Is Green Monday Worth It for Your Small Business?

Black Friday, Cyber Week, Green Monday…whew, you need a calendar to track all these shopping days (which, I mean, is the purpose of a calendar, but YOU GET MY POINT). We’ve had customers ask if these big retail shopping days are worth it for small businesses, and our answer is always YES. Man, I’m doing a lot of yelling, but I’m just so excited about Green Monday online shopping.

While I take a minute to calm down, I invite you to learn more about Green Monday and how you can capitalize on it for your small business.

What Is Green Monday, Anyway?

Essentially, Green Monday is another way to drive customers to shop online. While Black Friday and Cyber Week take the lion’s share of sales, Green Monday shopping is nothing to thumb your nose at, either—in 2016, Green Monday online retail sales came in at a whopping $1.621 billion. This makes it the fifth-biggest online spending day of the holiday season.

When Did Green Monday Start? And Why Is It Called Green Monday?

It’ll be no surprise to you that Green Monday was created by an online retailer. We owe Green Monday to the e-commerce giant, eBay, who coined the term in 2007 for its best sales day of the month. The “Green” of “Green Monday” came from making some, well, green, and the fact that they marketed online shopping as environmentally friendly. It then became a marketing tool to boost online sales, essentially extending Black Friday and Cyber Monday into December.

Since then, other stores like Amazon, Walmart, and Target have jumped on the Green Monday bandwagon with special discounts.

When Is Green Monday?

Get your engines started, because Green Monday online shopping starts Monday, December 10^th. Typically, the sales last just for that one day, but often times you’ll see some retailers extend the sales for another day.

How Can Small Businesses Do Green Monday?

Fear not, Green Monday isn’t just for the big box stores. In our humble opinion, this is a great “holiday” for small businesses to experiment with because not many have tapped into its potential.

Your Green Monday Checklist:

• Send an email to customers.

Email customers a few days in advance to let them know you’re going to have a Green Monday sale. Whether you reveal the deal or keep it secret to pique their interest is up to you.

• Post to your social media accounts.

Same idea as emailing your customers, just on your Facebook or Instagram. Basically, you want to shout it from the rooftops. But, like, in a nice way.

• Remind customers of the time until Christmas.

This is an old tip, but a good tip—with Green Monday being only 15 days until Christmas, it works to mention they only have a few shopping days left to get their order by Christmas.

• Bring on the appreciation.

Something small businesses have over large ones is that you can offer a personal touch. A handwritten thank you note goes a long way with customers.

So, in conclusion, dear reader, we think this is the year for small businesses to tap into Green Monday online shopping and bring in the green. Sorry, couldn’t resist.