What is BFCM and How Small Stores Can Take Advantage of It

BFCM is Black Friday, Cyber Monday, one of the most anticipated sales period for every merchant— online and in-store. Last year, Shopify merchants collectively made over $1.5 billion USD in sales during BFCM.

But, if you’re a new or small merchant, you may wonder why, what, and how of this sale season. That’s why we’ve put together this quick blog to give you the rundown to start selling on Black Friday immediately.

What are Black Friday and Cyber Monday?

Black Friday, Cyber Monday (BFCM) is the most significant shopping period from the Friday after Thanksgiving until Monday. This year (2019), BFCM is from 29 November to 2 December. This informal event became popular around the 1960s to mark the start of America’s Christmas shopping season since people would skip work to hit stores. However, retail stores adopted this tradition in the early 1980s when they started seeing a financial benefit to this annual shopping spree. This holiday was born in the United States, but it quickly spread to different parts of the world, especially in countries like the United Kingdom and Australia.

Cyber Monday was introduced later in 2005, at the advent of online shopping, to promote eCommerce businesses among Black Friday deal hunters. Currently, online shopping is seeing more success than retail stores, with ecommerce sales figures surpassing retail purchases.

But, you may wonder, what is so special about this sale weekend? Let us illustrate its popularity. Here’s a store being opened at 4 am for Black Friday:

Since Black Friday is a highly marketed annual sale as the season’s biggest sale, shoppers are eager to look for the best deals on products from fashion and makeup to furniture and even flat-screen TVs. Additionally, retail and eCommerce stores slash their prices as high as 60% to entice shoppers. These significant discounts have even instigated violence among shoppers in stores.

Now, for the most critical part— planning your Black Friday sale.

Getting Started with Black Friday Planning

Whether you’re a small store or a large enterprise, Black Friday is your opportunity to grab more eyeballs, get new visitors onto your store, increase purchases, bring back customers to shop from you again, and earn more. It is beneficial for stores just starting, as the sale season boosts sales and helps them increase their customer base.

You  might want to consider creating a digital catalog as it’s a great way for businesses to reach more customers and increase their sales. Digital catalogs are easier and more cost-effective for businesses to create than physical catalogs, reducing the cost of production and distribution. Additionally, make/create a digital catalog to sell more can be seen by customers more easily, giving businesses powerful reach across the globe. They can also include interactive features such as product reviews, video content, and detailed product information that can engage customers and help them make purchasing decisions. Creating a digital catalog is an excellent way for businesses to grow.

There are three core steps to any Black Friday sale:

1. Decide your discount amount
2. Promote your store’s discount before and during the sale with innovative marketing channels.
3. Engage with visitors to your store and maximize conversions with stellar customer support.

Want more details on these steps and maximize your reach during this sale? Pick up our easy-to-follow Black Friday checklist to plan your sale efficiently and set up a successful BFCM sale on your online store.

PushOwl for BFCM

Web push notifications are a great way to market your sale immediately and get more visibility for your short-lived sale quickly. By crafting well-written web push notifications about your sale, you can increase traffic to your store and get people who have subscribed to your store to come back and purchase from you.

Here are two blogs we have to help you plan your web push notifications for sale:

• Web push strategy: Guide to Planning BFCM with Web Push Notifications
• Web push copy tactics: 8 Web Push Notification Tactics for a Successful Black Friday Sale

Another hack for Black Friday is to use the surge of store visitors to your advantage by optimizing your web push subscription tactics for sale. Our blog on how to turn your Black Friday visitors into subscribers gives you every tip to increase your subscriber list and ensure you have a larger audience to market to, even after the sale.

Other Resources

Here are some helpful resources based on the problem you want to solve during BFCM:

• Abandoned Cart Recovery Strategy For BFCM
• Black Friday Email Marketing Ideas to Skyrocket Your Sales in 2019
• Shopify Apps and their Black Friday deals
• 10 Black Friday Marketing Tips for Instagram
• Make the Most of Loyalty this Black Friday and Cyber Monday
• 10 Innovative Ways to Use SMS Marketing for BFCM
• 5 Messenger Marketing Campaigns To Increase Black Friday and Cyber Monday Sales

There are less than ten days, so we hope you’re rushing to set up your Black Friday sale in your store!