In this guide, we’ll deep-dive into the simple yet necessary BFCM store design ideas to help you boost your sales in 2022.
BFCM is not just a sale; it is a whole festive season and emotion. And hence, much similar to the holiday season, your store should reflect the festivity of it.
It's easy to understand why retailers want to get a piece of this pie - you can expect your store to see a surge in traffic as customers flock to your site for deals. But if you don't prepare for this influx of traffic by optimizing your eCommerce site for BFCM, you could be missing out on a lot of potential revenue.
However, don't stop at the deals offered while preparing your Shopify store for the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. In some ways, it's true that all you need is a few decent offers and discounts to attract customers. But this is not the case if you want to get the maximum out of your promotions and increase your website conversion rate and sales.
So, why is this so?
Well, simply because customers simply won't buy if their shopping experience contains lots of bugs and errors, which is common during those days of extreme shopping activity. That is why along with offering irresistible discounts and deals, you should also focus on your Shopify design.
We're here to help make it easier with the list of 10 must-have design changes to improve your BFCM store design.
What BFCM store design elements can you add to your Shopify site?
Advertising banner
The most obvious option is to promote your Black Friday deals with an advertising banner. This will help attract new customers and create awareness of your sale. You can also use it to highlight a specific product or category that you want people to know about.
Ensure that the banner is eye-catching and includes bright colors so that it stands out from other content on your page.
Landing page
A great landing page has to give visitors a reason to stay on your site and explore your products further. When it comes to an effective BFCM store design and layout, you need a landing page that makes people want to purchase from your store immediately.
The following tips will help you create an effective landing page -
- Ensure that the copy on your landing page matches the copy on your product pages and category pages.
- Use keywords in both heading tags and bullets so that search engines can easily index them as well as people looking for specific products or categories that are relevant to what they want to purchase from your store this season.
- Add product highlights
- Showcase discount codes or other promotions
- Use images that are high quality but not too large
Also read: Why You Need A BFCM Pre-Launch Page To Make More Sales
Website theme
A website skin/theme change isn’t necessary but can definitely help with conversions. For example, if you have a green theme on your site right now, consider changing it to black or red for this period.
The point is to make it obvious that this sale is happening right now and that customers should take advantage of it now.
You can make this BFCM store design change yourself or get in touch with a digital agency or freelancer who can help you out. The most important thing is that you choose a theme that will work well with your products and services.
360-degree campaign
Want to make sure your message reaches all customers? Use every possible channel, including email, social media, paid ads, organic search results, SMS, and even direct mail.
The more channels you use, the greater your chances of reaching customers.
This will help you reach more customers at different times of day and make sure they're aware of sale prices and discounts before they visit your website or store.
Create interesting graphics that people will want to share with their friends and family members – this way you'll reach more people than ever before. You can also create simple videos showing off different products from your store or even a short how-to video on how to use them properly.
Change specific elements
Bring in a new design element or two – this doesn’t have to be anything major, but just enough to give your website a fresh look and feel (which will make it more appealing). Change backgrounds, fonts, and colors if necessary; or add some additional images or videos that represent your brand well.
You can also add special banners that highlight specific offers on products or services (like ‘Free Shipping’) in your BFCM store design if you want to draw attention to particular deals during this weekend.
For example, if you have a generic header image on the top of your store, change it to something related to the BFCM sale or Black Friday. You can also change up your product descriptions with similar language or imagery.
Add a countdown before the sale starts
The countdown is a great way to build excitement and anticipation before the sale begins. Furthermore, you can also use a countdown timer to display how much longer the sale will go on, once it’s live.
You can set them up on any page or product page and also include them on your homepage as well as in email campaigns - wherever makes sense for your brand and audience - to help boost traffic to your site during this time period.
Use “marketing” colors
You can use the BFCM color palette to pick out colors for your products, product pages, and website elements like buttons and backgrounds. This could include hues of red, black, orange, yellow, and blue.
The most important reason to do so is that shoppers can easily recognize that your store is participating in the BFCM sale, which will increase conversions and help you generate more revenue during this time period.
Think mobile-first
At this point, everyone knows that mobile commerce is on the rise — which means customers are likely to be shopping from their phones more than ever this Black Friday weekend.
Did you know that around 3/4th of all the BFCM purchases (71%) in 2021 were made from mobile devices?
That's why it's vital that your site be optimized for mobile devices.
If you haven't already, update your site design to be mobile-friendly. This means that all pages should be optimized for a variety of screen sizes so they look great on any device, from smartphones and tablets to desktop computers and laptops. A good way to do this is by creating a mobile-first design. This means that first, you design your website as if it were meant for mobile devices and then scale up as needed when viewing on desktops or tablets.
Try using one single page for all devices, rather than multiple pages for each device type. You can do this by using AMP technology or creating a series of responsive templates for each page on your website.
Simplify the flow
The BFCM sale is not only about getting people to visit your store but also about encouraging them to buy from you instead of from other competitors. To do this, you need to make it easy for them to find what they're looking for on your site.
That means no clutter and no distractions.
Everything should be where it needs to be, whether that's on a product page or on a category page. Make sure that your product categories are clearly organized, so customers can easily navigate through your products without getting lost in a maze of links that lead nowhere. You can even use bullet points to your advantage instead of paragraphs for your product descriptions. This will help people quickly scan through and find what they're looking for on your site.
Also, don't forget about the search bar — it can be a lifesaver when customers have trouble finding what they're looking for.
Remove friction from the checkout process
One of the biggest reasons people abandon shopping carts during BFCM is that they don't want to wait around while their credit card information is being processed — especially when they're already stressed out about making sure they buy everything they need before everyone else does!
To combat this issue, consider offering options like PayPal or Apple Pay at checkout so there's no waiting around.
Also read: 15+ Shopify cart and checkout optimization best practices
Make your emails consistent and responsive
Consistency is key when it comes to email marketing. You want your customers to see the same look and feel in all of your emails so they feel like they're receiving messages from one brand rather than multiple sources.
By creating a branded template that you can use for all of your emails, you'll create an identity for your business and make it easier for customers to recognize your brand when they receive an email from you.
In addition to making sure your emails look consistent across devices, be sure they’re also responsive. This means they should adjust themselves based on the screen size of the device being used by the customer. It will ensure that no matter what device they use, they will be able to read your message easily.
Also read: Shopify Design Best Practices for BFCM and the Holiday Season Sale
Why customize your Shopify store for BFCM?
Customizing your Shopify storefront specifically for the Black Friday Cyber Monday Sale may seem like a lot of work. However, customers expect an experience that is tailored to their needs and preferences when they visit an e-commerce site.
Here are a few reasons why you should definitely customize your store design for BFCM -
- The appearance of a store can influence a user’s buying decisions and ultimately, their conversions.
- Custom website design caters to your target audience - addressing exactly what they’re looking for this sale season.
- Custom and better store designs help build trust.
- Custom BFCM store design helps maintain uniformity across all your marketing channels as you promote the big sale.
Get started on your BFCM store design with XgenTech!
The BFCM sale can be amazing for any online store owner, but you have to be prepared.
With great deals come more traffic and more orders, so it's critical that your digital store is prepared as best as it can be.
If you haven't made the necessary changes to your store, don't panic; it's not too late. However, you'll need to do a little bit of work before you can capitalize on the BFCM sale and reap the rewards of extra spending cash.
The design tips we've discussed above should go a long way toward making your website ready to handle the holiday rush.
Need any help? Reach out to our Shopify experts today!
