10 Tried and Tested E-commerce Black Friday Tips and Strategies to Maximize Holiday Profits in 2023

In this article, you will find

1. Introduction
2. Understanding Consumer Psychology of Black Friday Sale
3. E-commerce Black Friday Strategies
4. Conclusion
5. FAQs

Introduction

Who doesn’t like the sound of a Black Friday sale? Well, we certainly do, and we are not alone. More than 87 million consumers in the U.S. shopped online on Black Friday in 2022. The period around the Black Friday sales is one of the peak shopping seasons in the U.S., as online sales crossed the $9.1 million mark for the first time last year. The term ‘Black Friday’ was used by the Philadelphia police force to describe the chaos that followed Thanksgiving day as thousands of suburban and urban consumers flocked to cities to buy various products at discounted prices. 

The arrival of e-commerce has changed the course of Black Friday sales in the past few years as online shopping continues to garner widespread popularity and for good reasons. The unpleasant chaos at brick-and-mortar stores, long queues, crowded stores, and the maddening rush to grab limited-time deals have gradually directed shoppers toward the convenience and comfort of e-commerce Black Friday. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic has not helped the cause of brick-and-mortar stores either. 

The chaos linked with Black Friday sales still exists; we don’t see it as it has shifted online. As e-commerce Black Friday is becoming increasingly popular, online retailers must stay on their toes to boost holiday sales and make the most of the evolving consumer behavior. 

This article aims to guide online retailers with innovative e-commerce Black Friday sale tips and strategies to maximize revenues and create a memorable Black Friday shopping experience. 

Understanding Consumer Psychology of Black Friday Sale

Before we get to the heart of the matter and learn about e-commerce Black Friday tips and strategies, let’s first understand what motivates customers to shop during the Black Friday period. 

Here are the three reasons consumers can’t resist Black Friday discounts and deals. 

• Consumer Psychology: Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO)

Who, what, why. This essence of consumer psychology primarily provides precious insights into the mindset of most consumers on Black Friday. Several studies on consumerism have revealed how FOMO is integral in influencing consumer decisions. It’s simple. We often regret not taking action, doing something, or buying something. The FOMO factor reduces the chances of missing out on an ongoing deal.

Further, this is also where our personalities enter the frame. Impulsive and spontaneous buyers typically do not break their heads before purchasing something. On the other hand, cautious buyers, who usually weigh the pros and cons before purchasing, will miss out on Black Friday deals due to their lengthy decision-making process. Ensure your e-commerce Black Friday marketing takes consumer psychology into account. 

• Neuropsychology: Dopamine Rush 

Humans seek happiness, satisfaction, and pleasure in different doses. While some get it from eating their favorite pizza, some experience a dopamine rush when they buy a product they have been eyeing for a while. Events such as the Black Friday sale influence the human brain in different and exciting ways. Have you wondered what makes you happy when you buy an electronic gadget? Or a new television? This elevated happiness is due to the significant spike in your dopamine levels. In short, a dopamine rush. Consumers consciously or subconsciously chase this feeling, so they purchase something during Black Friday sales. The discounted prices further fuel this dopamine rush, making it a rewarding shopping event for most shoppers. 

• Social Psychology: Herd Mentality

Is FOMO and herd mentality the same? While they have overlapping characteristics, they are not the same. FOMO deals with the anxiety of missing out, and herd mentality typically means following a more extensive crowd without questioning their thought process, actions, and behavior before joining the bandwagon. Here, the tendency is to follow the majority as it feels safe. 

The acquisitive herd here is your Black Friday shoppers, fighting each other for a limited-time deal. 

E-commerce Black Friday Strategies and Tips Crafted for Success 

E-commerce Black Friday strategies should leverage these consumer traits to drive sales, increase revenues, and create a win-win situation for consumers and online retailers. Additionally, with over 2.5 million online retailers in the U.S., you should go above and beyond to stand out. 

 We have compiled a list of some of the most effective e-commerce Black Friday strategies to gain an edge and distinguish your business from your competitors. 

