As Shopify store owners start to take stock of their products, it’s safe to say that the BFCM sale madness has already begun. With each passing day, a new task gets added to your list. With so much to be done, it’s only obvious that you might miss out on a few things in the rush.
But every little detail you miss is a chance for the other Shopify store to take away your customers during the BFCM sale.
Having worked with Shopify stores across the world, we know that a methodical approach is the real trick to getting more sales during this period. It isn’t about how big a discount you’re offering to the customers. It’s about how you reach out to them with your deals, how you keep their interest hooked, what shopping experience you offer to them, and how you turn them into customers.
In this guide, we will walk you through how to prepare for the BFCM sale - before, during, and even after!
Treat this as your new Black Friday Cyber Monday BFCM Toolbox.
Before the BFCM sale
1. Pick your discounts
The very first thing you need to do while preparing for BFCM is to decide what kind of discounts and offers you want to make to the shoppers. There’s no one strategy that fits all Shopify stores, so pick your discounts based on your performance analytics - how well a product sells and what is the reason why it is being sold so easily.
A few discounts that you can add to your BFCM sale with apps like Bold Discounts, include:
- Discount: A storewide discount where you show the shopper how much the prices have been slashed for BFCM.
- BOGO (buy one get one): Let shoppers see how they can get more for less during BFCM with this discount type.
- Free shipping: Turn international shoppers into customers by offering free shipping.
But remember to set the conditions for your discount. For example, if you’re offering free shipping, it’s a good idea to let the shopper know of the minimum order value.
2. Set up your Shopify BFCM pre-launch page
A pre-launch BFCM sale page is a great way to create hype around the discounts you’ll be offering. It also lets you build an audience and secure some of your sales even before BFCM goes live. In fact, it can also be used to validate the brands and the offers you’re going to be promoting to understand if shoppers are interested in them.
We wrote a complete post about why the BFCM sale pre-launch page is a must this season, along with tips on how to get more sales from it. Read it here.
3. Promote your Shopify BFCM offers
Once you have the discounts decided and your pre-launch page set up, it’s time to take them to the market. Remember to start your promotions early to ensure you’re not competing against high budgets set by the bigger brands.
A few ways you should definitely promote your BFCM offers include:
- Announcement bar: Ensure your store visitors see your discounts first with a site-wide announcement bar.
- Exit intent popup: Implement an exit-intent email popup early on to build your BFCM list by targeting your site visitors.
- Email marketing: Set up email automation and reach out to your existing customers and subscribers with your BFCM offers.
- Web push notifications: Send a sequence of web push messages to build up to your BFCM sale.
- Social media marketing: Promote your BFCM offers on your social media accounts. Use catchy images to grab your audience’s attention.
- Social and search advertising: Use paid campaigns to build an audience on your BFCM pre-launch page. Retarget this audience when the sale goes live. Always create a sense of urgency around the deals.
Not sure which Shopify apps to use for promoting your offers? Here’s a list of the best Shopify apps for BFCM and holiday season marketing.
4. Customize the look and feel of the store
Right from changing your header image to showcase the discounts to adding a button to lead shoppers to your pre-launch page, customize your store’s look and feel for the BFCM sale.
While you’re customizing the store for a great shopping experience, also make time to further optimize your product pages and make them more impressive. You can do this by adding clear and detailed product images, creating informative product descriptions, showing the slash in price during BFCM, and even adding a countdown timer to let shoppers know when the deal is available.
Pro tip: Dig into your store analytics to identify your best-selling products or those that are trending amongst shoppers. Use them as bait to turn shoppers into subscribers and customers by showcasing them first.
Need help? Reach out to our Shopify design and development experts today.
Read more: BFCM Store Design Ideas To Get More Conversions On Your Site.
5. Promote wishlisting
When hyping your BFCM sale and marketing it to shoppers before it's launch, you should be able to nudge your shoppers to take action and get them to engage with your store. One way to do this is by promoting wishlisting. You can encourage shoppers to wishlist items they like so that they can buy these products quickly.
By wishlisting items, your shoppers can find items they want to buy when the BFCM sale is live and check out sooner. In contrast, without wishlisting, your shoppers would spend a lot of time during the sale browsing your entire product catalog.
