Retailers and shoppers are gearing up as Black Friday approaches, and for BigCommerce store owners, the countdown to this massive shopping event is key to boosting traffic and sales. Black Friday is all about incredible deals, and much of the action has shifted online recently. In 2020, despite supply chain disruptions, 49% of orders were placed on desktops, with 43% coming from smartphones — highlighting the growing importance of mobile shopping.
Whether customers are browsing on laptops or mobile devices, one thing is clear: Black Friday presents a golden opportunity to drive more traffic to your BigCommerce store. In this article, we’ll share practical tips to help you increase black friday traffic to your BigCommerce store this Black Friday. But first, let’s look at the history of this shopping phenomenon and how it evolved into the digital frenzy it is today.
Origins of Black Friday
The common myth about Black Friday’s history centers around the idea that retailers spent most of the year operating at a loss, shown as “in the red” on their balance sheets. Then, the day after Thanksgiving, the holiday shopping season kicked in, and stores finally made a profit, switching their balance sheets from red to black.
But the real story behind Black Friday is different. As reported by Business Insider, the term “Black Friday” originated in Philadelphia in the 1950s, when the police used it to describe the hectic day following Thanksgiving. The chaos was driven by large crowds of tourists visiting for the holiday and the annual Army-Navy football game.
Local businesses in Philadelphia attempted to rebrand the term to “Big Friday,” hoping to avoid the negative connotations of “Black Friday,” but the original name stuck.
By 2003, Black Friday had officially become the busiest shopping day of the year in the U.S., a title it still holds due to the surge in black friday traffic. The trend has spread to other countries, including the UK and Australia.
The UK term also came from local police, but it referred to the Friday before Christmas. Both police and hospitals noticed a spike in demand as people partied and enjoyed the last weekend before the holiday.
Meanwhile, in Australia and New Zealand, Black Friday gained traction in 2015, with retailers like The Warehouse jumping on board to offer their own deals.
Effective Strategies to Skyrocket Black Friday Traffic for Your BigCommerce Store
The holiday season is always the busiest time of the year. While many businesses have had to adjust or reduce expenses recently, you can still gear up your store for the holidays and boost sales.
With more brick-and-mortar stores moving online, planning early is the key to preparing for Black Friday and the holiday rush. Next, we will cover website and marketing strategies to help attract black friday traffic and grow online revenue during the holidays.
Holiday Prep to Maximize Traffic and Sales
When preparing for Black Friday, review what’s already working well on your eCommerce site. Identify the pages driving traffic and focus on optimizing those, while improving the weaker ones.
Look at year-over-year metrics to highlight high-performing pages or campaigns that have generated significant black friday traffic. Also, review how other holiday campaigns, like Independence Day or Father’s Day, performed. Take note of successful strategies, areas for improvement, and future reuse tactics.
Create a detailed plan for scheduling promotional content and updates. A well-organized calendar ensures your brand stays on track with consistent promotions and maintains a strong online presence. Here are some key elements to plan:
- Website and Home Page Updates
- Banners and Image Changes
- Promotional Emails
- Social Media Posts
- Product Updates
Website Upgrades to Handle the Black Friday Rush
With the holiday season fast approaching, it’s essential to ensure your online store is ready to meet the needs of shoppers. Focusing on key areas can enhance the customer experience and boost sales. Here are some strategies to help your store stand out and maximize conversions during the holidays:
- Optimize for Mobile: E-commerce will account for 54% of online purchases by 2021. Ensure your site is mobile-friendly, as a responsive design is essential to prevent visitors from leaving. Focus on features like real-time personalization to boost holiday sales and capture more black friday traffic
- Use a Clear CTA: Make the next step in the shopping cart obvious with a clear call-to-action, whether checkout or continuing to qualify for free shipping. Highlight any limited-time holiday deals to keep customers engaged.
- Provide a Product Summary: Reduce cart abandonment by offering detailed product summaries. This helps customers feel confident in their purchases, especially during busy holiday shopping, and ensures any discounts are clearly reflected.
- Include Related Products: Increase order value by suggesting related items or upsells. For example, recommend accessories or a higher-end model if a shopper adds a laptop to their cart.
- Winterize Your Theme: Create a festive atmosphere with a seasonal design. A winter theme makes your store feel welcoming and sets you apart from larger retailers, offering a unique shopping experience.
Marketing Tactics to Drive Engagement and Boost Sales
If you’re not growing your contact list year-round, you need to catch up. Many businesses wait until just before major sales, but starting early is key. Use pop-ups and tools to capture emails, offering discounts or gifts in return. Social logins and viral campaigns can also help. An email list lets you remarket without extra cost, making it a valuable asset, especially before the holidays when black friday traffic is at its peak.
- Email Early and Often: To build excitement, start holiday promotions in late September or October. Create a schedule, segment your eCommerce customers, and send frequent emails. If you see unsubscribes, adjust your messaging to offer more value.
- Leverage Remarketing: Remarketing emails can help recover lost sales by tracking browsing behavior and sending personalized follow-ups. Platforms like Klaviyo and HubSpot can optimize these campaigns for better results.
