E-Commerce Black Friday Strategy & Ideas & Tips

Introduction

Black Friday marks the worldwide start of the holiday shopping season. Whether you own a brick-and-mortar store or an online business, this is the perfect time of the year for your sales! However, as the title of this article already told you, we will take a deeper look at the online space.

In the e-commerce space, Black Friday represents a significant opportunity for online retailers to boost their sales. Besides that, this revenue-generating event allows you to acquire new customers, clear your stock, and enhance your brand visibility. Proper planning and execution of marketing strategies are essential to making the most out of this significant shopping event.

We have gathered the latest tips, strategies, ideas, and statistics for Black Friday, and we’ll wrap this article up with a Black Friday checklist containing actionable points to get the most out of online sales. So, let’s start.

Black Friday e-commerce trends & stats

Black Friday shapes e-commerce trends and sets new records every year. In this section, we’ll explore the sales statistics, social media’s influence, mobile shopping’s impact, and the industries most affected by this popular shopping event.

Sales statistics compared to the rest of the year

The difference between the volume of purchases during events such as Black Friday is significantly higher compared to purchases during the year. This is because of the massive discounts that come with these events. Discounts have a lot of power in persuading customers to buy, especially for goods that they would not buy during regular days.

This is proven by the example of statistics from Adobe from Black Friday 2022, which states that the electronics segment was one of the most popular categories to shop for globally, and there was an increase in online sales by more than 200% compared to an average day in October for smart home appliances and audio devices. Another example is a statistic from Salesforce that shows that Black Friday online sales grew 3.5% to $65.3 billion globally in 2022.

Impact of social media on Black Friday sales

The connection between social media and online businesses has revolutionized sales. With a vast majority of the global population actively engaged on social platforms, businesses have unprecedented opportunities to acquire new customers and boost sales. This synergy is especially prominent during events like Black Friday, where stores leverage social networks to showcase exclusive discounts and promotions.

Social media act as a powerful promotional tool, allowing users to discover products while scrolling through their feeds. With just one click, potential customers can transition from admiring an item in their social media feed to exploring the entire store’s offerings. This seamless integration enhances the visibility of online stores and streamlines the purchasing process.

Statistics of mobile shopping effect on sales

Mobile phones are powerful and irreplaceable tools in today’s world. They combine a tool for calling, chatting, searching the Internet, tracking physical activity, and according to recent studies, almost 75% of Internet users will use only their mobile devices to access the Internet by 2025.

The most common use of smartphones in terms of online shopping is to research products, look up product information, and check or compare prices. However, thanks to the constant development of mobile shopping and the optimization of websites to provide a great shopping experience via mobile devices, the number of purchases made via these devices is also increasing today. For example, Statista produced statistics pointing that mobile e-commerce sales reached $2.2 trillion in 2023 and now make up 60 percent of all e-commerce sales worldwide.

Most affected industries

During the year, people mostly buy only necessary items and use these huge discount events to purchase desired ones. This may be caused by inflation, but statistically, people are more likely to buy a product with a discount than without. There is a kind of psychological phenomenon behind it.

According to last year’s Black Friday statistics, people made the most purchases in the electronics segment globally. Customers buy items that are usually more expensive, such as smartphones, laptops, televisions, games, or white goods.

Other busy segments every year are, for example, sports – bicycles, home gym, furniture – household equipment, and fashion to revamp their wardrobes with trendy outfits during the sales.

How to prepare for Black Friday

In this part of the article, we will focus more on what not to forget and how to prepare your business for Black Friday.

1. Start planning earlier

Start preparing for Black Friday early. To get the most out of this event, just a day or two is not enough. Set aside a fair number of days in advance to ensure a successful sales event. Prepare a checklist of your goals, think carefully about your strategy, and, if necessary, strengthen your team with enough people to take care of the e-shop, orders, and customers.

Do not forget to check insights from your analytics tool. Based on these insights, you can pick popular items throughout the year or the upcoming season, identify the least-selling products, and set them to boost or assign them a better position among the results.

2. Perform website testing

Perform speed and stress tests on your website. During Black Friday, there is a significant increase in online traffic and browsing, which can cause your website problems. Slow loading times can discourage customers and force them to shop elsewhere.

In addition, is your e-shop also suitable for customers using mobile devices? According to the statistics, at least 79% of online shoppers have used mobile devices for online shopping in the last half year. That’s quite a lot, right?

