Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) is no longer a weekend; it is the Super Bowl of e-commerce. To the owners of Shopify stores, it is a golden chance to get a share of the billions of dollars that shoppers are willing to spend. But the thing is that everybody knows it. The inboxes of your customers are going to be a battlefield of offers, and it is harder than ever to stand out.
A plain 20% off sign will no longer be enough. Competition is intense, the cost of advertising is rising, and customers are not just seeking a good deal; they are seeking an experience.
That's where this guide comes in. We are going beyond the obvious to provide you with more than 15 creative Black Friday marketing ideas that will not only enable your Shopify store to compete but also win.
Why Your Shopify Store Should Do More Than Just a Simple Sale.
Black Friday is not a price war. Smart brands view it as an opportunity to provide memorable, special offers that make customers feel that they have found something special.
Let's do the math for a second. Shopify merchants alone made a whopping $11.5 billion in sales during the 2024 BFCM weekend. Over 67,000 of those merchants had their best-selling day ever.
It is not a big-box retailer trend only. Whether you're a small boutique selling handmade jewelry or a growing brand with a loyal following, BFCM is a time of heightened consumer interest that you can't afford to miss out on.
Best Black Friday Marketing Ideas to Increase Sales on Shopify
Ready to get inspired? The following are the most effective Black Friday marketing concepts of Shopify stores that are not limited to a discount.
Idea 1: Move Beyond a Flat Discount with Tiered & Volume Deals
Rather than giving one discount to all, why not give customers a reward for spending more? Tiered discounts are an excellent method of raising your average order value (AOV).
- How It Works: The Psychology of Spend More, Save More. This is a shopify black friday strategy that is similar to leveling up in a video game; the closer you are to the next reward, the more you are motivated to get it. Customers who notice that they are only 10 dollars away from unlocking a larger discount will tend to add another product to their cart to reach it.
- Example: Buy 2, get 15% off; Buy 3, get 25% off! This can be based on cart value (e.g., "Spend $100, save 20%") or item quantity. It is among the most efficient discount pricing strategies for BFCM.
- Pro-Tip: Your first tier should be just above your average order value. Assuming that your average customer will spend $45, then your initial discount level will be 60. This is a mere push that makes the shoppers buy one more item. The establishment of such rules may become complex, and Shopify apps come in very handy in this case. As an example, you can establish these discounts with Discounty without any coding.
Idea 2: Develop Unbeatable Urgency through Flash Sales
The fear of missing out (FOMO) is the quickest way to make people act. Flash sales are the best to generate that sense of buy now or regret later.
- Hourly or Time-Blocked Offers Work. You can do a Deal of the Hour or four big drops of the day (morning, lunchtime, evening). This will keep the shoppers returning to your site to find out what is coming next, creating excitement and repeat traffic.
- Don't Forget the Countdown Timer. Adding a ticking clock to your product pages or homepage banner is one of the most effective ways to show that time is running out. It is a mere visual indicator that informs the shoppers that the deal is not going to last indefinitely.
Idea 3: Treat Your Best Customers Special with VIP and Early-Bird Offers
Your greatest asset is your most loyal customers. The best moment to reward them is during Black Friday, when they will have early access to your sales.
- Create Exclusivity to Spur Early Sales. Sending a special password-protected email or a special discount code to your email subscribers or loyalty members a day or two before the general sale will make them feel like insiders. It also assists you in securing sales prior to the BFCM insanity actually taking place.
- How to Segment Your VIP: You can make a VIP segment based on lifetime spend, number of purchases, or even simply how long they have been on your email list. Rewarding this group will make them loyal and will make them continue shopping with you.
Idea 4: Increase the Average Order Value through a Free Gift with Purchase (GWP)
A free gift is sometimes more thrilling than a discount. Giving a GWP (Gift with Purchase) is an excellent alternative to price reductions, particularly with luxury brands that do not wish to devalue their products.