Recommended app(s): Flits
6. Prepare for longer sales periods
Preparing your store for the Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) sale means understanding that it is not just a one-day event anymore. The BFCM sale typically begins around mid-November and can last for a week or more. Therefore, it's important to optimize your store for an extended sales period to ensure maximum sales and conversions.
In most cases, shoppers begin looking for items earlier than the BFCM week even begins.
In order to cater to the changing behavior of shoppers, who are beginning their holiday shopping earlier and weighing the options of buying online or locally, it is vital to communicate your offers as soon as possible. By doing so, you can capture the attention of potential customers and extend your offers beyond the Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) period.
Timing is crucial when it comes to reaching out to customers and making them aware of your promotions and deals. By starting your communication efforts early, you can ensure that your offers are on the radar of shoppers who are eager to make their purchases. This puts you in a favorable position to capture their attention and influence their purchasing decisions.
Furthermore, it's important to stay competitive and consider extending your offers beyond the BFCM period. This allows you to cater to the needs of customers who are still actively searching for deals even after the peak sales period. By providing extended offers, you can maintain momentum and continue attracting potential customers who may have missed out on the initial rush.
However, it's crucial to assess the financial and operational feasibility of extending your promotions. Evaluate your inventory, staffing, and overall resources to ensure that you can sustain the extended offers without compromising the quality of customer service and your overall profitability.
7. Prepare your website for a massive/sudden traffic surge
Preparing your Shopify store for a massive and sudden traffic surge is crucial to ensure a successful Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) sale. The spike in website visitors can lead to slow loading times, site crashes, and lost potential sales. To avoid these issues and maximize your chances of success, here are some steps you can take to prepare your website for the anticipated traffic surge:
- Optimize images and videos: Large images and videos can slow down your website's speed significantly. Optimize your images and videos by compressing their file sizes and reducing their dimensions.
- Optimize your store's speed: Visitors expect fast-loading websites, so optimizing your site's speed is crucial. Compress and optimize images, enable lazy loading for images and videos, and minify your CSS and JavaScript to reduce file sizes and overall load times.
- Optimize checkout process: Streamline your checkout process to minimize abandoned carts and maximize conversions. Simplify the steps, enable guest checkout, and ensure your payment gateways are functioning smoothly to provide a seamless experience.
- Test your website's stability: Before the sale begins, conduct load testing to simulate high volumes of traffic and identify any potential bottlenecks or issues. This will allow you to optimize your site's performance and ensure it can handle the expected surge. You can test the server load with Shopify’s online store speed report.
By implementing these strategies, you can prepare your Shopify store for the anticipated traffic surge during the BFCM sale. A fast and stable website not only enhances the user experience but also increases the likelihood of conversions and customer satisfaction, leading to a successful BFCM sale for your business.
Read more: How To Optimize Your Shopify Store Page Speed
8. Prioritize your prime sales channels
When it comes to preparing your Shopify store for the Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) sale, it's essential to prioritize your prime sales channels. These channels are the ones that have proven to be most lucrative for your business throughout the year. By focusing your efforts on these high-performing platforms, you can maximize your chances of success during the holiday season.
9. Work on contingency plans
It's always important to be ready for challenging situations. Ask yourself uncomfortable questions and plan for the worst-case scenarios.
Do you have backups in place in case something goes wrong? What if the shipping company you rely on becomes overwhelmed? Or if your inventory doesn't arrive on time? How quickly can you adapt your product plan?
Take time to think about the worst things that could happen to your business and create backup plans wherever possible. It's much easier to plan ahead now instead of trying to solve problems during the busiest sales weekend of the year and lose money.
10. Take early inventory decisions
One crucial aspect of preparing your Shopify store for the BFCM sale is making inventory decisions early. By doing so, you'll be able to determine which products to promote, how much to stock, and how best to price them.
- Analyze your sales data: Start by analyzing your sales data from previous years to identify which products sold the most during the BFCM sale. This information can help guide your inventory decisions and ensure that you're stocking the most in-demand items for the upcoming sale. You can also look at which products performed well throughout the year to anticipate potential trends during the BFCM sale.
