The year has passed quickly, and as the end-of-year sales season approaches, shoppers begin to ask: When does it start? What’s on my wishlist? Will I find the best deals? As customers, we compare prices across stores, aiming to get the best offers.
But for those managing e-commerce businesses, it’s essential to start planning every aspect of your store to ensure both shoppers and sellers meet their goals.
If you're here, there’s still time to fully optimize your e-commerce store and prepare for Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM), happening from November 29 to December 2, 2024.
Context: Where Do End-of-Year Sales Come From?
Black Friday originated in the United States, first mentioned by The New York Times in 1975 to describe the heavy traffic caused by post-Thanksgiving shopping. Stores offered major discounts, attracting shoppers in droves. Since then, many brands have jumped on board, making Black Friday a significant sales event. In 2023, Shopify stores alone saw $9.3 billion in sales over the Black Friday-Cyber Monday weekend.
Best Practices for Your E-commerce Store
These best practices are backed by a Shopify Plus Partner, so rest assured that following these tips will help you optimize your e-commerce store for this BFCM season. Before diving into specific strategies to boost sales during this peak season, make sure your store’s foundation is in place with this checklist.
1. What’s Working in Your E-commerce Store?
Analyze your store’s performance by conducting A/B testing. With Shopify and your Shopify Plus Partner, you can run tests to monitor user behavior and determine areas of improvement. Experiment with different elements like button placement or product displays to see what converts better.
2. Prepare Your Stock for High Demand
Stock management is crucial for the surge in orders during BFCM. Here are some key tips:
- Reserve stock for popular products: Focus on your top sellers to maximize order fulfillment.
- Set accurate shipping expectations: Avoid overpromising on delivery times. Be clear about what you can deliver.
- Automate customer emails: Use email marketing to keep customers informed and engaged, even during busy periods.
3. Optimize Design and User Experience
As we've mentioned in previous blogs, your store’s design can significantly influence your customers’ buying decisions. For example, if your site loads slowly or is difficult to navigate, potential customers may abandon it. On average, users expect a website to load within 4 seconds, or they’ll look elsewhere.
Now, imagine these issues happening during peak shopping periods like BFCM. It’s crucial to conduct a technical audit, optimize your images, and improve your store’s SEO and responsive design.
- Use a mega-menu: If your store has many products or categories, like Bodega San Marcos, organize them in a mega-menu to make navigation easier.
- Highlight key categories: Add categories that drive conversions to your navigation bar and include a special “Deals” section for BFCM so users can find your best offers quickly.
4. Prioritize a Mobile-First Design
More than ever, shoppers use mobile devices to browse stores. Make sure your store is mobile-optimized so that customers have a seamless experience, whether they're shopping on their phones or desktops.
- Easy-to-use mobile interface: Ensure categories, images, and CTAs (call-to-action buttons) are easily accessible on mobile, just like we did with Vital Pet Life!
- Cross-device consistency: The shopping experience should be smooth whether customers switch from mobile to desktop or vice versa.
Fun fact: While shoppers are three times more likely to visit your site on mobile, they are twice as likely to complete their purchase on a desktop. Ensuring your store looks good across all devices is key!
5. Optimize Your Product Page
The design and functionality of your product page play a crucial role in determining whether you secure a sale. Shoppers need to clearly understand what your product is, how it can be used, and why they should buy it. Skindion's PDP shows you exactly how you can enhance your product page to drive more conversions:
1. Use High-Quality Product Images: Visuals are the first thing shoppers notice when they visit your product page. To make a strong first impression, include at least five high-quality images of your product. These images should show your product from different angles, focusing on details like texture, size, and key features. You can even include lifestyle images that show the product in use, helping shoppers imagine how it fits into their lives.
- Tip: If applicable, use zoom-in features to highlight intricate details, like stitching on clothing or material quality on accessories. This helps potential buyers feel confident in the product’s quality without physically seeing it.
2. Craft Clear Product Names and Descriptions: Your product name and description need to be immediately visible and easy to understand. Make sure they are above the fold, meaning that users can see them as soon as the page loads without having to scroll. This is crucial for both user experience and SEO.
- Product Name: Keep it simple but descriptive. Include keywords relevant to how users search for similar products (e.g., “Leather Laptop Backpack” instead of just “Backpack”).
- Product Description: Write concise but informative descriptions that highlight the benefits of the product, its key features, and how it stands out. Include keywords naturally to improve search engine visibility.
- Tip: Conduct brief keyword research to optimize your product titles and descriptions for search engines, ensuring your product is easily found through organic searches.
3. Leverage Social Proof with Customer Reviews: Customer reviews and ratings act as social proof, reassuring shoppers that your product is trusted by others. Displaying star ratings and user-generated reviews right below your product description adds credibility to your offering.
- Tip: Encourage your customers to leave reviews by sending follow-up emails after their purchase. Reviews with photos or detailed feedback can significantly impact purchase decisions.
4. Highlight Price and Discounts Clearly: The price should be immediately visible on the page, right next to the product name and description. If you’re running a promotion or offering a discount, make sure it’s clearly displayed, so shoppers know they’re getting a deal.