- Selecting a Gift That Pleases, Not Disillusionment. The most appropriate gifts are those that are cheap to you, but are perceived to be expensive by the customer. Consider deluxe samples, a smaller size of a bestseller, or a bit of branded merch, such as a tote bag.
- Example: "Spend $100 and get our bestselling travel-size serum free!" Just like with tiered discounts, set the spending threshold a little higher than your AOV. This will motivate the shoppers to buy more to get the freebie, increasing your total revenue.
Idea 5: Nail the Basics with Smart Black Friday Discount Ideas
Even a traditional percentage-off sale can be a huge success when you are clever about it. The trick is to make your offer sound convincing. It is not enough to give 10 percent off and hope to do well; you have to have an offer that catches the eye.
- Storewide vs. Collection-Specific Sales. A storewide sale is easy and simple for the customers. However, a sale on certain categories (such as "40% off all snow goggles") can help you move targeted inventory or promote seasonal items.
- Be Innovative: Rather than simply stating that it is 20% off, position it using more exciting wording. "Our Biggest Sale of the Year" or "The Black Friday Event You've Been Waiting For" creates more buzz. You may experiment with various types of discounts in marketing to discover the best.
Idea 6: Double the Fun with BOGO (Buy One, Get One) Promotions
BOGO is a customer favorite because it seems like a great deal. It is an excellent method to clear stock and expose customers to additional products.
- BOGO vs. 50% Off Sale: BOGO is especially useful when the product in question is something that people may wish to stock (such as cosmetics or supplements) or a product that makes a great gift.
- Pro-Tip: BOGO is a great way to move seasonal or slow-moving inventory. Not selling a product as fast as you would like? It can be made a hot item with a Buy One, Get One Free offer and clear new stock.
Idea 7: Create Irresistible Product Bundles & Mystery Boxes
One of the simplest methods to add more value to customers and at the same time raise your AOV in the store is bundling. And it is an excellent means of exposing shoppers to products that they would not have otherwise tried.
- Bundles: Bundle complementary products into one, discounted package. Consider titles like "The Ultimate Morning Coffee Kit" or "The Complete Skincare Routine." You are not selling products, you are selling a solution or an experience.
- Mystery Boxes: The Mystery Box is a great way to tap into the love of the unknown that your customers have. You can bundle a few of your bestsellers (or even some of your overstocked products) into a box and sell it at a huge discount, such as: $70+ worth of products at only $30. It is entertaining, thrilling, and a fantastic method of clearing stock.
Idea 8: Free Shipping Thresholds to Get Rid of Cart Abandonment
Honestly speaking, one of the leading reasons why people leave their carts is unexpected shipping costs. Free shipping is no longer a luxury, but a necessity for most customers.
- The Magic Words: You are 12 dollars away to free shipping! Instead of providing free shipping on all orders, have a minimum order value to qualify. A cart progress bar that indicates to customers how much they are left to reach the threshold is a strong incentive to add an extra item. It transforms shipping into an irritating expense into an objective to be attained.
Idea 9: Become a Year-Round Fan by Subscription Offers to Holiday Shoppers
BFCM is an excellent opportunity to get new customers, and the ultimate victory is to convert them into repeat buyers. The best way to do that is through a subscription offer, particularly with consumable goods such as coffee, skincare, or supplements.
- Why BFCM is the ideal moment to roll out a subscription? Customers are already in a purchasing mood and eager to obtain a deal. This will make them more willing to make regular deliveries, particularly when you make the offer sweet.
- Example: "Receive 30% off your first order, and 15% off every delivery thereafter!" This provides the shopper with an immediate victory of a large initial discount and secures a long-term relationship with your brand. It is a clever method of raising customer lifetime value.
Idea 10: Make Shopping More Engaging by Gamifying the Experience
Shopping should be fun! Gamification brings an element of interactive fun to your store that can increase both engagement and sales.