- Consider supply chain and shipping delays: It's important to be aware of possible delays in supply chain and shipping when making inventory decisions. With the ongoing pandemic, shipping delays have become more common, and it's crucial to factor in these potential delays when ordering inventory. Consider ordering earlier than usual and communicating with suppliers to ensure you receive your inventory in time for the sale.
- Forecast demand and adjust inventory levels: Based on your sales data and trends, use forecasting to project how much inventory you'll need for the BFCM sale. Factor in any planned promotions, such as discounts or bundle deals, when determining stock levels. Start with conservative estimates, and adjust inventory levels as needed closer to the sale.
- Price strategically: Pricing also plays a critical role in inventory decisions. Decide in advance how deeply you will discount your products during the BFCM sale and how this will affect your profit margins. Consider the competition and the perceived value of your products when setting prices. Be sure to test various price points on different products to optimize your pricing strategy.
- Communicate inventory strategy with customers: It's important to communicate your inventory strategy with customers to manage expectations and avoid disappointment. Consider adding stock levels and estimated shipping dates to product descriptions or creating a separate BFCM inventory page on your store. Keeping customers informed can help increase transparency and build trust.
11. Optimize order and fulfillment workflows
A seamless and efficient process can help you handle the influx of orders, provide a positive customer experience, and ensure timely deliveries.
- Streamline your order management: Start by streamlining your order management process. Make sure your inventory levels are up to date and accurately reflected in your store. Use automation tools or apps to sync your orders, inventory, and shipping information, reducing the chance of errors and saving time. This will allow you to quickly process orders and maintain accurate stock levels.
- Consider using a fulfillment service: To handle the increase in orders during the BFCM sale, you may want to consider using a fulfillment service, such as Shopify Fulfillment Network or a third-party fulfillment provider. These services can take care of warehousing, picking, packing, and shipping for you, allowing you to focus on other aspects of your business. Research and choose a service that aligns with your needs and budget.
- Optimize packaging and labeling: Pay attention to your packaging and labeling. Ensure that your packaging is sturdy and protects the products during transit. Consider adding branded elements to enhance the unboxing experience and leave a lasting impression on customers. Use clear and accurate labeling to minimize the chances of shipping errors and ensure that packages are easily identifiable.
- Investigate shipping options: Evaluate your shipping options to find the most cost-effective and reliable solutions. Research different shipping carriers and compare their rates, services, and delivery times. Consider offering different shipping options to accommodate varying customer preferences. Free shipping or flat-rate shipping promotions can be attractive to customers and boost sales, but be sure to factor these costs into your pricing strategy.
- Prepare for returns and customer inquiries: During the BFCM sale, you can expect a higher volume of returns and customer inquiries. Take proactive steps to handle these situations effectively. Clearly communicate your return policy and process on your website, ensuring it aligns with customer expectations. Assign dedicated staff members to handle customer inquiries promptly and professionally. Provide clear communication channels, such as email, live chat, or phone support, to address any concerns or questions customers may have.
- Test your workflows: Before the BFCM sale begins, test your order and fulfillment workflows to identify any potential bottlenecks or issues. Create mock orders and simulate the fulfillment process to ensure everything runs smoothly. Make any necessary adjustments to address any problems or inefficiencies. This will help you avoid potential disruptions once the sale is live.
12. Prioritize mobile experience
Mobile purchases continue to dominate BFCM sales on Shopify. For the third year in a row, mobile purchases have surpassed desktop purchases for Shopify stores during the Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) sales. This trend is expected to continue, emphasizing the importance of a mobile-first approach for small business owners.
Consider the following questions: Is it easy and intuitive for customers to make purchases on your store via mobile? Is your website responsive and optimized for mobile devices?
To optimize your store's mobile experience, prioritize mobile-friendly design elements. Ensure that your website loads quickly and efficiently, with easy-to-use navigation and clear call-to-action. Use high-quality product images that are optimized for mobile viewing, with zoom-in features for customers to get a closer look at your products. It's also essential to optimize your mobile checkout process, making it quick and hassle-free for your customers to complete their purchases.
