Black Friday e-commerce: Everything you need to know
Black Friday is fast approaching, which means that discount enthusiasts have begun their countdown and the shopping frenzy is about to ensue. Year after year, this seasonal craze grows bigger and bigger, showing zero signs of slowing down.
With online sales skyrocketing to an unprecedented $9.8 billion, this extraordinary amount signifies the biggest year-over-year growth since 2020.
Black Friday is a key event in every business calendar. Not only does it give companies the chance to amass greater sales, but the opportunity to acquire returning customers is at an all-time high.
With that being said, advertisers can find it extremely challenging to stand out in a market overflowing with competitors, all vying for the same attention.
Thankfully, LeadsBridge helps advertisers step up their game with real-time, automated integrations that can increase speed-to-lead for a higher chance of conversion.
Throughout this article, we will take a deep dive into actionable strategies that you can implement to maximize your sales opportunities, as well as some additional Black Friday e-commerce tips.
The benefits of Black Friday
This retail phenomenon is synonymous with massive discounts across a range of items, spanning various industries. However, these price reductions do not signify a loss in profit.
In fact, Black Friday offers a host of benefits, both for your bottom line and overall business operations. These include;
Increasing in traffic & sales
Customers prepare themselves months in advance for this commercial festivity, devising elaborate wish lists of items they hope to secure a bargain on. They are shopping with the intent to purchase.
Even the most passive of customers will surrender to the promotional fanfare.
Therefore, when supported by a strong Black Friday e-commerce strategy, you can propel engagement and acquire greater conversions.
Inventory overhaul
Businesses have the opportunity to take stock of their inventory and redistribute slightly older items for a discounted price. This is financially rewarding, as unsold stock is worthless.
This can be particularly lucrative for fashion ecommerce stores, as many people will purchase discounted spring/summer staple items in preparation for the next year.
Greater customer acquisition
Generally, customer acquisition can be a painstaking and expensive process. However, Black Friday provides the perfect moment to acquire customers, as they are actively searching to be engaged.
By offering an enticing promotion, you can incline customers toward a transaction. A positive user experience and a quality product or service can then give way to future repeat purchases.
Before you know it, you will have created a loyal customer that regularly buys products at full price.
Black Friday e-commerce trends
As to be expected, how advertisers market their promotions is hugely impacted by current trends. Customer behavior and popular marketing techniques greatly influence how a business positions itself within the price promotion madness.
To help you stay ahead of the curve, we have identified four predominant Black Friday e-commerce trends to bear in mind for this year.
Black Friday e-commerce stats
For businesses strategizing around Black Friday, understanding key statistics is crucial for maximizing sales and managing traffic spikes. Here are five essential Black Friday statistics to inform planning:
- Global sales growth: In 2023, Black Friday online sales grew 8% year-over-year, reaching $70.9 billion globally, underscoring the importance of robust digital platforms to handle the surge.
- U.S. market performance: U.S. online sales alone rose by 9% YoY to $16.4 billion, emphasizing the American market’s massive consumer demand during Black Friday.
- Traffic spike in Cyber Week: Cyber Week 2023 recorded a 6% increase in global sales, hitting $298 billion, with Black Friday being the highest traffic day for online retailers.
- Mobile shopping dominance: Mobile devices accounted for 79% of Cyber Week e-commerce traffic in 2023, up from 76% in 2022, making mobile optimization a key priority.
- Increasing bot traffic: Up to 29% of Cyber Week traffic was bot-generated, an increase from 2022, highlighting the need for enhanced bot management to secure genuine customer access.
These insights reflect critical shifts in consumer behavior, technological demand, and security considerations, all essential for Black Friday success.
Early Christmas shopping
Due to its close proximity to Christmas, many people use Black Friday to complete the bulk of their gift shopping. According to Salesforce research, 42% of people across the globe intend to purchase Christmas gifts earlier.
Considering that the average person will buy gifts for multiple family members and friends, this saving event is the most opportune time to make a purchase.
Multichannel marketing
The customer journey is encompassed by a number of touchpoints. During a time when competition for conversion is increased, it is imperative that you are readily available across all channels, at all times.
According to CommerceHub, 86% of shoppers will go between at least two of a brand’s marketing channels before committing to a purchase. By being present across platforms, you can nurture the user where necessary. Posting customer testimonials on social media, sending informative emails, or issuing reminders via SMS can gently guide them toward the checkout.
