The winter holidays are quickly approaching, which means marketers and advertisers are gearing up for the biggest shopping season of the year.

For mobile shoppers, crowded stores and long lines are finally a thing of the past, and that means it’s critical that your app is ready.

Two of the biggest shopping days of the season are Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Here, shoppers tend to take advantage of deals both online and in store, leveraging their mobile devices find the best deals, make purchases, and simplify the shopping experience from start to finish.

As shopping continues to move increasingly mobile-first, shoppers have higher standards for what eCommerce businesses have to offer. Now, with Black Friday and Cyber Monday fast approaching, it’s time to start thinking about how to stay competitive.

The Scope of Black Friday and Cyber Monday

Year after year, Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales continue to thrive. An Adobe Digital Insights report revealed that Black Friday 2017 accounted for 4.6% of total U.S. retail revenue for the winter holiday season, and Cyber Monday represented 6.1%.

Moreover, smartphones accounted for 37.6% of retail visits on Cyber Monday, and 21% of its revenue. This year, 78% of U.S. smartphone users plan to leverage their mobile devices for holiday shopping, so that number stands to increase even further.

While many people plan to use their phones to browse and find deals, advertisers also want to be sure they complete the cycle and turn a browser into a buyer. Last year, 56% of holiday ecommerce traffic came through a mobile device, but only 33% of revenue was derived from mobile. So how can you work to better fill that gap?

Get Your App Ready for The Holidays

For marketers, there are several key steps to ensure your mobile presence stands out when it matters most:

1. Raise Awareness with Email:
Don’t overlook email! Promotional emails still drive up to 27% of all Black Friday and Cyber Monday online sales, making this an avenue that digital brands can’t afford to ditch.

So, start building up your email strategy early to optimize for increased reach before the holiday shopping season begins. Then, once you’ve boosted your community, start sending out alerts to raise awareness around deals and sales you’ll be offering through your app. Remember, you always want to offer special benefits that incentivize your email subscribers and social media followers to continue engaging.

2. Prep Your Social Shop:
Gen Z plans to complete most of their shopping through Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest’s “shop” buttons. Make sure your social shops are seamlessly connecting to your mobile site to make it easy and fun for shoppers to buy on social.

3. Simplify The Checkout Process:
The average eCommerce cart abandonment rate is 25%. In order the turn a browser into a buyer, it’s essential to simplify the checkout process. Try to break up long forms onto multiple screens, implement autofill settings, keep your UI clean and simple, and add valid trustmarks to show that you provide a trusted place to make a purchase.

4. Check Your App And Mobile Site’s Speed:
64% of mobile users expect a website to load in four seconds or less, so keep it light! Make sure your mobile app or mobile site loads quickly to avoid customers getting impatient and giving up. Pro tip: you can use tools like Google’s page speed test to find out if you’re making the cut.

5. Promote Your App in Store:
Create signage in physical stores that promotes Cyber Monday and Black Friday digital deals to get your shoppers connected in a new way. Advertise special incentives like loyalty rewards, discounts, and early access to new items in order to get them hooked from the get-go.

With all eyes on mobile, it’s crucial that advertisers prepare their apps and mobile sites to keep up with the demands of their customers. The winning mobile players will be those that aim to create a seamless and enjoyable user experience, whether by streamlining the browsing and checkout processes, or by making it easier to discover great items, both on and off their shopping lists.