Read more: Optimizing your Shopify Store for Mobile Shoppers
13. Leverage heat maps to understand user behavior
One of the most effective ways to prepare your Shopify store for the Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) sale is to understand your customers' behavior and preferences. One tool that can help you with this is the use of heat maps.
Heat maps are graphical representations of where users click, scroll, and interact the most on a webpage. By analyzing heat maps, you can gain valuable insights into your customers' behavior and preferences. Here's how you can leverage heat maps to prepare your Shopify store for the BFCM sale:
- Identify high/low-performing areas of your website: Heat maps can help you identify the areas of your website that are performing strongly (or weakly), such as the most-clicked areas, popular navigation links, and frequently accessed pages. Analyzing these areas can help you optimize your website design and user experience accordingly to keep customers engaged and motivated to make purchases.
- Test different placement of elements: Heat maps can also help you test different placements of various elements such as call-to-action buttons. By looking at the heat map, you can identify the most clickable area - for example, the "Add to cart" button - and adjust its placement on the page accordingly to incentivize more clicks and ultimately more sales.
- Understand the mobile browsing experience: Heat maps can also help you understand how customers interact with your website on mobile devices. Mobile optimization is an essential element for a successful BFCM sale, and understanding mobile user behavior can help you optimize your store for mobile devices, increasing your chances of a successful sale.
During the BFCM sale
1. Create an engaging shopping experience
Don’t make your BFCM sale the usual, boring way. Add elements to your site that will excite the shoppers and make them feel more engaged with it. For instance, adding a gamified email popup with games like spin the wheel, reel of coupons and card dance, makes the usual ‘enter email to get a discount’ more interesting.
Recommended app(s): WooHoo
2. Offer round the clock customer support
One of the primary reasons that shoppers don’t complete a purchase during BFCM is not being able to understand the product. Just like in brick-and-mortar stores, they just need a little assistance to be nudged toward a purchase. That’s where offering round-the-clock customer support becomes important and you can do this by having a live chat on your store during the BFCM sale.
Recommended app(s): Shopify Chat, Tidio
3. Reconvert customers at the Shopify thank you page
Make the most of every conversion during the BFCM sale. Don’t let a customer leave right after they make a purchase. Try to sell more and reconvert these shoppers before they leave by optimizing your Shopify thank you page.
Use the page to make product recommendations, upsell and cross-sell other products, offer time-sensitive discounts, get more information about the customer or nudge the customer to share their purchases on social media.
Recommended app(s): ReConvert
4. Personalize your transactional emails
Transactional emails are a must for the complete purchase cycle. But why use these emails to only share order details, the invoice, or the shipping details of the order? You could use this as your chance to reconvert the customer.
Include product recommendations or a navigation bar to highlight specific collections from your BFCM sale. You could make this transactional email more compelling by adding an additional discount code as an incentive to buy more from your store.
Recommended app(s): Omnisend
5. Turn BFCM deal shoppers into subscribers
Most online shoppers don’t turn into customers on their first visit. They will choose to explore more products and deals - especially during BFCM. That’s why you need to establish a channel of communication with them before they leave.
Now every shopper is different and may choose to subscribe to your store’s updates differently. That’s why you need to enable opting in for web push notifications, subscribing to Messenger updates, or even getting text reminders.
Keep all grounds covered to ensure you don’t lose your chance to convert any shopper!
Recommended app(s): PushOwl (web push notifications), Flashchat (Facebook Messenger), SMSBump (SMS)
6. Automate abandoned cart reminders
The average cart abandonment rate for stores is about 69%. During BFCM the number only skyrockets as shoppers have more options to choose from - be it in terms of the products or the deals being offered on them. That’s why you need to keep your abandoned cart reminders automated.
Set up these cart reminders to let shoppers know the sale is about to end or till the discounts are valid. Use the opportunity to create a sense of urgency around the availability of the products. A few channels you should definitely cover for these reminders include - email, web push notifications, SMS, and Facebook Messenger.
For example, when a BFCM shopper explores a deal on your store, adds the product to the cart, and abandons it, your SMS campaign should trigger automatically. You don’t want to lose the customer to another store!
