Black Friday and Cyber Monday reward preparation. This guide collects practical advice from 16 ecommerce experts, covering everything from email and site performance to stock, fulfillment, and strategy, so you can pick the tips that suit your business.

Job titles and companies are as they were when we spoke to each expert. For dates, the latest sales data, and a planning timeline, see our Black Friday and Cyber Monday guide.

Themes across the 16 experts

• Plan early. Most of the experts start weeks ahead, including supplier deals, bundles, and pre-packing.
• Be targeted. Segmented emails and offers beat blanket discounts.
• Protect your margin. Promote products that sell and discount a few of them well.
• Make the site and checkout fast and clear.
• Make sure stock and fulfillment can cope. Sales mean little if you can’t deliver.

#1 Richard Goss: Preparation is key

Richard Goss is Commercial Director at Rinkit, with over 10 years in ecommerce.

“Finally, pre-pack as much as you can now so that when it comes to Black Friday, all you need to do is stick the label on.”

Richard’s advice is to do the work before the weekend: agree collections with your couriers for the Saturday and Sunday, build your product bundles early so they’re live well ahead of the day, and pre-pack as much as you can.

Key takeaways:

• Speak to your couriers in advance
• Create product bundles now
• Pre-pack as much as you can

#2 Matthew Thorpe: Make your customers feel extra special

Matthew Thorpe is the founder of Grasshopper, a web consultancy specializing in online sales, traffic, SEO, and marketing.

“Don’t be tempted to spam customers with discount offers.”

Matthew recommends segmenting your list ahead of time and targeting people with offers based on what they’ve already bought, instead of a blanket discount. Plant the seed a week early with a couple of pre-sale emails, and use the extra traffic to grow your list even when people don’t buy.

Key takeaways:

• Target segments
• Create pre-sale buzz
• Always add value for your customers

#3 Paul Rogers: Perform a site search

Paul Rogers is the founder of Vervaunt and an ecommerce consultant.

“Spending time looking at search terms that are driving 0-result errors and fixing these using synonyms is another good quick win.”

Paul sees site search as a quick way to improve your site before peak. Use boosting rules to promote the right products, whether by margin, popularity, or seasonal surge, fix zero-result searches, and check that paid media budgets aren’t capping out on your highest-demand products.

Key takeaways:

• Review your site search
• Apply boosting rules
• Fix zero-result searches
• Reallocate paid media budgets

#4 Chris MacNeil: Make the most of Amazon Black Friday

Chris MacNeil is the founder of E-booster and a specialist in Amazon FBA and FBM.

“Your aim on Amazon Black Friday is to get as many people to view your product listings as possible.”

Chris says to make sure stock is high enough for the extra demand, monitor customer feedback and respond promptly, and consider free shipping to stand out. If you have related products, bundling them can help you win the Buy Box. See our guide to winning the Amazon Buy Box.

Key takeaways:

• Make sure you have enough stock
• Monitor feedback and reply promptly
• Offer free shipping to stand out
• Bundle related products

#5 Dave Hermansen: Reduce prices based on your industry

Dave Hermansen is the founder of Storecoach and has worked in ecommerce since 2003.

“Pick a few of the most popular products and knock the price down as much as you can.”

Dave puts a sale banner on the homepage and on every category and product page, and ends the sale at a set time to create urgency. For stores with repeat customers, he suggests a dedicated Black Friday specials page rather than discounting everything, deep discounts on a few popular products, and teasing the deals on social media in the days before. Make sure any price claims, such as “lowest prices of the year,” are true.

Key takeaways:

• Use banners that create urgency
• Discount a few popular products deeply
• Tease your deals on social media
• Repeat for Cyber Monday

#6 James Gurd: Entice with price-driven hooks

James Gurd is the founder of Digital Juggler, an ecommerce and digital marketing consultancy.

“There’s no point driving huge sales increases via the website and phone line if your operational capacity won’t support it.”

James suggests letting customers sign up for price alerts by category, brand, or product, building a landing page for the products in your promotion, and sending targeted emails based on purchase history. Use tiered incentives to lift basket size, and bundles to raise average order value. Above all, make sure your people and systems can cope.

Key takeaways:

• Encourage price alert sign-ups
• Build a landing page for your offers
• Use targeted campaigns and segments
• Make sure you have the resources for the extra demand

#7 Ryan Gardiner: Never just wing it

Ryan Gardiner is the founder of DCI Digital and a former ecommerce manager.

“Plan and prepare, don’t just wing it.”

Ryan has seen more businesses fail at Black Friday than succeed, often because they chased hype. He recommends putting your effort behind products that have already proven they sell, asking suppliers for better rates in exchange for prominent promotion, using cart abandonment emails, thinking about customer lifetime value and not just the day’s profit, and preparing your Google Ads copy in advance.

Key takeaways:

• Plan and prepare, never wing it
• Focus on your winning products
• Have cart abandonment emails in place
• Prepare your ad copy in advance

#8 Kathir Sid Vel: Beware of the coupon code wormhole

Kathir Sid Vel is the ecommerce specialist at Optimise Web.

“Do not make it hard for them to find your code(s).”

