What is BFCM?

Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM), also called Cyber Week, stands out in the annual business calendar, announcing the start of the holiday shopping season. Deriving originally from the United States, Black Friday occurs the day following Thanksgiving, while Cyber Monday unfolds on the subsequent Monday.

The term "Black Friday" originated in the 1950s in Philadelphia, describing the chaos that ensued on the day after Thanksgiving when hordes of suburban shoppers and tourists flooded into the city before the big Army-Navy football game held on that Saturday every year. The term "Cyber Monday" was coined much later, in 2005, by the National Retail Federation to encourage people to shop online.

The period and the ensuing holiday season have a huge economic impact: Adobe forecasts sales of $221.8 billion for the more extended holiday shopping period. Beyond the numbers, Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals and discounts have turned it into a cultural and commercial phenomenon.

Why you should care

Did you know that despite all the positive factors around BFCM, the past three-year average annual sales growth during BFCM is a low 6.64%:

The data shows the pandemic boom is over, and competition is tighter than ever. You will likely only stand out if you put extra effort into a BFCM strategy. Fortunately, there are happier trendlines to give hope to entrepreneurs and marketers.

5 Quick Facts from BFCM 2022:

1. The 2022 Cyber Week showed us that U.S. shoppers aren't slowing down, averaging $430 a pop and snagging savings of 24%—a solid nod to savvy shopping in a more challenging economy.

2. Cyber Monday was the big winner, with a record $11.3 billion spent, growing by 5.8% compared to last year. Black Friday was a step behind, pulling in a hefty $9.12 billion.

3. The average website conversion rate jumped from 2.72% to 4.09% on Black Friday and 3.11% on Cyber Monday.

4. Electronics sales surged by over 19% during BFCM compared to an average day in October, demonstrating the strong consumer demand for tech products during this peak shopping time.

5. There's been a notable increase in advertising spend during the BFCM period, with a particular rise in Google's market share over Facebook. Ad spending has tripled since 2019, highlighting the competition for consumer attention.

BFCM for e-commerce: why it is still relevant

Because of the above trends, Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) strategies and promotions remain hugely significant to e-commerce despite slowing overall sales growth numbers. Brands see a 370% sales uplift on average during the period.

Many experts agree and still see the impact of BFCM on the e-commerce sector. As highlighted in a podcast on Ecwid by Jim Huffman, the Cyber Week period still marks the most significant holiday sales season in the United States. Even if you do not buy the hype, building BFCM experiences and content can increase sales and help clear your inventory before the year ends. Thus, it is an excellent time to test new ideas.

Regardless of why you are interested in BFCM as a brand, post-2020, the shift to online shopping has been drastic. BFCM serves as a significant period for e-commerce professionals to elevate sales and profitability, as noted by Price2Spy.

The larger global impact

The surge in consumer traffic during BFCM directly results from the content and deals offered by e-commerce businesses. However, many consumers worldwide start their holiday shopping before December, thus making BFCM and the holiday season one of the most lucrative periods for e-commerce globally.

• Cross-border shopping is a rising trend, making up 15% of global orders. The busiest routes? Think Canada to the U.S., vice versa, and the UK to the U.S. trade.

• On the Shopify platform alone, there was a 12% increase in global consumers purchasing from independent brands, with 52 million worldwide engaging in BFCM shopping.

An introduction to Black Friday strategies

A brand's success during BFCM isn't accidental but a product of meticulous planning and strategic execution. How do you plan to tackle the BFCM and holiday season?

The first strategy to come to mind is offering Black Friday deals with a considerable discount. However, there may be other options. Going with substantial discounts can help a brand stand out amidst the fierce competition that characterizes BFCM​. But a better alternative is adding value by creating BFCM-related experiences on your e-commerce site with tools like Flockler and sticking to smaller deals. To do that, explore 15 Black Friday strategies and promotions.

7-Step BFCM quick guide (including Shopify & Klaviyo)

Because of the increased user traffic and consumer interest, the Black Friday Cyber Monday period is a goldmine for getting results from quick improvements. Your success recipe involves getting prepared, engaging your customers well, and keeping an eye on how things are going. Here’s a simple 7-step guide for your online store for BFCM.

1. Getting Ready:

   1. Stock Up: Ensure you have enough goods to meet the demand.

   2. Speed Up Your Site: A fast, mobile-friendly site is vital, as 73% of Shopify sales come from mobile phones during BFCM.

2. Eye-Catching Visuals:

   1. Snap Good Pics: Quality images and videos will make your products shine.

   2. Theme It Up: Blend in BFCM themes on your website to get in the festive spirit. For example, copying a code snippet that adds an Instagram interactive widget to your Shopify site takes only a few minutes and is something every marketer can do.

3. Irresistible Offers:

   1. Discounts & Bundles: Roll out tempting deals and bundles to get shoppers clicking

   2. Exclusive Deals: Offer special deals for a limited time or select goodies to create a buzz. A neat way to increase sales for a limited-time offer or a BFCM newsletter is to add a video to your e-mail. That even works for spicing up your BFCM efforts in Klaviyo.