7. Get more BFCM sales by showing recommendations on your Shopify store
While visitors are on your Shopify store, you need to be able to keep them engaged. This is where product recommendations help. In fact, 35% of Amazon’s revenue is generated by its recommendation engine.
Place recommendations on your Shopify store to show relevant product suggestions to shoppers at different points of your Shopify store. Here are some tips to help you place recommendations and increase engagement and sales through them—
- Add a 'Similar Items' widget on your product pages to lower drop-offs and give shoppers a reason to continue browsing
- Show 'Frequently Bought Together' widgets on your cart page to increase AOV. You can also place personalized recommendations like 'Inspired By Your Browsing History' here.
- Place multiple recommendation widgets on your storefront. Recommendation widgets like 'Bestseller' and 'Trending Products' work perfectly here.
Recommended app(s): Wiser
8. Set up ads to acquire shoppers easily
Ads are a great way to target new audiences and get them to start shopping from you. Facebook and Instagram ads are one of the top tactics used by merchants to acquire customers during Black Friday. Their high visibility as well as the social media platform's engaged audience base makes it easy for merchants to reach people who are sure to be interested in products they sell.
Set up targeted Facebook ads to acquire new customers and get more BFCM sales. We'd recommend hiring an ad specialist or even learning to do it yourself through online guides. You can also pick up ready-to-use ad templates which you can customize to fit your brand.
9. Maximize your reach with retargeting ads
Retargeting allows you to reach out to previous visitors and customers, increasing the chances of them checking out your sale and making a purchase.
- Target previous visitors: By retargeting previous visitors, you have the opportunity to reconnect with people who may have forgotten about your store or overlooked your sale. These potential customers might not have actively sought out your discounts, but through retargeting ads, you can remind them of your offerings and encourage them to visit your store again.
- Target existing customers: One of the advantages of retargeting is the ability to focus on existing customers. These individuals are generally more receptive and easier to reach than brand-new customers. Since they have already made a purchase from your store in the past, retargeting ads can remind them about your latest BFCM sales and entice them to return for more deals. Take advantage of the existing relationship to engage and excite your loyal customers.
- Craft compelling ad messaging: To make the most impact with retargeting ads, ensure your messaging is compelling and relevant. Tailor your ads to the specific audience segment you are targeting, whether it's previous visitors or existing customers. Use language that resonates with them, highlight the exclusive BFCM discounts they can enjoy, and emphasize the value they will gain by checking out your sale.
- Segment your audience: To optimize your retargeting efforts, consider segmenting your audience based on their behavior or past purchases. This allows you to deliver highly targeted ads to different customer groups. For instance, you can create segments for customers who abandoned their carts during previous visits or those who purchased specific products. By tailoring your ad content to match their interests and preferences, you increase the likelihood of capturing their attention and driving conversions.
- Monitor and optimize your retargeting campaigns: Keep a close eye on the performance of your retargeting campaigns throughout the BFCM sale. Monitor key metrics such as click-through rates, conversions, and return on ad spend. With this data, you can identify what is working well and where improvements can be made. Make adjustments to your ad creative, audience segments, and targeting strategies as needed to maximize the effectiveness of your retargeting efforts.
Recommended app(s): RetargetApp
10. Get more BFCM sales with upselling offers
One of the best ways to increase the AOV on your Shopify store is by upselling. Upselling is a sales tactic where merchants nudge customers to spend more by showing them offers on upgraded or higher-priced variants of items that the shopper is already looking at.
According to statistics, upselling has proven to increase revenue by 10 to 30% on average.
You can place upsell offers during the Black Friday sale to get your customers to buy a higher-priced item. place these upsell offers within product pages or even as pop-ups so that shoppers who are considering a specific item can easily be upgraded to a higher cart value.
Post-BFCM sale
1. Ask your customers for reviews and ratings
Make the most out of the happy discount shopping during the BFCM sale. Ask shoppers to rate and review the products they purchased. You could even request them to share pictures of the products to get more user-generated content. Gathering social proof helps you boost the credibility of your Shopify store, driving more sales eventually.
With Shopify apps like Loox, you can do this easily. The Shopify apps enable you to collect reviews from shoppers and also add them to your product pages, or the Facebook feed to showcase how loved they are.
