12‌ ‌Less‌ ‌Talked‌ ‌About‌ ‌Black‌ ‌Friday‌ ‌&‌ ‌Cyber‌ ‌Monday‌ ‌Tips

If you are tired of reading the same old same old BFCM (Black Friday & Cyber Monday) tips like “optimize your PPC campaigns”, “optimize your product listing”, or “send inventory to FBA in advance”, then this blog is for you. It’s the year 2021, we have almost survived a pandemic, the consumer behavior has drastically changed over the past year, so it’s time to up your sales strategy with our expert tips. Our Amazon consultants listed these tips based on our hands-on experience we’ve earned working on our client’s Amazon accounts.

Here’s why the BFCM event is the most lucrative time of the year

• In 2021, the sales on Amazon during the Black Friday week spiked up to 20%

• According to NRF, 93.2 million buyers shopped on Black Friday, 2019

• As per Feedvisor’s report, on Black Friday Sale 2021, Amazon shoppers spent twice than they spent on Thanksgiving

• According to eMarketer, out of the top 50 retailers, Amazon accounted for 54.9% of all sales on Black Friday, 2019

The history and growth of the BFCM week (or rather month)

• In 2017, the BFCM became a 5-day event as sellers saw a peak in sales 5 days after Thanksgiving. Amazon then started to call the five-day span between Black Friday and Cyber Monday “Turkey 5”.

• In 2018, Cyber Monday sales outshined Black Friday sales, and people began to use the term BFCM.

• In 2019, the deals and the BFCM event started on Veteran’s Day.

• Unlike every other year, in 2020, sales and deals began 11 days after Prime Day and lasted for 5 weeks.

According to Statista, USA customers will spend 15% more this year than in 2020 and at least a third is likely to spend their savings on Amazon. Although we are 3 weeks away from the BFCM event; Amazon has started to drop “Black Friday-worthy deals” under its Epic Deals banner. It is anticipated that even if Black Friday is on November 26th, the event will last the whole week. Similarly, Cyber Monday too will last for the entire week, from November 29th to December 5th.

Top tips to help you navigate through the BFCM event with ease

#1: Remember that most of the BFCM sales don’t even happen on BFCM

Experienced Amazon sellers and Top Amazon PPC Agencies know that most of the BFCM deals start much ahead of time and continue weeks after the event. If you want to make the most of the event, get your campaigns up and running a week or two before Black Friday. This will help you collect data beforehand for you to optimize during the event. Your advertising campaigns, discount offers and marketing efforts should run for up to a week after Cyber Monday. This will help you target the latecomers.

#2: Be prime eligible

According to research, 78% of holiday shoppers are more likely to buy a product if they are offered same-day delivery. Looking at the data, ensuring that your products are Prime eligible is a no-brainer. One of the easiest ways to make your product Prime eligible is by listing them under FBA. Leveraging FBA can also free you from the hassles of customer service, delivery, returns, and refunds, allowing you to focus on other important things.

There is another reason to make your products Prime eligible. This is the first Black Friday Cyber Monday event where shoppers can send gifts to people, even if they don’t know the addresses. With just a phone number or email address, Prime members can instantly send gifts to their friends and loved ones.

#3: You don’t always have to depend on Amazon’s traffic

Amazon marketplace is already crowded and the competition increases tenfold in Q4. Instead of wasting all your marketing dollars on targeting Amazon customers, use some to drive off Amazon traffic on your detail page. By driving external traffic, you gain a competitive advantage over your competitors because you have the opportunity to woo a customer before any noise comes in. You can send emails informing about the discount offers in your Amazon store to your newsletter subscribers or promote your products on social media handles.

#4: Create hype on your social media accounts

Most of your shoppers are going to be millennials and they have a major FOMO (fear of missing out). As the BFCM week approaches, start hyping things up where your shoppers spend their most time, i.e., Instagram, Facebook (we meant Meta) and TikTok. Your caption and ad copy should contain sentences like “Don’t Miss Our Black Friday Sale,” “Cyber Monday Specials,” “Our Black Friday Deals are Coming Soon,” and “Buy Till The Stock Lasts.”

