– Do you have the list of what they want?
– Sure, Elena gave it to me, I have it all written down here.
– Perfect, tomorrow is Black Friday and we can order almost everything online, this way we’ll have the Christmas present sorted out.
– Sure, that with the discounts they offer, it’s worth it.
– I just hope the website doesn’t crash like that like it did last year…
The Black Friday campaign is approaching, that day (which has already been extended to the week before, during and after) in which we all take advantage (at least, the most foresighted) to stock up on Christmas gifts and various whims (do not deny it, you’ve been waiting for it since summer).
And there is nothing more annoying than when you go to access that website… BAM! You get one of these messages👇🏻
And there you are, you with your credit card in your hand, your list of “Christmas presents for nephews and nieces” (and the one for “that thing you craved for so long and now you are buying to yourself because you deserve it”) and THAT WEBSITE goes down. And like you, there are many others. All watching firefighters on their screens. The level of anger is monumental.
– The online shop is down
– What?!
– That there are so many people trying to buy that it has gone off..
– But, lwait, we have been preparing everything for weeks. You can’t tell me now, in the middle of Black Friday, that we don’t have the website operational!!!!
So much balancing stocks and discounts, organizing logistics and determining return policies and all the negotiations with payment platforms so that in less than a minute everything goes down the toilet. Yes, it’s that graphic. À la merde.
In.con.clu.sion: On the one hand we have a lot of extremely pissed off users, and on the other hand there is a businessman crying while calculating the money he is losing. Moral of the story: If you don’t want your online store to go down, high availability should be your greatest ally.
Why is that? Well, because high availability systems ensure that a website does not go down, even at peak traffic times. That translates into happy (and returning) users, satisfactory purchases (and good reviews) and revenue (revenue, revenue).
Availability = Efficiency and stability
It’s as simple as that.
However, here are a few more reasons to convince you that HA is the path to success for your e-commerce (and to the happiness of your customers):
1 – Your customers won’t have to wait
Customers don’t like to wait anymore. Not for you, not for anyone. Therefore, either your online store is available 24 hours a day, or bye-bye.
2 – Your customers will not miss your offers
Where is the store, here or there? Well, it is nowhere to be found. And if there is no store, the offers, discounts and everything else is carried away by the internet wind, therefore, all the users look for their life in other websites. And not yours.
3 – Your customers will not have payment problems
Having a full virtual shopping cart and when it’s time to pay the payment platform fails is very frustrating and annoying. If you don’t like it happening to you, your customers don’t like it any more.
4 – Your customers will not be able to see your products
“If you are not on the Internet, you do not exist” extrapolated to a downed website means that if no one can access it, it is as if it did not exist. But there will be other operational websites, and all your customers will end up there buying what they have not been able to buy on yours.
5 – Your customers will not be able to see your images, descriptions or prices
A picture is worth a thousand words, especially when it comes to buying. But an image without a description is like a product without a price: unpurchasable.
Avoid the “what you ask for vs. what you get” effect, which is not good for anyone. Purchases, whether made with reason or heart, enter first through the eyes and then are decided by descriptions and price. If that set is not available, it’s no good. In addition, not loading images, descriptions or prices can generate distrust that will result in abandonment of the purchase.
6 – Your customers will not be able to see your product reviews or comments.
The good online customer is guided by reviews and comments. They help a lot to get the sale, they can even be decisive. And they also cost a lot to get. If users can’t read them, that will generate doubts that may make them reconsider buying on your website.
7 – Your customers will not be able to buy
In short, if there is no online/web store available, there are no purchases. It’s overwhelming logic. Either make sure your systems are always up and running or say goodbye to any campaign.
Prevent Black Friday from turning into a real black day and embrace high availability.
