Black Friday is just around the corner, and this one is shaping up to be a unique one for ecommerce. Online shopping has been booming year-over-year with last year’s Black Friday topping $9.2 billion for purchases.
There are a combination of macroeconomic forces at work this year–namely, the shortened holiday season with just 27 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas and the upcoming election. This culminates into what Forbes is calling a holiday season unlike any other. In addition, at least 38 physical retailers (including major big box stores) will be closed on Thanksgiving day.
So what can you do to prepare as online shopping behavior is shaped by these factors? We’ve got you covered. Here are the preparations you should make to ensure a great Black Friday haul.
Start your deals early
Although some physical retail locations are closing on Thanksgiving, eCommerce sites should take the opposite approach. Online stores should capitalize on the holiday season by extending their promotions and engaging customers who prefer to shop online to maximize sales opportunities.
This means two things: 1) people will shop online earlier than ever before (in fact, shoppers have been starting their holiday shopping earlier with each passing year) and 2) those who plan on buying in-store will research online earlier than ever before. This means ecommerce businesses should have their Black Friday deals advertised earlier as well.
If you’re not ready to put your products or services on sale just yet, consider an “upcoming Black Friday deals” landing page to let your customers know what will be put on sale. It’s a tried-and-true technique that not only primes the pump for shoppers, but provides an early SEO boost to drive traffic to your Black Friday landing page (which you can redirect when the deals go on sale to reap the SEO benefits) that will give your site more time to rank higher on Google for “black friday” queries.
And if your business utilizes coupon codes, you can advertise the codes right now and make it so that they’re only valid when it’s actually Black Friday.
Make a mobile-friendly Black Friday landing page
While your entire site should be mobile-friendly and/or responsive by now, it’s especially important to have a Black Friday landing page optimized for mobile devices. Of the record-breaking $9.8 billion in ecommerce spending in the US in 2023, $5.3 billion of online sales came from mobile shopping. Since over half of site visits take place on the phone, it means most people are at the very least doing product research on their phones even if they plan to buy in-store. That’s why detailed product pages with good SEO are important, and why making the landing page mobile-friendly is paramount.
Run a Black Friday affiliate marketing campaign
We’d be remiss if we didn’t advocate for a special Black Friday push via your affiliate partners. While there are plenty of ideas to juice sales using some special tactics, unifying your reps under one concentrated Black Friday push can result in some great conversions. But it takes work on your end.
Remember, we’re getting into the holiday season and everyone can get a bit more distracted and busier due to family, traveling, etc. And affiliates are no different. They simply might have less time to market your ecommerce business, even though it’s one of the biggest sales times of the year. That’s why it’s incumbent on you, the tireless merchant, to do the heavy lifting for them.
And by heavy lifting we mean creating a slew of creatives that your reps can easily repost or repurpose to advertise your Black Friday deals. If you do the work of creating the pretty Instagram images, they can manage clicking a button to share it on their social media. If you can write the content for them, they can copy and paste it to their blogs. If you can create a Black Friday deals trailer video, they can repost it on Facebook and YouTube.
If you put in the effort, you can really mobilize your army of reps. After all, their friends and family will be researching products. Now’s the time for them to point back to your business. And doing the legwork for your reps will translate to more traffic, and more sales.
Enable your affiliates to create co-branded storefronts and landing pages
Co-branded storefronts are not just a trend—they are the future of affiliate marketing. These tailored shopping experiences not only enhance brand visibility but also offer a unique, personalized experience for customers that drives higher conversion rates.
On average, customized co-branded experiences deliver impressive conversion rates between 5.5% and 8.5%.This demonstrates the power of personalized shopping journeys and shows how this experience keeps the momentum going and ensures that customers are more likely to complete their purchases.
Refersion offers an integration with CreatorCommerce where your influencers can share their favorite products on social media and seamlessly transition their followers to a co-branded storefront where these products are easily accessible and associated with your brand offer using affiliate links created by Refersion.
Leverage Affiliate-Exclusive Deals
Empower your affiliates by offering them exclusive deals, discount codes, and early access to Black Friday promotions. Encourage them to create unique, personalized content around these exclusives—such as product reviews, unboxing videos, or holiday gift guides—that can resonate deeply with their audience.
This strategy not only incentivizes affiliates to push your products more aggressively but also enhances the authenticity of their promotions, leading to higher engagement and conversions. By equipping affiliates with exclusive offers and the creative freedom to craft tailored content, you can significantly amplify your brand’s reach and impact during Black Friday.
Give it away, give it away, give it away now
If there’s any time in your calendar year to offer freebies, now’s the time to do it. Ecommerce businesses that offer free shipping can boost revenue. If your SMB usually can’t afford to offer free shipping, see if you can offer it at least for during Black Friday sales.
Can you offer free items with a purchase? Freebies are a time-tested method that hooks customers. The tease of a free item with Black Friday purchases can boost sales in a hurry.
Finally, if you can’t give away products, see if there are other ways to nearly give it away. Rebrand your clearance section on your website to Black Friday deals and slash prices as much as you can. Be sure to include limited-time or almost-out-of-stock wording to tap into the psychology of shoppers who don’t want to miss out. In fact, toss a countdown timer across your entire site to motivate purchasers to buy before Black Friday is over.
Unsure if you’re fully prepared for Black Friday? Contact us today to learn how Refersion can help you make sure your affiliate marketing program is on point for Black Friday.