3. Brainstorm your marketing campaign

Your Black Friday planning should also involve marketing campaigns you will use for promotion. Brainstorm with your marketing and sales team how to use social media and catch the most potential customers for the year’s biggest shopping day. Discuss the types of discounts you will offer and whom you will offer them.

Use the power of email marketing campaigns and prepare a clear newsletter with all essential information for your loyal customers. Delight them with targeted, personalized offers or offer them gift cards. This event is not great only for sales but also for expanding your customer base by delivering the best customer experience.

4. Prepare your team

Last but not least, your e-store team should be ready. Do you have enough employees in the positions that will be the most busy during the event? For example, is your support team ready to handle a larger influx of customer questions and inquiries than usual? Do you have enough employees in warehouses, packaging, and shipping?

To survive the Black Friday frenzy and get the most out of it, brief your staff, give clear instructions, so everyone is aware of their responsibilities and ready for the pressure coming with black Friday, check employee statuses, and hire new ones if needed, especially for teams working with orders to ensure shipping products promptly.

Black Friday e-commerce strategy

Implementing a winning Black Friday e-commerce strategy can take your business to another level and significantly impact sales, customer engagement, and satisfaction. Don’t miss your chance during this important sales event, and get inspired by the strategies mentioned below.

Optimize product pages for better sales

Optimizing product pages is crucial to fulfill your business goals during this event. Use clear product descriptions and high-quality, zoomable product images and videos. Customers like to see how products look from different angles and sides before buying them. Do not forget to add alt text and ensure your website is accessible to everyone, including individuals with disabilities.

Include multiple product variants in your offer. Customers have varied preferences regarding size, color, material, storage capacities, and other attributes based on your industry and products. Providing multiple variants allows you to delight a wide range of customer preferences, increasing your revenue.

Also, engage with customers by responding to their product reviews, showing that you value their feedback. It can encourage a purchase and increase the customer trust of not only those who have left you a review but also new potential customers who have visited your store for the first time and are just looking around.

Adding a FAQ section and answering customers’ questions quickly can also be very helpful. It will make the shopping journey easier for them and, at the same time, relieve the burden on your support team.

Learn more about the best practices for optimizing your product catalog and why it is important in our article How to Optimize Product Catalog for maximum search efficiency.

Improve the checkout process experience

Another critical point is the checkout process experience. This last step in the customer journey can significantly impact cart abandonment and conversion rates. Therefore, providing a smooth and hassle-free journey to completing a purchase should be a top priority in your e-commerce Black Friday strategy.

So, it is necessary to consider how the payment process looks on your site. How many points must customers fulfill before they get to the payment? Do you require your customers to complete a lengthy registration the first time they purchase? Ensure a straightforward and easy-to-follow checkout procedure.

Make the whole process easier by allowing customers to make purchases without creating an account and implementing features such as address autofill. Offer multiple payment methods, including debit and credit cards, cash on delivery, PayPal, or mobile wallet apps like Apple Wallet or Google Pay. And finally, ensure that the whole process is optimized for mobile users.

Invest in AI-powered recommender system

Create efficient shopping experiences by leveraging personalized product recommendations and enjoy improved sales, customer loyalty, retention, and decreased cart abandonment. Leveraging the power of AI, Recommender suggests products based on user behavior, preferences, and purchase history and thus delivers personalized customer experiences. When customers see that the e-shop is as if it was created just for them, they are more likely to make a purchase and return to buy again.

Additionally, using various recommendation techniques, you can offer customers complementary products to those they have purchased recently or those in their cart and increase your average shopping cart value. Recommendations can also save you from unwanted bounce rates. Even when the product customers seek is unavailable, instead of landing on the no-results page, Recommender will show them relevant products they might be interested in. For more benefits, read our blog about Product Recommendation Examples and Benefits you haven’t thought of.

Promote your offer

What good would all that optimization work, tweaking, and investing in cutting-edge features and tools be if customers don’t even know about your offering? Use the power of email campaigns and social media to capture the attention of the widest possible range of people and increase your sales potential.

Inform your customers about upcoming sales and capture their attention with limited-time offers of particular products. Prepare and send personalized emails to your loyal customers, delight them with special offers tailored to them based on their previous purchases, or offer them special discounts and gifts. If you have an app, you can use discounts and attract as many customers as possible to download and use your application.

Remember, to stay competitive, it’s essential to have a strong online presence and engage with potential customers.

