Black Friday is THE moment when everything speeds up.
Shopping carts fill up fast, and every detail counts during this period when all e-commerce retailers are working twice as hard.
To make this period truly profitable, you need to plan ahead.
There's no question of cobbling together a last-minute promotion.
Preparing for Black Friday means putting in place a real sales, marketing, and customer relations strategy.
Not sure where to start? We'll guide you step by step.
And to take your annual e-commerce organization even further, take a look at our e-commerce calendar.
It will come in handy all year round, not just at the end of November.
It's one of the most profitable times of the year for an e-commerce site.
But be careful, the real challenge is not just about cashing in over three days.
It's a gateway to acquiring new customers.
Customers you might never have reached otherwise.
Why? Because they find concrete benefits with you that they would never have considered without the context of a discount.
And yet, the biggest pitfall is to stop there.
Once the first order has been placed, the goal is clear: to implement a customer loyalty strategy.
In other words, turn impulse purchases into consumer habits.
It's also the perfect opportunity to clean up or revitalize your inventory.
Some see it as a way to get rid of slow-moving products.
Others see it as an opportunity to improve their LTV.
This is where strategic choices make all the difference.
But what you gain most of all is an enriched customer database.
Qualified contacts who, if nurtured properly, can become regular customers.
Provided you don't let them slip away on December 1st.
There's no such thing as a successful Black Friday without a real plan of attack.
It's not enough to display -30% on a banner to boost your sales.
Preparing for this period is above all about making the right choices... in the right order.
So here are the key steps you need to take if you want to perform (and not just survive) during Black Friday.
Before you even think about promotions, set your goals.
Are you aiming for an increase in sales?
Great, but how much exactly?
Do you want to increase your conversion rate or expand your customer base?
Put it down in black and white.
Measuring is what will allow you to optimize.
And above all, it will prevent you from drawing flawed conclusions after the fact.
Black Friday has become a time for smart shopping... but also for early Christmas shopping.
Your customers aren't just looking for good deals, they're also looking to tick items off their gift lists.
So offer deals that make sense: bundles, limited editions, targeted discounts on bestsellers. Avoid “generic” discounts without a story behind them.
A good deal is one that makes people want to buy now, not “later.”
And if you play with the price, do it intelligently.
You don't need to crush your margins to attract customers.
This is often the weak point.
We think about the campaign, the design, the email... and we forget about inventory.
The result: stockouts, frustration, negative reviews.
In short, everything we want to avoid.
Make a serious estimate of volumes.
Check your delivery times.
And make sure your logistics are up to scratch, even under pressure.
The little extra is to set up alerts for products that are in high demand.
It might just save the day.
Your message must be clear, visible, and aligned with your identity.
You don't do Black Friday just because everyone else does.
You do it your way.
Standardize your visuals and use the same messages across all your channels: website, email, social media, ads.
Above all, prepare your pages in advance.
You won't work miracles with SEO the day before.
Communication is also about attitude.
More and more consumers expect brands to make commitments.
Highlight the sustainability of your offering, your production or delivery choices, and how you are “consuming differently” during Black Friday.
And if you have an online and in-store presence, omnichannel marketing is essential.
👉Read our article on the importance of omnichannel marketing.
Do you have a newsletter? Great.
But if everyone receives the same message, you lose impact.
Segment your base.
On the one hand, there are your loyal customers, to whom you can offer early access or a gift.
On the other, your hot prospects, whom you will seek to convert.
Also think about abandoned shopping carts, recent visitors, and customers who have been “silent” for months.
The more tailored your message is, the greater your chances of conversion.
Is your customer ready to buy? Perfect.
Don't ruin it with a slow website, complicated payment process, or a promo code that's impossible to find.
Your conversion funnel must be frictionless.
This means a dedicated page that loads quickly, optimized mobile payment, automatic display of promo codes, clearly visible customer reviews, and practical information.
In short, every click should reassure, not cause hesitation.
👉And if you need a little help optimizing all this, this article will help you optimize the 5 steps of the conversion funnel.
Everyone does Black Friday deals.
But what sets you apart is the experience you create around them.
Because a simple 30% discount is no longer enough to excite a customer in 2025.
Here are some concrete actions to include in your sales promotion plan.
Simple ideas, but ones that can really make a difference.
It's a simple mechanism, but devilishly effective.
Offer a small bonus: an accessory, a travel size, a surprise product, above a certain threshold, encourages customers to increase their average basket size.
It also reinforces the feeling of “generosity” associated with your brand.
Countdowns remain a powerful weapon.
Whether it's used in advance to tease the launch of Black Friday, or during the event to remind customers that the offer is coming to an end.
It's visual, it's stressful (in a good way), and it pushes people to take immediate action.
Don't want to break your prices?
Offer free shipping.
Even if it's only temporary.
On some shopping carts, this amounts to a hidden discount, but it's perceived as a real benefit to the customer.
If you have a loyalty program, now is the time to bring it to life.
Boosting points during Black Friday gives customers a reason to come back.
And it creates a reflex to repurchase after the first order.
Some brands commit to donating a portion of their sales to a charity or planting a tree for every order.