- Tip: Show both the original price and the discounted price, along with the percentage saved, to emphasize the value. Highlight the discount in a bright color (like red) to draw attention.
5. Make Your CTA Button Stand Out: Your Call-to-Action (CTA) button, such as “Add to Cart” or “Buy Now,” should be prominent and easy to spot. Avoid subtle designs like transparent buttons with just an outline—this can blend into the background and confuse shoppers.
- Tip: Use bold, filled-in buttons with contrasting colors that align with your brand but stand out on the page. Don’t worry about compromising aesthetics—a strong, visible CTA button is critical for conversions.
6. Include Trust Signifiers Near the CTA: Trust signifiers, such as payment method icons, secure checkout badges, and shipping information, help reassure customers that their purchase is safe and reliable. Place these symbols near your CTA button to provide additional security and confidence as the shopper makes their purchase decision.
- Tip: Add guarantees like “Free Shipping” or “30-Day Returns” near the CTA to further encourage action. These small but impactful details can make shoppers feel more comfortable completing their purchase.
6. Boost Your FAQ and Review Sections
FAQs and customer reviews are key elements that influence purchasing decisions. They provide transparency and build trust with shoppers.
- Address common questions: In the FAQ section, answer customer concerns and highlight important information about shipping, returns, and more.
- Social proof through reviews: Customer reviews offer an honest perspective, encouraging others to make a purchase.
7. Improve Your Checkout Page
Whether you use Shopify Standard or Shopify Plus, like Sunwarrior, ensure your checkout page matches the overall look and feel of your brand. Here are some tips for a streamlined checkout process:
- Add your logo and brand colors to the checkout page.
- Organize payment methods: List them from most popular to least used.
- Clearly display shipping options: Be transparent about shipping costs and timelines.
Top Tips for BFCM 2024
1. A/B Testing for BFCM
A/B testing is essential, especially during the holiday shopping season. Customers are ready to spend, but they expect a smooth shopping experience. Testing different versions of your store (such as button placements, banners, or pop-ups) can help you see which one converts best.
Show one version of your store to 50% of your visitors, and another version to the other half. Analyze which version performs better, and implement the winning strategy.
2. Optimize Cross-Selling Strategies
Cross-selling can increase your average order value. Suggest additional products or services based on the items already in the customer’s cart. Tree to Tub is a great example of these functionalities:
- Smart-cart: Offer complementary products (e.g., a shoe care kit when someone adds shoes to their cart).
- Frequently bought together: Show related products that customers may not have considered.
For Shopify Plus members, you can add cross-selling options during checkout through checkout extensions.
3. Reward Loyal and New Customers
BFCM is a great opportunity to reward your most loyal customers and attract new ones, like DreamWater:
- For loyal customers: Offer exclusive deals, free shipping, or early access to sales.
- For new customers: Provide a discount when they sign up for an account.
4. Create Product Bundles
During BFCM, many shoppers are looking for holiday gifts. Take advantage by creating bundles with your best-selling products or pairing slow-moving items with popular ones. This helps with inventory turnover while offering customers great value.
5. Enable Long-Distance Gift Sending
Allow your customers to send personalized gifts to friends and family during the holidays. Let them choose the products, packaging, and a custom message for a personal touch.
6. Create BFCM Collections
Help shoppers find what they’re looking for by creating specific BFCM collections. Highlight your best deals under a dedicated “Seasonal Offers” tab. This makes it easy for customers to browse and buy.
7. Gamification for Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2024
Gamification is a powerful strategy that not only grabs attention but, when used effectively, can boost your conversions and generate significant revenue for your online store. So, what exactly is gamification? Gamification involves applying game-like elements in non-recreational environments—such as your e-commerce store—to create a fun, engaging, and motivating experience for shoppers.
The goal of gamification is to encourage consumers to complete certain actions, like finishing a purchase, subscribing to a newsletter, or interacting with your brand. For example, you might implement features like:
- Spin-the-Wheel for Prizes: A popular gamification tactic where customers can spin a virtual wheel on your homepage for the chance to win discounts or rewards.
- Progress Bars or Points Systems: Showing customers how close they are to unlocking a reward or reaching free shipping can keep them motivated to continue shopping.
Given that Black Friday and Cyber Monday are peak shopping seasons, standing out from the competition is more important than ever. Gamification can give you an edge by making the shopping experience not only enjoyable but also rewarding. Customers are more likely to engage with your store and feel motivated to make a purchase when they’re having fun.
- Tip: Incorporate gamified elements strategically. Too many can feel overwhelming or gimmicky, but the right amount can create excitement and enhance the overall shopping experience.
7. Leverage Email Marketing
Remind your customers about upcoming sales with a targeted email campaign. Tools like Klaviyo integrate well with Shopify to help you segment and personalize your email marketing efforts. Offer exclusive discount codes to subscribers to boost conversions.
Conclusion
Whether it’s for peak season in the U.S. or elsewhere, having an optimized e-commerce store is essential for meeting your goals. Shopify offers a stable platform with constant updates and optimizations to ensure your store is always running smoothly. Now it’s up to you to get creative and put these tips into practice.
Don’t wait—start preparing your online store for BFCM 2024 today! Having a Shopify Plus Partner by your side can help you achieve your commercial goals.