4. Spread the Word:

   1. Email Alerts: Craft catchy email campaigns to inform customers about your BFCM deals. Remember to test social media in your emails.

   2. Fomo Hype: Stir excitement by showing live customer interactions with Fomo notifications.

5. Helpful Customer Support:

   1. FAQs: Update your FAQ section to tackle common BFCM questions.

   2. Live Chat: A live chat can be a lifesaver for customers needing instant help.

6. Keep Tabs:

   1. Check the Numbers: Use analytics solutions like Google Analytics or its alternatives like Plausible to see how you're doing and where you can improve.

   2. Customer Feedback: Collect feedback to learn what worked and what didn’t. Flockler offers a simple custom form functionality for no extra cost.

7. Post-BFCM Love:

   1. Thank You Notes: Send warm thank you notes to your customers with a tool like SmartrMail.

   2. Follow-up offers: Keep the momentum going with follow-up offers to encourage more shopping.

How to boost BFCM sales with User-Generated Content

Here are five easy ways you can use user-generated content to increase your sales during BFCM and the wider holiday season on a deeper level. 

📸 Collect and Display UGC

Use Flockler to gather and showcase user-generated content on your site. A structured approach can enhance engagement and social proof, leading to higher conversions during BFCM.

• Select social media platforms and define a hashtag for your UGC campaign.

• Set clear goals for the campaign (e.g., increase engagement, drive traffic, etc.).

• Automate the UGC collection process with Flockler.

• Encourage customers to create and share content.

• Display the collected UGC on your website and other digital channels.

🌟 Feature Reviews 

To build trust, you can use Flockler's review form creator to first collect and then display reviews on your website.

• Create a review form on your website using Flockler.

• Share the review page link in emails, social media, and other channels.

• Encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews.

• Feature positive reviews prominently on your site.

• Respond to reviews to show you value customer feedback.

💬 Integrate Social Media

Embedding social media feeds on your site can keep the content fresh and the engagement going. Flockler offers an easy way to integrate various social media channels into your Shopify store.

• Curate social feeds from Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and more using Flockler.

• Choose the display layout that suits your site's aesthetics: Wall, Grid, Carousel, or Slideshow.

• Embed the curated social feed on any page of your site.

• Moderate the displayed content to maintain a positive and engaging user experience.

• Tag products on social media posts to provide a seamless shopping experience.

🎁 Create a UGC Contest

Initiate a UGC contest to motivate customers to create and share content related to your brand, boosting engagement and collecting more UGC.

• Define a clear and engaging theme for your UGC contest.

• Set clear, simple, and easy-to-follow contest rules.

• Promote the contest on social media channels, email marketing, and your website.

• Use Flockler to collect contest entries and display them on your site.

• Announce winners on your website and social media channels.

📊 Measure UGC Impact

Do you know who is your most effective influencer or what hashtag performs the best during BFCM? 

• Know your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) well so you can measure the success accurately.

• Monitor the engagement levels on the UGC displayed on your site and social media channels.

• Evaluate the traffic driven to your site through the UGC campaigns.

• Assess the conversion rate from the UGC campaigns.

• Use the insights gained from the analysis to optimize your future UGC campaigns.

3 more ways to raise BFCM sales with social proof

Social proof is more than just user-generated images or videos. You can use the whole spectrum of social signals more effectively by widening your scope with a bit of smart thinking and a few new tools. Consider combining your social media with your e-mail campaigns and adding additional notifications and messaging on your website and across your channels. 

💌 Master Email Marketing

SmartrMail offers a variety of features for personalized email marketing. You can use these tools to boost your BFCM sales.

• Create and schedule email newsletters to inform customers about your BFCM deals.

• Launch SMS Marketing campaigns for real-time updates and exclusive offers.

• Set up Automated Flows to nurture leads and engage with customers at different stages of their buying journey.

• Recover lost sales by sending Abandoned Cart Emails to remind customers of items they left behind.

• Utilize Smart Segmentation to target different customer groups with tailored offers.
   

🎉 Create Urgency

SalesPop leverages social proof and FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) to boost conversions on your site.

• Display Cart Activity Pops to show product popularity and inspire purchases.

• Build trust with Order and Payment Pops by showcasing real-time purchases.

• Show Live Activity Pops to display the number of people currently browsing your site.

• Share Recent Activity Pops to exhibit the recent amount of people that navigated your site.

• Make your store look busy and increase buyer trust by setting up SalesPop across your product pages.

🤝 Build Trust with Fomo

Fomo helps in displaying real-time customer interactions, creating a sense of trust and urgency.

• Showcase recent purchases on your Shopify store to encourage others to buy.

• Gain social media followers by displaying your social proof on your site.

• Boost email signups by showing off recent signups on your store.

• Exhibit responsive customer support by showing off support ticket resolutions.

• Display form submissions and button clicks to exhibit engagement on your site.

Each tool brings unique features to the table. Integrating these tools can help create a rich, engaging, and trust-building shopping environment for your customers during the high-traffic BFCM period. By harnessing the combined power of Flockler, SmartrMail, SalesPop, and Fomo, you can significantly enhance customer engagement, boost conversions, and, ultimately, increase your BFCM sales.