- Choose the Right Email Tool: Klaviyo BigCommerce integration for personalized emails and automation, boasting 62x ROI. HubSpot offers email personalization and automation tools, ideal for inbound marketing strategies.
- SMS Marketing: SMS reaches customers quickly, making it practical for product launches and cart reminders. Klaviyo’s SMS features include targeting, personalization, and revenue tracking.
- Create Buyer Guides: Help shoppers by creating guides like “Gifts Under $25” or “Gifts for Her.” Use templates and promotions to increase traffic.
- Offer Product Recommendations: Use customer data, such as browsing history and abandoned carts, to suggest personalized eCommerce product recommendations, boosting conversions and average order value.
- Use Targeted Pop-Ups: Encourage action with pop-ups promoting limited-time deals or discounts. Tools like JustUno help with cross-selling, upselling, and exit offers.
- Increase Social Engagement: Run contests or giveaways to boost engagement. Use social media to showcase your brand’s personality and build customer trust.
- Target Your Audiences: Use Facebook custom and look-alike audiences to reach high-intent shoppers. Serve targeted ads based on customer behavior, like cart abandonment or preferences, to maximize conversions.
Conversion Hacks to Turn Browsers into Buyers
ECommerce retailers must be strategic when converting visitors into paying customers, especially during high black Friday traffic. Here are a few key methods to help turn browsers into buyers:
- Monetize Gift Cards & Product Bundles: Use gift cards to attract gift-givers, especially during the holiday season. Display them prominently on product pages. Additionally, offer product bundles that appeal to different buyer personas, providing discounts to encourage larger purchases and boost average order value.
- Capture Abandoned Carts: Set up cart abandonment campaigns to recapture lost sales. Send a reminder email to users who left items behind, and follow up with a discount or free item if needed to encourage conversion.
- Clear Order & Shipment Timelines: Be upfront about shipping deadlines and stock availability. Clearly label items in stock and ready to ship, and show how much time is left for expedited shipping to reduce customer frustration and increase trust.
- Enable Cart Continuity: Ensure customers can switch devices without losing their cart contents. This creates a seamless shopping experience and increases the likelihood of conversion, especially during the holidays when shoppers are adding more items than usual.
Holiday Strategies to Create Loyal, Repeat Shoppers
Delight your customers by exceeding their expectations and delivering a memorable shopping experience. After a purchase, add an extra touch that brings joy, especially when handling black Friday traffic.
One idea is to offer gift wrapping with a festive twist. Provide various holiday-themed wrapping options to give customers a personalized experience.
Additionally, offer customizable messaging. Many holiday orders are gifts, so let customers include personalized notes or engraved messages with their purchases. Keep it seasonal, but true to your brand, to ensure your business leaves a lasting impression.
Maximize Your Black Friday Success with GritGlobal’s Atom8 Automation
Black Friday is fast approaching and the perfect time to boost your sales and delight your customers. But managing the surge in black friday traffic and orders can be overwhelming. That’s where Atom8 from GritGlobal comes in. Let us help you streamline your operations so you can focus on making this holiday season your most successful yet.
- Automate Holiday Promotions for Seamless Campaigns: Take the stress out of launching discounts and scheduling promotions. With this BigCommerce Automation tool, you can automate all your holiday sales tasks. Send targeted offers to different customer segments based on their behavior, ensuring each shopper feels valued and engaged without any extra effort on your part.
- Simplify Inventory Management During Black Friday: Are you worried about stockouts? Atom8 has you covered by automatically updating product availability. Even if items run low, our system places them on backorder, allowing customers to keep purchasing. Say goodbye to missed sales opportunities and hello to satisfied customers.
- Enhance Customer Segmentation for Personalized Marketing: Personalization is key to winning customers. This tool lets you auto-assign customer groups and segment buyers effectively. Trigger targeted email campaigns to engage your top buyers and re-engage those who’ve been quiet. It’s like having a personalized marketing team working around the clock.
- Optimize Order Management and Customer Support: Keep your customers in the loop with automated order tracking and real-time notifications. The tool streamlines internal processes like handling special orders and promotions, making your customer support more efficient and responsive during the busiest time of the year.
- Streamline Cross-App Workflows for a Faster Shopping Experience: Integrate this tool with popular apps like ShipStation, Slack, and Google Sheets to speed up fulfillment and reduce manual tasks. Create automated workflows that connect all your tools, providing your customers a seamless and fast shopping experience.
Conclusion
Black Friday is fast approaching, and it’s a golden opportunity to elevate your BigCommerce store’s black friday traffic and sales. You can turn this shopping season into your most successful by implementing the strategies we’ve discussed—optimizing your website for the holiday rush, enhancing your marketing efforts, and leveraging automation tools. Don’t let the challenges of increased traffic and order management hold you back. Let GritGlobal’s Atom8 Automation handle the heavy lifting, so you can focus on delivering an exceptional shopping experience. Contact us today to discover how this tool can transform your Black Friday performance and set your store up for long-term success.
