The Best Black Friday eCommerce Strategies for Shopify Stores in 2023: Ideas, Tips & Trends

As a Shopify Search store owner, you’re probably gearing up for Black Friday. After all, more than 50% of US shoppers plan to spend big money on Black Friday—about $8.9 billion. With this shopping extravaganza just around the corner, we've found the best Black Friday eCommerce strategies for your Shopify store. Explore various ideas, tips, and trends to make it a successful season.

Meet the Expert

Getting Started: 5 Tips to Kickstart Your Black Friday Preparations



1. Start Early for Success

The early bird gets the worm, and Black Friday is no exception. Start your preparations well in advance to ensure a seamless and successful shopping season. Ideally, begin planning in mid-August or September to get ahead of the competition. Waiting until October might leave you scrambling to catch up.

2. Analyze Relevant Data and Trends

Delve into your past Black Friday sales data if your business has a history. Analyze which products and categories reigned supreme in previous years to steer your promotions and inventory management. Learn from your successes to make data-driven decisions.

But don't just look into the past. Explore anticipated Black Friday trends to make sure you're on par with new customer behaviors and expectations. This can include:

• Offering expedited shipping services like two-day and same-day delivery.
• Local and last-mile delivery solutions, meaning partnering with local delivery services, utilizing micro-fulfillment centers, and experimenting with alternative delivery methods like drones and autonomous vehicles.
• Offering reasonable shipping fees like free shipping thresholds or subscription-based shipping programs.
• Investing in improved communication tools and tracking systems to provide real-time updates on order statuses and delivery timelines.
• Offering additional search methods besides text like visual search and voice search.

3. Prioritize Inventory Management

While it's important to make sure you have enough products to meet customer demand, it's not enough to just load up on all products. You have to plan strategically and make sure you stock up on the right items—otherwise you may end up with too much unsold stock. Try:

• Forecasting demand by analyzing historical data.
• Prioritizing your bestsellers and bundling them with slow-moving items to maximize value.
• Establishing reorder points for each product, so when stock falls below a certain level, you can reorder to avoid stockouts.
• Creating upselling and cross-selling opportunities to increase average order value.

The other half of the coin is to meet delivery expectations once orders are placed. This means optimizing your supply chains by improving inventory management, warehousing, and logistics to ensure products are readily available for quick shipment.

4. Optimize Your eCommerce Store

Because you anticipate an increase in website traffic, your store must be optimized for speed and performance. For example, if your current theme isn't cutting it, could you consider an update?

Plus, you can create dedicated Black Friday landing pages to spotlight your deals and products prominently. This can include:

• Countdown timers to create urgency and boost sales.
• Gamification elements to encourage customer engagement.
• Colorful stickers and banners to emphasize savings.
• Clear call-to-action (CTA) buttons to encourage customers to take action.
• Simple and prominent search bar to help customers find what they're looking for quickly.

» Follow this visual merchandising guide to make your landing and product pages striking

5. Lay SEO Foundations

While the best time to start SEO efforts is yesterday, focus on keyword research and tracking your rankings. Building a strong SEO foundation now will pay dividends in the long term, even beyond Black Friday. These SEO tools can help you get there:

• Yoast SEO: Well-suited for smaller businesses, Yoast SEO guides you in fine-tuning your content for search engines by optimizing your product pages and product display, as well as descriptions.
• Moz: Moz offers robust SEO features, including keyword research and tracking. Use it to identify relevant keywords for your Black Friday promotions and monitor your website's performance.
• SEMrush: SEMrush provides keyword research and competitive analysis, so you can find the best keywords to target to increase your visibility.
• SEO Amped: SEO Amped offers keyword suggestions, tracks Google trends, and provides content optimization recommendations.

On a Budget? Try These Black Friday Strategies for Your Shopify Store

• Email Marketing Email marketing is a cost-effective way to engage with your audience. Build anticipation for Black Friday deals by sending teaser emails leading up to the event. Consider platforms like Klaviyo to reach your subscribers.
• Exclusive Discounts Offer exclusive Black Friday discounts to your email subscribers as a token of appreciation, or promote your discounts on your social media channels to expand their reach. Organic social media promotions are free and build more trust with consumers.
• Free Shipping Consider offering free shipping during Black Friday. To maintain profitability, bundle products or increase AOV to meet the free shipping threshold. This can entice customers to spend more.
• Clear Out Dead Stock Heavily discount any dead stock or slow-moving inventory. Clearing out older inventory frees up warehouse space and generates much-needed cash flow.

By focusing on email marketing, providing exclusive discounts, and managing your inventory effectively, you can maximize your Black Friday ROI, even on a budget.

Post-Black Friday: Keep Nurturing Relationships for Long-Term Success

Black Friday shouldn't be a once-a-year event where you reach out to your customers. Instead, you can use it as an opportunity to solidify customer relationships and turn any first-time customers into lifelong ones. Explore:

• Post-Holiday Campaigns to Extend Your Gratitude After Black Friday, continue engaging with your customers through post-holiday email and social media campaigns. Show your appreciation with "Thank You" emails and offer tips on making the most of their recent purchases. Consider offering discounts or exclusive offers for the new year.
• Loyalty Rewards to Foster Customer Devotion Introduce reward programs to encourage customer loyalty. Offer points or exclusive discounts to customers who make repeat purchases or refer friends. Promote these programs in your emails and social pages to motivate customers to participate.
• Cross-Sell and Upsell to Boost AOV For customers who purchased specific items, suggest accessories or complementary products that enhance their experience. Send personalized emails showcasing these items, increasing AOV and customer satisfaction.
• Customer Feedback and Reviews to Build Trust Ask customers for feedback and reviews on their Black Friday purchases. User generated content attracts new customers and builds trust. Make it easy for customers to leave reviews by including links and instructions in your emails.
• Subscription Promotion Promote your subscription-based products to customers who made Black Friday purchases. Subscriptions provide recurring revenue and foster long-term relationships with customers.

» Want to provide a positive shopping experience? Discover how nurturing relationships can make this happen

Your Path to Fast Black Friday Success

As a Shopify store owner gearing up for Black Friday, a strategic approach is essential for success. Starting early, analyzing sales data and trends, prioritizing inventory management, optimizing your eCommerce store, and establishing a strong SEO foundation are key steps. Even on a budget, you can maximize ROI through email marketing, exclusive discounts, free shipping, and clearing out slow-moving stock. Beyond Black Friday, nurturing customer relationships with post-holiday campaigns, loyalty rewards, cross-selling, customer feedback, and subscription promotions is vital for long-term success.

By following these steps, you can ensure a successful Black Friday and build lasting customer loyalty and trust for your Shopify store.