer relationships.

However, in order to succeed, positive experience is crucial not only for better conversion rates, but also for building long-lasting customer relationships. Enhancing overall website and payment performance is key to higher sales volume and to build a reputation with your audience.