E-commerce and Website
Get Your E-commerce Ready for Black Friday While There’s Still Time
There are four months left until Black Friday, and if your team hasn’t started preparing your e-commerce yet, it’s high time to begin! For consumers, the date may still seem far off, but for stores that want everything running smoothly to maximize sales, there’s a lot of work that requires planning and time.
Large companies typically start preparing well in advance, since all of their departments are involved in some way and need to be aligned. Additionally, online stores need to have their actions planned ahead of time in order to adjust their e-commerce programming to all the changes that come with this period.
We understand there are many aspects to work on when preparing an e-commerce for Black Friday, which is why we’re also providing the checklist here! That way, you can evaluate each topic within your business and, if you like, use this content as a guide to start your planning.
Many of the promotions offered during Black Friday involve changes in the e-commerce platform’s programming due to rules tied to specific dates and special conditions. That’s why simply editing product descriptions on the day of the sale is not enough—you need to prepare the site to guide users through this special shopping experience.
So, include answers to the following questions in your planning:
Shipping prices and timeframes also need to be defined in advance since they involve third parties as well as the team responsible for updating the e-commerce platform.
You’ll need to assess delivery costs and the conditions your company can offer to make the deal attractive without harming your profit margins.
Most e-commerces already have an abandoned cart recovery policy, but it’s worth considering one specifically for Black Friday.
Since it’s a time when consumers are more likely to buy, configuring your e-commerce to recover previously abandoned offers and show them again during Black Friday with irresistible discounts can generate even more sales!
If you sell through marketplaces, you may face limitations on the number of orders per day, registration issues, or even product categorization constraints. Dealing with some of these restrictions may be part of the game, but it’s important to align your Black Friday strategy to avoid wasting resources.
So, check your limits in advance, learn the rules to change them (if any), and plan your marketing investments according to the actual demand you can meet.
There’s nothing more frustrating for a seller than missing out on sales due to out-of-stock products—either from lack of preparation or delays in supplier deliveries (who will also be overwhelmed with orders).
However, overstocking is not ideal either, as it can create future cash flow issues. Therefore, review your sales trends for this period in previous years and negotiate with suppliers well in advance.
Creating strategies to increase traffic is an ongoing effort for most e-commerces, but during Black Friday, you may not need significant changes if demand grows naturally. However, if your focus is on selling higher-ticket items, it can greatly increase your return on investment.
So it’s worth creating campaign strategies specifically for your most profitable products during Black Friday. In other words, guide your customers to the sections of your store that are most beneficial for both of you.
If you’ve already invested in SEO, you know it works well—but it takes time. If your site already ranks highly in Google for keywords related to your products, your chances of making sales are better than your competitors’.
However, during Black Friday, search terms become more specific—usually combining the product name with “Black Friday.” That means e-commerces not previously indexed with Black Friday-related keywords will likely receive less traffic.
A widely used marketing tactic is the “anticipation trigger,” which involves teasing future promotions. This generates consumer excitement and subconsciously prepares them to buy when the deal goes live.
This can be a countdown, teasers about upcoming discounts, or unique messaging across your customer service channels. You can even use the fact that people are already expecting deals around that date to motivate them to plan for your promotional products.
During Black Friday, the number of customer support inquiries increases—even for fully online stores. People will reach out with questions, complaints, suggestions, or for purchase assistance.
It’s crucial that customers have access to support and feel well taken care of—otherwise, they may go to a competitor. So equip your team with information on your products and promotions, and consider having your support team on standby during the event.
Changing your site’s interface for Black Friday is another way to attract customers and drive sales. A themed look can catch the visitor’s attention, and reorganizing product sections can make promotional items easier to find.
However, this requires planning and enough time to develop themed pages and possibly update site features. You’ll also need time for testing to make sure everything works smoothly on the day.
Finally, analyze the overall user experience on your site and identify any friction points. Common problem areas during browsing and purchasing include registration/login, checkout, shipping calculator, and the search tool.
So don’t forget to test these areas and discuss potential improvements with your team! This is something worth doing year-round, but it deserves special attention during Black Friday. After all, there’s no point in investing so much only to lose sales due to user access issues.
This checklist is the first part of our planning content to help you succeed in your Black Friday sales! Next week, we’ll continue with recommendations on technology and infrastructure to support your planning and execution of the remaining preparations.
By Joana Kerr
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