- Spin-to-Win Popups: As an alternative to a typical 10% off pop-up when a new subscriber signs up, have them play a spin-the-wheel game where they can win various prizes such as free shipping, a larger discount, or a free gift. It is a far more interesting method of capturing emails.
- Digital Scratch Cards and Instant Win Games: Surprise customers at checkout or on a thank you page with a digital scratch card. It is a little bit of pleasure that can offer them a discount on their next purchase, which will make them come back in the near future.
Idea 11: Tap into Word-of-Mouth through a Referral Rewards Program.
Your best customers are also your best marketers. A referral program will encourage them to share the news about your brand during BFCM.
- The Give 20, Get 20 Model is a two-sided reward. When your customer refers a friend, the friend receives a discount on his or her first purchase, and your original customer receives a credit or discount after the purchase has been made. It is a win-win that will attract new and highly qualified customers to your store.
Idea 12: Be a Charitable Giver with a Charitable Giving Campaign
Not every brand is interested in joining the race-to-the-bottom discount madness. When deep discounts do not resonate with your brand values, an anti-BFCM campaign can be a very potent one.
- How to create a stronger brand with Anti-BFCM Campaigns? Rather than a sale, you can promise to give a percentage of each purchase to a charity. This is an appeal to conscious consumers who are more concerned with mindful buying than with bargain-hunting.
- Example: "In lieu of a discount, we're donating 15% of all sales today to..." This will reinforce the message of your brand and will assist you in reaching an audience that shares your values. It is a means of being involved in the BFCM buzz without losing the integrity of your brand.
Read more: Seasonal discount
Idea 13: Direct Shoppers with Themed and Helpful Gift Guides
BFCM is the informal beginning of the holiday shopping season, and lots of people are seeking gift ideas. Simplify their lives by designing gift guides.
- Creating Guides for Different Personas ("For the Coffee Lover," "Gifts Under $50"): Grouping products into themed collections saves shoppers time and helps them discover products they may have otherwise missed. You can include these guides on a dedicated landing page, in your emails, and on social media.
Idea 14: Provide Black Friday Enticing Discount Code Samples.
Sometimes, a simple discount code at the right time is all you need to seal the deal. It is all about the way and the time you present it.
Saving a sale by using a unique code in an exit-intent pop-up. A pop-up with a last-chance offer, such as Wait! should appear when a shopper is about to leave your site with items in their cart. An additional 15% off your order with the use code BFCM15 can be the push they require to make a purchase.
Idea 15: Long-Distance Gifting should be a Breeze
Giving is the whole idea of the holiday season, and it is a pain to send gifts to friends and relatives. You can add a ton of value by providing easy gifting services and make the checkout process a breeze.
- Providing services such as free wrapping of gifts or personal notes: A simple checkbox at checkout for "Add free gift wrapping" or "Include a personalized message" can make your store the go-to choice for holiday gifters. It's a little gesture that makes a big difference.
Read more: difference between marketing and discount
The Headache-Free Way to Implement These Black Friday Discount Ideas.
Feeling inspired? Great. Feeling a bit overwhelmed? That's normal, too. All these various offers, rules, and schedules can be a full-time job.
Attempting to manually configure tiered pricing, flash sales, and BOGO offers in Shopify is a disaster waiting to happen. A single misplaced step and you might end up giving away too much of a discount or worse still, have a promotion that fails miserably during the busiest shopping weekend of the year.
The Solution: Automating Your Campaigns with a Shopify App
This is where technology is your best friend. A lot of store owners resort to the use of powerful third-party tools to handle complex sales. As an example, applications such as Discounty are created to allow you to configure tiered discounts, volume pricing, and storewide sales with a few clicks and the rules are automatically applied so you can concentrate on marketing.
Read more: Black Friday and Cyber Monday Shopify Apps
Selecting the right tool isn't just about functionality; it's about peace of mind during the most critical sales weekend of the year.