Payment option selection
One of your business’s primary objectives must be ensuring that the purchasing process is as simple as possible for a customer. This entails offering a broad range of payment options, stretching beyond just credit or debit cards.
Buy Now, Pay Later has fast become one of the most popular payment methods chosen by consumers, with over 360 million people worldwide using this service for their purchases.
Considering this Black Friday e-commerce trend may substantially decrease your shopping cart abandonment rates, as users can pay according to their preferences. With the rise of e-commerce, businesses can now reach a wider audience and streamline their sales process. For expert tips and strategies on maximizing your e-commerce potential, check out DesignRush for more information.
Black Friday e-commerce strategy preparation
Failure to effectively strategize can seriously hinder a business’s financial performance. This is particularly true for the busiest times of the year when competition for customization has skyrocketed.
Depending on the industry, there are a variety of preparations a business can carry out before finalizing its Black Friday e-commerce strategy.
Begin strategizing early
Experts suggest that a business should start forming its marketing strategy at least three to four months in advance.
Although this may seem excessive, this period enables you to continuously edit and adapt your campaign blueprint according to developing customer data and new trends.
Expect tough competition
Black Friday is one of the most popular shopping holidays of the year, so advertisers must expect to throw down the gauntlet in order to differentiate from their competitors.
When planning your campaigns, it would be wise to analyze previous and current promotional material from your main competition, as well as content that has performed well across your industry. This insight can aid your business in deciphering ways to elevate your creativity and capture greater engagement.
Allow for increased budgets
Given the popularity of the event and the search volume of the keywords that accompany it, you must prepare to set aside a higher Black Friday e-commerce advertising budget.
Although you can implement cost-effective alternatives, including social media content, the necessity of paid advertising is inescapable if you want to be heard above the noise.
Building your marketing strategy
Having considered the above-mentioned preparations, a business can begin to constructively build upon its marketing strategy, employing additional Black Friday ideas for e-commerce that coincide along the way.
To begin formulating this plan, you should consider the following;
Prospecting campaign
A prospecting campaign is fueled by large sets of data that stand to highlight a customer’s intent and establish their likelihood to engage with your brand. This data can be acquired from multiple sources, including your social media, email, and advertising platforms.
Prospecting can be beneficial in the lead-up to this commercial event as you can gain invaluable insight into user behavioral patterns. Your improved understanding of your ideal customer will allow you to adapt your targeting tactics accordingly.
Better nurtured customers lead to greater sales opportunities.
Audience targeting
In addition to new customers, you must remember the previous customers who already possess a familiarity with your brand. They may be people who have purchased from your business in the past or abandoned their cart at the final step.
These leads that have a displayed engagement with your product offering have their own existing data set within your system, meaning your business has actionable insights already available.
One of the most efficient ways to apply these insights is to establish a Facebook custom audience integration with your CRM. This integration enables a business to reconnect with leads who have previously shown interest in their product.
Through a matching process across a range of identifiers, such as email subscriptions or website visits, your ads can be shown to your re-targeted prospects on Facebook, Instagram, and Audience Network.
As a Meta partner, LeadsBridge can facilitate the seamless integration of Facebook custom audiences with the rest of your marketing stack. This way, you can keep your lead data updated in real time, perfect for adapting your Black Friday e-commerce strategy.
How to prepare for Black Friday as an e-commerce business in 2024
Preparing for Black Friday as an e-commerce business in 2024 requires careful planning and execution to ensure a successful and profitable sales season. Here are some Black Friday e-commerce tips to help you get ready.
Set clear goals
Define your objectives for Black Friday, such as revenue targets, customer acquisition goals, or inventory clearance goals. Having clear goals will guide your strategy.
Review past performance
Analyze your previous Black Friday sales data to identify what worked and what didn’t. Use this information to refine your strategies and avoid past mistakes.
Inventory planning
Ensure you have sufficient stock to meet the expected demand. Consider overstocking popular products and be prepared for unexpected surges in sales.
To manage logistics and shipping times effectively during the high-volume Black Friday sales. Amazon Seller Fulfilled Prime offers an effective solution for e-commerce businesses looking to handle fulfillment in-house while still providing the prime shipping options customers love.
To achieve this you need to cover Amazon’s general shipping requirements. According to Red Stag Fulfillment, the SFP sellers must reach at least 30% of the United States in 1 day or less and at least 70% of the US in 2 days or less.
Develop a marketing strategy
Create a comprehensive marketing plan that includes various channels, such as email marketing, social media, paid advertising, and SEO. Consider the following:
- Teaser campaigns: Build anticipation by teasing Black Friday deals in the weeks leading up to the event.