This type of CSR initiative can strengthen your brand image and appeal to a more socially conscious customer base.
In short, offer more than just a discount.
Provide an engaging shopping experience that aligns with your brand values.
That's how you make a lasting impression... even after the countdown is over.
Just because a customer has ordered once doesn't mean they'll come back.
And this is even more true during Black Friday, when purchases are often opportunistic.
In other words, without a repeat purchase strategy, your sales spike is likely to collapse as quickly as it rose.
So how do you keep that new customer active, engaged, and loyal?
Here are three levers to activate right after the rush.
Your customer has made a purchase? Perfect.
Now is the perfect time to offer them an exclusive discount on their next order.
But be careful! Don't just send them a generic discount two weeks later.
Instead, offer them a personalized, time-limited offer linked to their first purchase.
This could be 10% off to be used within 10 days, a code linked to a complementary product, or a special offer reserved for “new VIP customers.”
The goal is to create a buying habit from the outset and avoid your brand disappearing into the corner of their inbox.
What if the purchase was just the beginning of a game?
Gamification is the art of applying game mechanics to marketing.
And it works incredibly well for building loyalty.
Why? Because it engages without tiring.
Offer your customers the chance to unlock rewards, take part in missions, collect badges, and more.
Each interaction becomes a little challenge.
And that keeps them coming back, naturally.
👉Dig deeper into the subject with this article on how to make gamification work.
A good loyalty program is not just a stamp card.
It's a real retention tool.
It rewards engagement, values ambassadors, and encourages customers to discover your entire catalog.
It's also a way to collect valuable data: purchase frequency, average basket size, product preferences, and more.
And the more you know about your customers, the more personalized experiences you can offer them.
Loyoly allows you to create this type of customized loyalty program without any technical complexity.
And when it's well integrated, it's anything but incidental.
It's a growth lever in its own right.
Pssst... You might find this interesting!
Loyalty programs are strategic for your brand, and we can probably help. Check out our platform!
Even with the best intentions in the world, certain mistakes can seriously undermine your results.
And the worst (or best) part is that they are avoidable.
Here are the ones we still see too often and, more importantly, how to avoid them.
This is one of the classic pitfalls.
We focus all our efforts on acquisition, to the point of forgetting those who are already there, some of whom have been loyal for months.
Yet your existing customers are the most likely to buy again... provided you don't neglect them.
A good reflex? Offer them limited-time missions in your loyalty program.
For example: “Refer a friend during Black Friday and unlock an exclusive reward.”
Not only do you make them feel valued, but you give them a real reason to engage, again and again.
Black Friday doesn't start on Friday.
It starts well before.
If you wait until the day before to reveal your offers, you'll be arriving after everyone else... and your audience will already be saturated.
The ideal approach is to tease your audience.
Give them a sneak peek at your offers, a VIP list, early access...
Build up the excitement gradually.
Your campaign deserves better than a simple post at 10 p.m. the night before.
A website that crashes on the big day, a promo code that doesn't work, an email that ends up in spam...
And just like that, hours of preparation go down the drain.
Test everything.
Absolutely everything.
Browse like a customer, check out your cart, open your emails on multiple devices.
It's the technical details that make for a smooth experience... or frustration.
The last confirmed shopping cart doesn't mark the end of your campaign.
It's the beginning of your retention work.
Send a personalized thank-you email, offer access to your loyalty program, and highlight the benefits of being a “new member.”
And above all, collect customer reviews on the products purchased via our integration with Trustpilot.
This feedback boosts social proof for future visitors.
And if you use a CRM, consider automating these post-purchase emails with our integrated partners.
It's simple and prevents you from losing the connection right after the purchase.
Because at the end of the day, a good Black Friday strategy isn't just about selling.
It's about building relationships.
This is the big question that many brands ask themselves every year.
Should you focus your efforts on Black Friday, or go all in on Cyber Monday?
Spoiler alert: it's not a war. They are two different... and complementary moments.
Historically, Black Friday is the big sales peak on the Friday after Thanksgiving.
This is when customers come looking for the best deals, often on tech, fashion, or home products.
It's massive, loud, and urgent.
But Cyber Monday is becoming increasingly important.
It extends the momentum by focusing more on online shopping and digital products, and it's an opportunity for customers who were still hesitating to come back and finalize their shopping carts.
So why choose?
The right approach is to build a real highlight over several days.
Some people are even talking about Black Week or Black November.
What matters is structuring your offers to maintain attention:
→ a teaser a few days before,
→ an exclusive offer on Friday,
→ a special bonus on Monday.
And in between, you have plenty to keep things moving.
For example, by reserving an offer for members of your loyalty program between Saturday and Sunday.
Or by launching a flash sale lasting a few hours.
You've attracted new customers during Black Friday, which is a great first step, but now the challenge is to keep them coming back.
And that means customer engagement.
Building relationships, offering personalized experiences, encouraging recommendations...
That's what turns a one-time buyer into a loyal customer.
If you're looking for concrete solutions to engage your customers, contact the Loyoly team.
Loyoly is a loyalty and referral platform combined with UGCs, which helps to engage customers in 40+ ways to increase LTV and social proof, while reducing CAC.