Black Friday ideas for e-commerce

There are countless Black Friday marketing ideas for increasing sales and getting the most out of this pre-holiday significant global event. A lot depends, for example, on the industry your business belongs to. However, we have selected for you four proven and unique e-commerce Black Friday ideas.

1. Discount products that are in stock for a long time

Discounts have an irreplaceable value in terms of increasing sales. Use their power and get rid of the products that have been in your warehouse for a long time and, with them, your money, which you could invest further. To get the most out of it, bundle related products together and offer them for a discounted price. These types of recommendation bundles encourage customers to buy more, increase your chances of selling multiple products at once, and increase the average shopping cart value.

You can use common sales techniques such as cross-selling and upselling, combine products that are often bought together, and suggest a bundle product in a higher price range with additional features. Recommend, for example, a laptop and accessories such as a case, mouse, or headphones. You can also create so-called seasonal bundles. For example, in the fashion segment, you can create winter bundles, such as a scarf, a hat, and gloves, or summer bundles, like swimwear, glasses, and flip flops, and recommend them together for a better price.

2. Offer free shipping and gifts to products

Customers love receiving something extra with their orders. Use the competitive advantage of gifts and entice customers to buy from you by offering gifts or samples with purchases above a certain amount. Another often-used and verified strategy to convince customers to buy more and increase the average value of the cart is the offer of free shipping. Set the amount they have to reach to get their products home for free.

The fact that the shipping price is too high or the customer does not receive free delivery even though the order price exceeds a certain high amount is a frequent reason why they abandon the cart without purchase. In addition to reducing the chance of cart abandonment, free shipping gives customers a sense of saving money and, therefore, represents a competitive advantage.

3. Offer an extra discount for leaving a review

Reviews are an indispensable element in the context of online shopping. Since customers only see your product in pictures, videos, or animations and cannot touch or try it, the stories of people who have real experience with your products are priceless. Reviews can increase customer trust and encourage them to buy on your website. And the more reviews from previous customers, the better.

However, convincing a customer in today’s busy world to leave a review is a struggle. Of course, writing a product review is easy and takes a few minutes, but honestly, how many reviews have you written for the products you’ve bought? Few customers leave a review unless they have had a bad experience with the product. So, if you want to increase the number of reviews on your site, offer customers something in return. For example, a special discount code on their next purchase after leaving a review.

4. Establish collaborations with different communities and individuals

Also, cooperation with influencers or different communities can help you with Black Friday sales. It’s a great chance to increase your brand awareness, and the followers and members represent your potential customers. It also helps foster customer trust as your partners present your products, and their followers trust them.

Offer exclusive discounts or early access deals to community members or influencers’ followers. This creates a sense of exclusivity, making the audience feel valued and more likely to purchase. Partnerships and collaborations may not only benefit you during the Black Friday event. This can lead to long-term cooperation, which can help you throughout the year, during various shopping events, or even beyond specific events.

Another great step could be partnering with a charity. Customers feel good about shopping for a good cause, so if they see while visiting your site that a portion of the profits will go to some form of aid, it may convince them to buy from you.

Best e-commerce Black Friday tips [Top 10] – Checklist

Congratulations! With the information from this article, you are closer to achieving a successful sale and surviving the Black Friday event. As we promised at the beginning, we have prepared a clear checklist for you with valuable Black Friday e-commerce tips with which you will be several steps ahead of your competition. So, here they are.

• Prepare a marketing strategy
• Fill your warehouses
• Get your team ready
• Optimize your site for better navigation
• Ensure relevant results
• Simplify the checkout process
• Attract customers with discounts
• Offer multiple payment options
• Delight your customer with gifts
• Leverage collaborations and partnerships

Conclusion

We are at the end of uncovering the secrets of successful Black Friday sales. To summarize, to get the most out of Black Friday, you need to start preparing early, set aside time to brainstorm your campaign and goals with your team, ensure your warehouses are full, your employees are ready for the Black Friday rush, and test your website. Optimize the look and navigation of your website, improve the checkout process, invest in smart, AI-powered tools that guarantee your customers relevant results and recommendations, and don’t forget to promote your offer.

Check statistics from previous years so you know what to prepare for. And leverage proven but also new marketing tips and ideas that can benefit your Black Friday sales this year. We are keeping our fingers crossed that you achieve the goals you have set for this popular shopping event and gain valuable insights that help you grow your business.

Frequently asked questions