- Email marketing: Segment your email list and send out targeted campaigns.
- Paid advertising: Allocate your budget for pay-per-click (PPC) advertising on platforms like Google Ads and social media ads.
- SEO: Optimize your website for relevant Black Friday keywords to improve organic search visibility.
Implement countdown timers
Use countdown timers on your website and in your marketing materials to create a sense of urgency and encourage conversions.
Build landing pages
Create dedicated Black Friday landing pages to showcase your top deals and offers. These pages should be easy to navigate and highlight key products.
Cross-sell and upsell
Implement strategies to encourage customers to purchase related or complementary products.
Define shipping and returns
Communicate clear shipping deadlines and return policies to customers. Consider offering free or expedited shipping options.
Monitor and adjust
Continuously track the performance of your marketing campaigns and adjust your strategies as needed. Be prepared to make real-time decisions based on data.
Be transparent
Clearly communicate terms and conditions, including any limitations of your Black Friday deals, to build trust with your customers.
Black Friday is a competitive time for e-commerce, so starting early and having a well-thought-out plan in place is essential for a successful Black Friday sales season.
Black Friday e-commerce tips and strategies
Now that the foundation of your marketing strategy has been set in place, you can begin to take a more focused look at the finer details of your campaigns. This includes the methods you will use to capture consumer interest.
For some inspiration, we have compiled a list of Black Friday e-commerce tips to help you seize attention and encourage conversions.
1. Gift guide creation
We now know that customers have an increased focus on shopping for Christmas gifts this Black Friday, which means you can begin to plan content that caters to this trend.
Gift guides are a clever way to showcase your product range in a highly shareable format. Businesses have the opportunity to get creative, engaging customers with high-quality product visuals and concise information.
Keep in mind that online traffic for holiday and Black Friday gift guides typically gains traction around early October. Therefore, it is imperative to publish early in order to capture interest at the most favorable time.
2. Cyber Monday promotions
A Black Friday e-commerce strategy that cannot be overlooked is the extension of promotions to Cyber Monday. This is an event purely designed for online stores. In 2022, consumers spent a whopping $12.4 billion on Cyber Monday alone.
Knowing this, it is best not to exclude your business from the benefits this alternative promotion event may bring.
To differentiate between Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions, you could offer;
- Exclusive product bundle gift sets (typically sold separately)
- Minimum spend rewards in the form of free shipping or a complimentary gift
- Influencer partnership discounts accessible only to their respective social following
3. Flash sales
Generally, retailers provide their prospects with blanket offers. Although these are effective, you can gain greater intrigue and drive more conversions by initiating flash sales.
These are recurring discounts that are offered for a limited time only. Usually, the price reduction or incentive to buy is much higher than usual. The sense of urgency to secure savings can substantially increase a customer’s willingness to buy.
4. Focus on email
Email marketing is one of the most effective product promotion methods within e-commerce. This rings particularly true for the Black Friday period, boasting the highest number of opens and link clicks.
Sending warm-up emails a couple of weeks prior to the beginning of this major sales event will increase your chances of landing in a customer’s inbox at the right time. In addition, you can build your brand reputation and increase awareness.
If you want to check out some examples of high-performing email sequences, take a look at his blog article: Email sequence examples: The complete guide to follow up.
5. Abandoned cart rates
Introducing pop-ups to encourage customers to complete their purchases can hugely reduce the rate of cart abandonment. These attention-grabbing reminders can refocus customer purchasing intent.
When partnered with a small incentive to complete a transaction, businesses can substantially incline users to commit to a transaction.
Bear in mind, cart abandonment by consumers shopping on a mobile device is more than 85%. Therefore, double-checking that your website is fully optimized for mobile is vital.
6. Reward customer loyalty
Thinking beyond solely gaining conversions, businesses should consider contacting customers and offering them an exclusive discount in recognition of their loyalty.
Regardless of how big or small the savings, frequent existing customers will appreciate the sentiment of the discount. These gestures will aid the maintenance of a steadfast brand following and foster multiple future purchases.
7. Virtual spin the wheel
Some of the best Black Friday ideas for e-commerce involve the gamification of promotions.
By implementing a virtual spin the wheel on your website, you can engage customers by offering an added bonus to their savings, this may be something as simple as free shipping or an extra 10% discount.
Nonetheless, users will be enticed to take part. These features can also entice passive customers, as winning a small discount can increase their willingness to buy.
