Black Friday Is Coming. Is Your Website Ready?
8 practical moves to turn holiday traffic into actual sales
Black Friday is a big weekend for ecommerce. It's also a crowded one. Every brand is offering a deal, every inbox is overflowing, and every shopper has about 15 other tabs open. The brands that win aren't necessarily the ones shouting the biggest percentage off. They're the ones that make it ridiculously easy to understand the offer, trust the product, and hit “buy.”
Before the holiday rush hits, here are 8 moves we'd have on our checklist:
1. Make the first screen do the heavy lifting
Your homepage hero is prime real estate. Don't waste it on a pretty photo and a headline that could belong to any brand.
Above the fold, shoppers should know four things almost immediately: what you're selling, why it matters, what the Black Friday offer is, and what to do next. Add a short customer quote, review count, or other credible social proof to back it up.
2. Give shoppers a reason to choose you
Your customers are comparing you to something. Another brand. A cheaper alternative. The product they've bought for years.
Help them make that comparison without opening another tab.
A simple, honest comparison chart on your key landing pages and product pages can show what makes your product different. Think ingredients, craftsmanship, durability, features, service, or long-term value—whatever actually matters in your category.
Our friends at Big Spoon Roasters do this well. Their comparison section puts their small-batch approach, whole ingredients, and brand values next to the broader nut butter category. It turns “Why should I pay more?” into a much easier question to answer.
The goal isn't to trash the competition. It's to make your value obvious. Keep every claim accurate and current.
3. Plan the week, not just the Friday
One sitewide discount running forever gets old fast. Give shoppers a fresh, legitimate reason to check in throughout Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Early access: Let your email and SMS subscribers shop first. The head start is the perk; it doesn't need an extra discount.
Black Friday: Lead with your strongest offer, ideally on a compelling hero product or bundle.
Small Business Saturday and Sunday: Spotlight a different collection, gift category, or customer favorite.
Cyber Monday: Consider spend-and-save tiers or gifts that unlock as carts grow.
Giving Tuesday: If it fits your brand, connect purchases to a cause you genuinely support and follow through on the donation.
You don't need five complicated promotions. You need a clear calendar, simple offers, and a reason for each message. And if an offer expires, it should actually expire. Fake urgency is a fast way to lose trust.
4. Build bundles that lift more than the discount
Everyone expects a deal. Not everyone expects a thoughtfully packaged one. Bundles can increase AOV while helping customers discover products they might not buy individually. Pair bestsellers with complementary items, build gift-ready sets, or create an easy introduction to your brand.
Here's the math: If your normal average order is $60, a $180 bundle discounted by 40% sells for $108. That's an order value 80% higher than your usual cart…and a customer who feels like they got something substantial.
5. Carry the offer all the way to checkout
Nothing kills momentum like a great deal that suddenly gets confusing in the cart. Make the promotion visible and consistent from the ad to the landing page to the product page. Show the savings clearly. Explain shipping thresholds and delivery cutoffs early. Keep return information easy to find. If there's a gift with purchase, tell shoppers exactly how to get it.
Then look for smart upsells: a complementary product, a giftable add-on, or a nudge toward free shipping. Keep it helpful, not pushy. Your checkout should feel like the final few feet of a smooth run, not a surprise mogul field.
Pro tip: make sure you have a cart drawer (we recommend Upcart if it’s not already built into your Shopify site) for easy shopping, upsells, cross-sell, & more without redirecting shoppers.
6. Put your best creative back to work
You don't need to reinvent every ad for Black Friday. Go back through your strongest-performing ads, creator videos, customer testimonials, and product demos. Which hooks actually drove purchases? Start there. Refresh the opening line, add the holiday offer, update the end card, and give proven creative a new job.
7. Be loud. Be clear. Be consistent.
You've spent weeks putting together the offer. Now make sure people can actually find it.
Use the homepage, announcement bar, email, SMS, organic social, paid ads, and creator content to tell the same story. Pin the offer to your social profiles. Refresh your ad headlines. Put the deadline somewhere visible. And answer the basics every time: What's the deal? What's included? When does it end? Where do I shop?
You can repeat a message without making it feel repetitive—especially when each touchpoint adds something useful. Clarity beats cleverness when someone is ready to buy.
8. Watch the right numbers while the snow is falling
Black Friday isn't the time to judge success by traffic alone. Track conversion rate, AOV, CAC, and revenue—but keep an eye on contribution margin, too. A huge sales weekend can look a lot less exciting when you account for the discount and the cost of getting each order.
Watch which offers and products are moving, where carts are getting abandoned, and whether your ads are bringing in new customers or just catching people who were already on their way to buy. Make small, informed adjustments while the campaign is live.
The bottom line
You don't need the steepest discount on the internet. You need a strong offer, a site that explains your value, and a shopping experience that doesn't make people work for it. Get those pieces dialed in before Black Friday, and you'll be in a much better position when the traffic starts piling up.
Less friction. More conversions. Let's get this thing down the mountain.
