Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) are just a few days away (November 28th and December 1st, respectively), and as an ecommerce brand, you are looking forward to driving more sales. However, standing out during this time isn’t as straightforward as it used to be. These days, the competition has become tougher, so relying on discounts alone will not cut it. As such, you need a BFCM strategy that caters to consumers’ shopping habits without sacrificing long-term profits.
This is where personalization comes in. This article explores practical ways to boost sales through personalization and last-minute optimization.
But first, what impact does BFCM have on your online sales?
Why Black Friday and Cyber Monday Are the Perfect Opportunity to Boost Ecommerce Sales
Being one of the busiest ecommerce shopping weekends of the year, BFCM is the perfect opportunity to boost your online sales. According to statistics, in 2024, ecommerce sales worldwide during BFCM reached $74.4 billion globally, and Shopify sales reached $11.5 billion.
Moreover, Black Friday online sales reached $10.8 billion, while Cyber Monday sales hit $13.3 billion across the United States. These figures show how significant and impactful these days are when it comes to driving online sales for your business, and why you should jump on the trend.
Why Personalization Outperforms Discount-Only Strategies
One common mistake most ecommerce businesses do is offer steep discounts during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, in the name of boosting sales. This strategy rarely grabs attention anymore and you end up reducing your profit margins, seeing that shoppers automatically expect offers and most of them wait for this time of the year to buy stuff. What clients really respond to is relevance, where the offers are tailored towards their needs and preferences.
According to a McKinsey report, personalization leads to improved performance and better business outcomes as it boosts loyalty and increases purchase likelihood. As such, personalization is no longer a luxury, but a baseline expectation.
Personalized offers give customers a reason to buy from you, make it easy for them to make decisions, and make them feel more valued than just generic price cuts. They also lead to higher sales and profit margins, as people tend to buy items they genuinely care about; hence, you don’t need steep discounts.
Personalization helps online companies during BFCM by:
- Boosting conversions
- Increasing client engagement
- Driving sales through customized experiences
Key Personalization Strategies to Use during BFCM
Use Dynamic Product Recommendations
Showing shoppers relevant products is one of the quickest ways to make sales. Use real-time client data, including their purchase history, browsing behavior, and preferences. This will help reduce decision fatigue and cut through distractions caused by generic products.
So, start by showing each shopper behavior-based offers in your campaigns. These are products tailored to them by analyzing their browsing and shopping behaviours, then providing trending products that match what they are looking for based on their past purchases.
Next, offer complementary products. For instance, if you are selling clothes, you can show the client how a complete outfit will look by pairing different pieces, hence they get the whole picture. This can help discourage them from leaving your site by reigniting their excitement about the products.
You can also recommend products based on the shopper’s physical location. For instance, highlighting warm and heavy clothes if they are located in cold areas.
Finally, include post-purchase campaigns where you suggest accessories to enhance what they just bought. This works well because they are still excited about the purchase.
Offer Exclusive Early Access for Loyalty Customers or VIPs
Who doesn’t like feeling special? Most customers love to feel valued. Therefore, you can leverage this by creating offers for loyal customers or VIPs, giving them early access and opportunities to either save more by redeeming points or earn rewards for buying from you.
Use Segmented Email or SMS Campaigns
Segment your email and SMS lists into groups of returning shoppers, people most likely to buy, new clients, and lapsed customers, using data you have on them, such as engagement with past campaigns, location, browsing behavior, and purchase history. For instance, you can have the following segments:
- VIP group: Shoppers defined by either how much they spend, their subscription length or loyalty. Use SMS to communicate with them.
- Engaged group: Customers who have interacted with your email or SMS within the last 60 days.
- Previous shoppers group: Clients who have purchased products from your online shop during the last BFCM period.
Last-Minute BFCM Optimization Strategies
Now, given that Black Friday and Cyber Monday are just a few days away, here are some tips you can use to optimize customer experience and increase sales.
- Check your inventory and highlight all your in-stock products
- Optimize your website and mobile site speed, as well as the checkout process. This should be seamless to avoid abandonment from genuine shoppers.
- Keep your support channels and systems active and functional. These include chatbots, FAQs, and human representatives.
People usually look forward to shopping during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. However, if you lack the right strategies, you might end up making little to no sales, or worse, making a lot of sales with little to no profits at all.
By implementing the above personalization and optimization strategies, you can drive more sales, enhance engagement rates, increase visibility, and boost client retention, even after the BFCM weekend.