8. Exclusive pre-sale for newsletter subscribers
Reward users who are subscribed to your newsletter with early access to your Black Friday deals. Send them exclusive offers before the official sale begins to encourage conversions and make them feel special.
9. Black Friday SMS for e-commerce
For e-commerce brands, SMS marketing can be a powerful tool to boost Black Friday sales by engaging customers with timely, exclusive offers directly on their mobile devices. Implementing an SMS strategy can help businesses drive more conversions and retain customer interest throughout the shopping season. Here are some effective SMS tips for Black Friday:
- Build your SMS list early: Encourage opt-ins by offering exclusive deals to subscribers. Use pop-ups on your website, email newsletters, and social media to collect phone numbers.
- Send early-bird offers: Start your promotions with an early access deal to create urgency. Consider launching the offer a day before Black Friday to capture eager shoppers.
- Segment and personalize: Tailor SMS messages based on customer behavior and purchase history to increase engagement and conversion rates.
- Optimize timing: Schedule SMS messages for optimal times, such as early morning or lunch hours, when customers are most likely to check their phones.
- Follow-up: Integrate your advertising platform with SMS tools for seamless follow-ups
- Create last-chance alerts: Use final-hour reminders to boost urgency and encourage customers to take advantage of deals before they expire.
With these tips, e-commerce businesses can enhance their SMS marketing campaigns to engage customers, drive more sales, and maximize Black Friday success.
10. Post-Black Friday follow-up
After Black Friday, don’t forget to follow up with your customers! Send thank you emails and cross-sell/upsell offers for continued engagement.
Prompt follow-up is absolutely crucial when acquiring new leads. Imagine this: you’re running a lead generation campaign on social media and offering an exclusive Black Friday deal in exchange for a lead’s contact information. Now, immediate follow-up is key, and you know what? Automation can be a game-changer, making the whole process smooth and efficient.
Black Friday e-commerce best practices
Going forward, armed with the knowledge of the value of a Black Friday e-commerce strategy, there are some best practices to keep in mind.
These are as follows:
Check your website’s speed
Online competition during this shopping season is rife, and customers are fickle as their attention is being competed for. The loading speed of your website is a singular factor that could influence a user to transfer to a competitor.
Your website will need to possess the ability to host a mass of users at one time, offering a smooth, prompt experience for each visitor. It is worth remembering that online shopping is synonymous with convenience, and this includes time.
Using the correct platform
For successful e-commerce to take place, you must ensure that your business is using the most appropriate platform to host your website.
There are various options available to choose from on the market. However, Magento is one of the most popular ones.
Therefore, Magento is also a platform loved by many businesses due to its reliability, great features, and timely Magento development services, as well as its powerful Magento SEO capabilities.
With the help of LeadsBridge, you can automatically integrate Magento with your favorite marketing tools.
Choose advertising channels wisely
When it comes to Black Friday advertising, it is better to focus your spend and effort on the appropriate channels for your offering. You must place yourself where your prospects are actively searching.
For this time of year, Google, Facebook, and alternative social media platforms dominate the advertising ecosystem. By establishing a presence within the areas with high search intent, your business is more likely to acquire greater visibility and final conversions.
Here are some resources that can help you with that:
- TikTok e-commerce: learn how to drive sales with TikTok
- The best Facebook ads for e-commerce strategies
Strengthen your customer support
This sales event is an incredibly busy time of year, with a high number of visitors attempting to complete a number of actions at once.
Therefore, it is imperative to ensure your customer support is equipped with the correct system to manage requests and attend to customers’ needs. This may include establishing a live chat, being active on email, and answering phone inquiries.
Keep in mind that the level of quality customer service a user receives, along with their ease of experience, can considerably influence their likelihood of engaging with your business in the future.
Key takeaways
With Black Friday fast approaching, it is easy for businesses to begin to feel the pressure to perform and amass huge transactions.
There are a plethora of tactics that have been incredibly successful for some, and not so much for others. One Black Friday e-commerce strategy will not necessarily work for all businesses. Therefore, give yourself plenty of time to develop your own methods specific to your objectives and customer base.
Consider automating certain workflows to allow for greater time to be spent on additional tasks. LeadsBridge can help your business increase efficiency by offering multiple lead generation integrations that allow for the automation of lead syncing, audience targeting, online-to-offline data tracking, and other advertising activities.
Discover all the available LeadsBridge integrations for e-commerce business.