#5: (Virtually) bundle your products

If you have two or more products in your catalog that complement each other, tie them in an attractive bundle to increase the order value per customer. Adding products in a bundle can help you tap into the classic buyer mentality of ‘buy more, save more. Make sure you offer a discount or one-off ‘combo’ deal to encourage customers to buy two complementary products instead of one. You can create a “Virtual bundle” of your product from the ‘Brands’ section of your dashboard or ask our Amazon consulting experts to create one for you. Virtual bundles are an easy way to create unique gift packs without the hassle of packing and shipping them together to the FBA warehouse.

#6: Include holiday-related keywords

Try to include words like “Black Friday deals,” “Cyber Monday deals, etc. in your search terms, PPC campaigns, detail page copy and backend fields (Subject Matter, Target Audience, Intended Use and Other Attributes). This is a time of gift-giving, so make sure to drill down to be more specific with terms like “Christmas gifts.” If you are selling a paintbrush set, you can also include phrases like “art and craft gifts,” “gifts for artists,” etc. Amazon does not encourage the use of terms like “deals” and “sales,” so make sure not to include these in your copy more than once.

#7: Give your product detail page a holiday makeover

Apart from optimizing your product detail page with the right keywords, be sure to include holiday-specific images and banners in your A+ Page and write holiday-specific copy in your bullets to bring in the festive spirit. These minor tweaks will make a huge difference in your sales in the coming weeks. Hire product listing optimization experts to make these subtle yet impactful changes in your PDP.

#8: Cash on your existing customer base

The shoppers who have already purchased from you know about your brands and the products you sell, so it makes complete sense to keep your existing customer base at the center of your BFCM sales strategy. Start pitching them in advance before they head elsewhere for their holiday shopping. Leverage your social media accounts and email marketing campaigns to notify them about the deals and discounts you have in store for them.

• Prepare an email list and send Back Friday and Cyber Monday specific emails to your existing customers

• Use personalized subject lines and attractive graphics to lure customers in

• Schedule and send an email on different time zones for a maximum open ratio

#9: Use store version

With the new ‘Store Versions’ feature, brands can create Black Friday and holiday-specific pages that will run for the BFCM week only. You can also make a separate page that highlights all the deals, offers, and discounts your store has to offer and use it as a landing page for your Sponsored Brands + off Amazon marketing campaigns. To create store versions:

1. Click the Version drop-down menu at the top of the page and select Create a new version

2. Select an existing version to use as a starting point for the new version. Note: The existing version of your Amazon seller storefront won’t be affected

   1. Click Create version

3. Click Edit now to make changes to the new version

4. When you’re done editing, click Submit for publishing in the top-right corner

5. Select the start and end date for your new version and submit

#10: Leverage data to make strategic decisions

Analyzing past years’ data will help you make informed decisions. You can identify the best sellers and stock inventory accordingly, identify the peak sale days plan your advertising campaigns, and look at metrics such as keyword positions, rankings, and CPC to target past year’s top converting keywords.

#11: Get ready to brave the wave of returns

Everyone prepares you for the increase in sales; no one prepares you for the returns after. Buyers are in a shopping frenzy at this time of the year. They’re going to have second thoughts on a lot of purchases they’ve made. According to a study, about 34% of Americans will return gifts they received over the holiday season. Although returns are inevitable, you can at least make efforts to avoid returns because of the wrong information listed on the detail page. Any other returns should be tactfully dealt with. Don’t be rude to customers or argue with them, or you could face something even worse: a negative review. Talk to them politely and offer them an exchange or refund to close the matter.

#12: Have a backup plan in place

Being prepared doesn’t just mean optimizing your advertising campaigns and posting deals on social media.

You should be prepared for the worst. What if things go south? What if you run out of inventory? What if one of your best-selling products gets suspended exactly on Black Friday? It is important to prepare yourself for tough situations like this.

Make the most of “Turkey 5”

This is the busiest time of the year for Amazon sellers. Shoppers are in a frenzy and it’s the perfect time for you to get your sales back in the black. However, the BFCM weekend isn’t something that can be managed off the cuff! You must plan so you can enjoy the benefits of the event without being caught off guard because of a lack of effort. Follow these tips or contact us. We are one of the Top Amazon Agencies and hundreds of Amazon sellers have trusted their business on us.