You could do this by sending your BFCM customers an email, a web push notification or a quick reminder on the Facebook Messenger. But remember to make it sound more about them and how their feedback matters.
2. Understand your BFCM Shopify analytics
Your BFCM sale is over. But that doesn’t mean you’re not going to have an opportunity to sell more in the coming months. To be able to tap into market opportunities, you need to be able to understand who these shoppers were, what products they were interested in and what motivated them to make the purchase.
With actionable data from your BFCM sale, you can personalize your marketing campaigns, plan your product inventory as per shopper interests and preferences and even plan your upcoming sales.
3. Keep your customers engaged to make more sales
Don’t let BFCM shoppers become one-time customers. Keep them engaged with your brand with regular communication that adds value to them. It should nudge them to visit your Shopify store and make purchases despite the end of the BFCM discounts. You can do this across multiple channels - web push notifications, email, Facebook Messenger or even SMS.
For example, you could send them a web push notification a week after the BFCM sale ends. Let them know that there are other discounts available on the products they loved. Or use this opportunity to share information about an upcoming sale on your Shopify store.
Alternatively, you can nudge the BFCM shopper to come back to your store with a Messenger marketing campaign. Simply use their purchase data to recommend a new product range you’ve added to the store or offer a discount on the products they did not purchase during the BFCM sale.
4. Continue converting your BFCM shoppers
There are some online shoppers that will be late for the party. But they will land on your store while seeking for BFCM deals - even when your sale is over. That doesn’t mean you can’t convert these shoppers.
Use a coupon window to show all your live discounts or other offers you have in the store. Add a signup form to turn them into subscribers so you can share special deals or simply take them back to your home page, where you’re displaying the best sellers.
Don’t let these late-shoppers leave without trying to convert them. That’s what you see Amazon do every time you visit their store!
5 best BFCM campaign examples
For a better understanding of how the top brands do it, here are five great examples of successful BFCM campaigns:
1. Wallack’s Art Supplies & Framing
Ottawa based art store Wallack’s has been in the art supplies industry for more than 80 years. Its eCommerce store has become increasingly successful over the years and their BFCM campaigns has become something to learn from. They promote their 12-month planning cycle through their Black Friday campaigns, showcasing how it delivers to the customers needs.
2. Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble have always been on the top of their BFCM game, with an alternative to traditional discounts. This bookstore, instead of simply cutting prices as part of the Black Friday campaign, provided autographed books from bestselling authors to its customers, making this their most successful holiday campaign. Barnes & Noble shows how Black Friday revenue boost can be achieved by more creative ways than you would expect.
3. Gymshark
Gymshark, the popular athletic apparel and accessories brand, sets a great BFCM campaign example with a detailed guide to help customers make the most out of the sale. Their products are extremely popular and the brand understanding in what specific way they need to nudge the audience, is able to cleverly achieve the best results. In the guide the band even provided a guide on creating a wish list to get the best deals ahead of the Black Friday sale.
4. Sephora
Sephora’s strategy for BFCM is to make the whole experience as smooth and seamless as possible and to achieve this, they provide free shipping and discounts of up to 50% across their store. Incentives on top of incentives ensures that their products are irresistible to customers in every way.
5. 22 Days Nutrition
22 Days Nutrition’s BFCM strategy cleverly uses a gamified approach as a way of enticing its customers. Customers prioritize a good deal and this food supplement brand understands this. They share unique discount codes with each subscriber which randomly provide discounts valued between 20% to 50%. This way the brand created suspense regarding the coupon and thus was able to improve website traffic and sell more.
Getting more out of your Shopify BFCM sale
Most stores see their traffic, subscribers, sales, and revenue hit a peak during the BFCM sale. But as much as an opportunity BFCM is, it takes a lot of things to make it successful.
Starting from understanding your existing customers and target shoppers to looking into the best-selling products and ensuring enough inventory, creating discounts, and ensuring each one of them gets noticed, things can get overwhelming very soon.
That’s why you need to follow through with this checklist to ensure your BFCM sale makes you the most revenue!
Not sure how to set up your BFCM sale or feel it’s too much for you to handle?
