How to prepare your online store for Black Friday

Black Friday is no longer confined to just one Friday in November. Nowadays, we also have Cyber Monday, Cyber Week, and Singles Day. For most online stores, participating in these November sales events is essential, especially since competitors are likely to join in as well. In this article, we provide insights on how to prepare for Black Friday and how to approach it successfully.

Offer attractive discounts

Competitors will also be offering significant discounts on Black Friday, so make sure your deals stand out. Research by Markteffect shows that consumers consider purchasing products during Black Friday only when the discount is around 40%. This underscores the importance of attractive offers.

Use behavioural data for targeted discounts

Use relevant data to offer discounts on the right products. For instance, analyse which products are frequently added to favourites or shopping carts. This data provides insights into your visitors’ preferences. Less popular products can be offered at higher discounts to clear inventory. Tracking visitor behaviour is therefore essential for making targeted offers.

Create a Black Friday promotion page

Create a special Black Friday page. This makes it easy for users to view all offers in one place. Add this page to the navigation bar for maximum visibility.

Offer every visitor a unique experience

Personalise your online store using available user data. For logged-in users, you can display personalised offers based on previous purchases or viewed products. For new customers, tools like Tweakwise, Datatrics, and Algolia can be used to offer a personalised shopping experience.

Ensure an optimal customer experience

Competition is fierce during Black Friday. An optimal customer experience is crucial to convince potential buyers to order from you. Check if your website can handle the influx of visitors and conduct speed tests. Tools like Google Pagespeed Insights can help optimise your website speed. If your online store isn’t fast enough, consider upgrading server capacity or enabling browser caching.

Be visible on multiple channels

A good omnichannel strategy ensures a seamless shopping experience across different sales channels. Use, in addition to your online store, Facebook, Instagram, and Google Shopping to increase your reach and visibility. For example, create ‘shoppable’ posts on social media that directly link to the product page.

Send newsletters

Inform existing customers about new Black Friday deals via newsletters. Ask customers during the checkout process if they want to receive a newsletter and send them special offers in the weeks leading up to Black Friday.

Make payment easy

Ensure a smooth and secure payment process. Offer sufficient payment options like iDeal, VISA, Mastercard, PayPal, and options for post-payment like Klarna and Riverty. Use payment providers like Mollie, Pay, and Stripe to add extra payment methods without technical changes to your online store.

Start promoting your deals early

Prepare at least a month in advance and communicate your deals to (potential) customers 2 to 3 weeks before Black Friday. Use email marketing and social media to promote your offers.

Black Friday offers a tremendous opportunity for both large and small online stores to increase their revenue and attract new customers. By applying the right strategies and preparations, your online store can fully capitalise on Black Friday.

Key Dates in November:
Singles Day: Monday, 11 November 2024
Black Friday: Friday, 29 November 2024
Cyber Monday: Monday, 2 December 2024

Would you like to know more about how to best prepare your online store for Black Friday? Contact us for more information.