1. Focus on Pre-sales Marketing

“You can’t sell anything if you can’t tell anything.” With cut-throat competition in the crowded online market, creating a buzz is crucial to grab the attention of your potential customers. If you snooze, you lose; this couldn’t have been more apt in today’s dynamic marketing landscape. 

Black Friday was a huge success last year, and there is no reason to believe things will be different in 2023. Although Black Friday is a few weeks away, you can start creating a buzz around the sale via email campaigns, releasing teasers, and offering early-bird offers. 

The goal is to build as much hype and anticipation as possible before the big day by launching innovative pre-sale marketing campaigns across different marketing touchpoints, generating maximum excitement and driving sales. 

2. Email marketing

Contrary to popular belief, email marketing is alive and, in fact, one of the most effective communication mediums. With an average ROI of $36 for every dollar spent, email marketing has stood the test of time and remains a reliable marketing channel. Therefore, including email marketing in your e-commerce Black Friday marketing strategy is crucial. Your email marketing efforts need not be dull, generic, and uninspiring; instead, the focus should be on creating personalized campaigns, being creative, and captivating your audience. 

Start by bifurcating your email list based on the demographics, preferences, purchase history, and online consumer behavior. Doing so will enable you to create and launch personalized email campaigns and deliver relevant content to your subscribers. The Black Friday deals in your email campaigns should align with their preferences and interests, increasing the chances of higher engagement and open rates.

3. Create Urgency with Flash Sales

Remember the consumer psychology we spoke about earlier? Launching flash sales taps into your customer’s FOMO, driving engagement and sales. Flash sales are a great way to generate excitement and create a sense of urgency. 

Imagine this. You get a push notification from Walmart about a flash sale where a product you were eyeing is available at a 50% discount. What is the next thing you will do? Tap the push notification and buy that product, right? 

Take a page from Walmart’s book and implement a similar strategy for your online store. You can use engaging copies such as ‘Deals and discounts every hour today’ to encourage potential customers to revisit your store and drive engagement.  

4. Sneak Peeks

Offering sneak peeks is an excellent way to invoke interest and keep your customers returning for more. Yes, you can provide sneak peeks of your Black Friday sales as part of your pre-sales marketing strategy; you can also use sneak peeks during the sale. Here’s how you can do it. 

Your e-commerce Black Friday sale is live and attracting significant traffic. However, you decide to open sales of electronic items only from 1 PM. You can provide sneak peeks to give your customers an idea about what they can expect and keep them motivated to return to explore the highly anticipated electronic deals later. 

5. Social Media E-commerce Black Friday Marketing

While email marketing is a great way to build customer relationships and announce product launches, flash sales, and more, social media marketing is an excellent way to reach a wider audience, increase customer engagement, and build a robust online brand presence in the interconnected digital landscape. 

North America currently has more than 445 million active social media users, primarily dominated by millennials and Gen Zs. Social commerce is one of the biggest e-commerce trends as more and more customers discover, engage, and purchase across different social media channels. It is also worth noting that more than 64% of internet users in the U.S. find new products and brands on social media. 

You can leverage social media to do everything we have mentioned, such as invoking curiosity, increasing engagement, pre-sales marketing, announcing discounts, providing sneak peeks, etc. Further, you can also increase your brand’s credibility and reach by collaborating with a famous social media influencer. 

6. Website Optimization

We cannot stress why website optimization is crucial to maximize revenues during a Black Friday sale and take your e-commerce Black Friday game to the next level. There is a high chance that your visitors will abandon their buying journey on your website for different reasons. While some may dislike your website’s user interface (UI), others may find it challenging to navigate through the website because of high page loading speed, broken URLs, complex checkout process, mandatory sign-in to purchase, etc. Let’s not forget the unexpected glitches and bugs. 

Around 25% of internet users will abandon a website if a page fails to load within four seconds. The longer a page takes to load, the higher the probability of your visitors leaving. Conducting a thorough audit to evaluate your website’s overall health before the Black Friday sale is a good idea. It is also vital to ensure your website has everything it takes to handle the surge in transactions and traffic. 