Strong Capabilities for Every Creative Idea
Discounty helps you manage every aspect of your promotion with a robust set of features.
Tiered & Volume Discounts: Set up quantity breaks like "Buy 2, Get 10% Off" and "Buy 3, Get 20% Off" to encourage larger orders.
Cart Discounts: Boost average order value with offers such as "Spend $100, Get 10% Off".
Targeted Sales: Easily include or exclude specific products from campaigns using filters like collections and tags.
Scheduling: Schedule your campaigns ahead of time by specifying the start and end time of promotions to run and automatically pause.
Auto-Updates: When a new product is added to a particular category, it will be automatically updated with the corresponding discounts, and you will not need to update it manually.
Countdown Timer: Add urgency to your campaigns and boost sales by displaying a ticking clock on your discounts.
Combination of the campaigns: Promotions such as Buy 3, Get 30% Off and 25% Off can be used simultaneously on various products or collections without contradictions.
Several Discount Levels: Establish several discount levels in a short time and with ease like receiving 20 percent off when you purchase two and 30 percent off when you purchase three.
24/7 Support: There is a team of experts who can help with any challenges 24/7, which can be a life-saver in case something goes wrong during a sale.
How to maximise your BFCM marketing reach
After you have your offers in place, it is time to scream them off the rooftops. This is how to ensure that as many people as possible see your creative Black Friday marketing concepts of Shopify stores.
Create a Pre-BFCM Buzz using Email and SMS Marketing
You should not wait until Black Friday to begin communicating with your customers. Start sending teaser emails and texts several weeks before.
- Build a VIP List: Provide an early access signup to develop your email and SMS lists prior to the sale.
- Send Sneak Peeks: Preview your future offers to make your audience excited.
- Use Countdown Timers: Create anticipation in the days leading up to your launch.
Use Social Media to generate Hype and Sneak Previews
Your social media is ideal in creating genuine excitement.
- Go Behind the Scenes: Post videos of your team getting ready to have the big weekend.
- Leverage User-Generated Content: Repost customer testimonials that love your products.
- Conduct a Giveaway: Organize a competition during the week before BFCM to increase the involvement and followers.
Create a Special BFCM Landing Page to have a smooth experience
Rather than directing shoppers to your usual homepage, make a special landing page where all of your Black Friday deals can be found.
- Get rid of Distractions: A landing page will only draw the attention of a customer to what you are offering.
- Enhance User Experience: It should be easy to view all the deals at once without clicking around your site.
- Improve SEO: A well-optimized landing page can rank for seasonal search terms such as "[your product] Black Friday deals" weeks before the event.
Conclusion
Black Friday on Shopify does not need to be a race to the bottom. You can be the first to leave a plain, one-dimensional discount and adopt more imaginative, value-based promotions, which will not only make you stand out of the crowd but also make your customers delighted and have your most profitable year ever.
It is one thing to plan and everything to execute. Discounty can be used to quickly and easily apply these ideas to Shopify.
Black Friday Marketing Ideas: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
When do I begin my Black Friday marketing?
The sooner, the better! A lot of brands begin teasing their sales at the end of October or the beginning of November. You must at least be creating your email lists and strategizing your offers at least four to six weeks ahead.
What can I do to draw customers on Black Friday without a massive discount?
Focus on value creation rather than price cutting. Concepts such as a free gift with purchase, product bundling, free gift wrapping, or giving a part of the sales to charity can be as persuasive as a high discount.
Which are the most popular Black Friday marketing concepts of Shopify stores?
Tiered discounts (spend more, save more), free shipping requirements, and VIP early access are always some of the most effective tactics to increase sales and average order value on Shopify.
What can I do to make my Black Friday sale urgent?
Flash sales with short timeframes, countdown timers on your site and emails, and language such as Limited Time, While Supplies Last, or Sale Ends Tonight in your marketing messages can all help to make shoppers act fast.