Kathir says shoppers expect a coupon code at Black Friday, so decide your strategy early and show the code across your site and social profiles, so shoppers don’t leave to search for one. He also advises testing your stock integrations before the weekend, and giving realistic delivery times.

Key takeaways:

• Get your coupon code strategy right
• Promote your codes on social media
• Keep stock status and lead times accurate

#9 Chris Dawson: Gift sets always sell well

Chris Dawson is the founder of Tamebay, a news and intelligence site for online sellers, and a former full-time eBay seller.

“Make up your own gift set, with a combination of your best-selling products, it will increase your average order value.”

Chris recommends including “gift set” in the title so shoppers looking for presents find it. He also suggests that standard delivery can be enough for Black Friday orders bought as Christmas gifts, which eases pressure on your warehouse, and that extended returns give buyers a safety net.

Key takeaways:

• Make up your own gift sets
• Consider whether standard delivery is enough for gift orders
• Consider offering extended returns

#10 Tom Robertshaw: Ensure optimal site performance

Tom Robertshaw is the founder of Meanbee and Hivemind Research.

“The increase in traffic during this period is a great time to run some A/B tests because it won’t take as long to get a good sample.”

Tom’s advice is to squeeze the most out of your site: check server and front-end performance, caching, and image size, offer familiar wallet payment methods to speed up checkout, and state standard shipping costs clearly next to the add-to-basket button. Build excitement in advance, and show time left or depleting stock.

Key takeaways:

• Optimize site performance
• Use the extra traffic for A/B testing
• Offer familiar, simple payment methods
• Show shipping costs clearly
• Check your marketing plan, and then check it again

#11 Craig Weiss: Hype it up

Craig Weiss is the founder of ArtYah, a handmade marketplace.

“Black Friday is a crazy day, and conveying the idea how easy it is to shop online at your store will help people figure out the best values.”

Craig suggests announcing your sale about a week ahead on social channels and in relevant online communities, and making your store as easy to shop as possible on the day.

Key takeaways:

• Create hype on social media
• Post in relevant forums and communities
• Make shopping with you easy

#12 Darren Ratcliffe: Make sure you’re well-resourced

Darren Ratcliffe is the founder of Digitl, an ecommerce consultancy.

“Give new customers the best possible experience of shopping with your business and use the data for marketing to in the future.”

Darren’s view is that taking part can become more important than profit, so don’t do it just because everyone else is. Get the right stock to sell at a profit, give yourself time to promote, and be ready to fulfill quickly, with FBA as an option if margins allow.

Key takeaways:

• Don’t do it just because everyone else is
• Get the right stock to sell at a profit
• Be resourced to fulfill orders quickly
• Give customers a great experience

#13 Nuno da Silva: Perfect your strategy

Nuno da Silva is the founder and CEO of Top Labels Online, an online fashion retailer that started in the UK and expanded internationally.

Nuno’s tip is to build a Black Friday strategy around your own company, instead of copying a generic playbook: look at the bigger picture, choose the right timeline, and set realistic goals.

Key takeaways:

• Look at the bigger picture
• Choose the right timeline
• Set realistic goals

#14 David Reakins: Offer unique deals

David Reakins is the founder of RC Geeks, a retailer of remote control products in the UK and Europe.

“We offer real deals to our customers and they thank us for it with their loyalty.”

David plans several weeks ahead and works with suppliers on deals that are unique to his customers, often including bundles, instead of the same fixed discounts as everyone else. He avoids inflated RRPs, forecasts quantities so there’s adequate stock to fulfill orders after the weekend (see our reporting and insights), and draws in extra staff to help.

Key takeaways:

• It’s all in the preparation
• Don’t follow the crowd, offer unique deals
• Forecast quantities and work with suppliers in advance
• Bring in extra staff to fulfill orders

#15 Simon Toon: Think tactically

Simon Toon is Director of Professional Services at Emarsys and was previously Head of Technology Communications at House of Fraser.

“Think about scenario modelling and testing your scenarios.”

Simon points out that when growth is slower, business teams push for more tactical changes to find extra revenue. Anticipate those requests, talk to IT early, and give them time to support quick, safe changes.

Key takeaways:

• Test your scenarios in advance
• Think tactically about what the business will ask for
• Prepare your IT team for the extra demand

#16 Chloe Thomas: Know what Black Friday means to you

Chloe Thomas is the author of “eCommerce Marketing: How to Get Traffic that Buys to Your Website.”

“The number one thing you need to do to make Black Friday successful is to be clear on what Black Friday success means for your business.”

Chloe asks who you’re targeting and what you want them to do: convert enquirers, win repeat purchases, or acquire new customers. Then structure offers that help, such as promoting products with high margins, clearing slow inventory, or limiting how many units get the Black Friday price, to create scarcity.

Key takeaways:

• Define what success means for you
• Target the right customers
• Structure offers around margin and stock

Putting the advice to work

You don’t need to apply every tip. Pick the ones that fit your customers, your margins, and your operation. Then make sure the basics are covered: accurate stock on every channel, realistic delivery promises, and enough capacity to fulfill orders. See our guides to peak season inventory, peak season shipping, and Christmas sales tips, and the peak season ecommerce guide.

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