Optimize your website, perform stress tests, fix glaring issues, identify the problems, and nip them in the bud before the Black Friday sale. 

7. Build a Dedicated Black Friday Sale

A Black Friday sale landing page builds credibility and allows you to display event-specific products, deals, discounts, and content. A dedicated Black Friday sale landing page will also avoid confusion, as your visitors can find all the information regarding the sale here, elevating their overall shopping experience. 

You can create a landing page to share different Black Friday deals, featuring the most anticipated products with high-quality images, display social proofs, including quality badges, and add relevant CTAs. 

8. Include Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) Option

You may have read or heard of the recent e-commerce trend that everyone is talking about: buy now, pay later (BNPL). The demand for BNPL plans has grown consistently across North America in recent years, especially among Gen Zs. BNPL users are expected to grow from 88 million in 2023 to more than 100 million in the U.S. by the end of 2026. 

BNPL plans have grown popular with the rising popularity of the e-commerce industry. With more and more consumers opting for BNPL plans, it is a good idea to include the BNPL at checkout and cater to the payment preferences of different users. 

9. Optimize Checkout Process

We hate to break it to you, but you are wrong if you think your customers patronize only your store on Black Friday. With offers showering from every corner of their screens, consumers are eager to add items to their carts, pay, checkout, and move to another store during the shopping frenzy. Optimizing user and shopping experiences is one of the critical components of a successful e-commerce Black Friday sale, and one way to do that is by optimizing the checkout process.

The daily average cart abandonment rate was as high as 80% on and around the Black Friday sale in 2022. Your customers will abandon their carts due to a tiny blip in the shopping experience, let alone a big glitch. The last thing you want during a Black Friday sale is to lose potential revenues due to high cart abandonment. 

You can limit the amount of information your customers need to enter before they can complete checking out. It is crucial to ensure that the checkout page is not overloaded with irrelevant information, is responsive, and is easy to navigate. 

10. Upselling and Cross-selling Strategies

We cannot overlook the power of upselling and cross-selling techniques when discussing e-commerce Black Friday. These proven techniques are designed to drive sales, increase revenues before, and increase the value of every purchase during and even after events like Black Friday. 

Suggest premium or high-tier products when customers add an item to the cart to improve their shopping experience. You should understand the importance of strategically placing product suggestions and recommendations to increase the total order value and improve customer satisfaction. Additionally, add concise and relevant benefits of these high-tier products and how they can add value to your customers to influence them into upgrading. 

Conclusion

Black Friday sales have evolved from overcrowded offline stores to overloaded online stores. While offline stores are still relevant, e-commerce Black Friday is showing impressive growth and becoming a preferred shopping destination for many consumers. As e-commerce Black Friday continues to enjoy the limelight, online businesses must create a smooth shopping experience to maximize sales and boost revenues. 

These e-commerce Black Friday tips and strategies are crafted to bring success, and we hope you can implement them before the Black Friday sale this year. Over to you now. 

FAQs

1. What is a Black Friday sale?

The Black Friday sale is an annual shopping event that takes place a day after Thanksgiving, particularly in the U.S.

2. What is e-commerce Black Friday?

E-commerce Black Friday is a digital sale where online businesses offer great deals, discounts, and special promotions on their website or mobile apps. 

3. What are the best e-commerce Black Friday strategies to maximize sales?

While the strategies may vary from store to store, you can provide a spotless shopping experience by optimizing your website, implementing cross-selling and upselling techniques, focusing on pre-sales marketing, leveraging social media and email marketing, and providing multiple payment options. 

4. Is having a dedicated landing page for the Black Friday sale important?

A dedicated landing page will help you highlight special deals and other aspects of your Black Friday sale, improving the shopping experience. 

5. How can I provide personalized product recommendations and deals during Black Friday?

You can provide personalized shopping experiences during the Black Friday sale by bifurcating your subscriber and email list based on their interests, preferences, demographics, and other relevant parameters.