This blog post is the final installment of our Black Friday Checklist series. Check out our blog for the full range of tips and insights, as we count down to the biggest shopping event of the year!
If you’ve missed any of the blog posts in our Black Friday Blueprint series, don’t worry. We’ve pulled it all together in this ultimate checklist of everything you need to review, test, schedule, and launch before the big day!
Reporting & Insights
The first port of call to prepare for Black Friday 2022? Your site reports from 2021.Start with your search data to review popular queries and zero result terms, and set up corresponding synonyms and landing pages to optimize the search experience this year. Next up, category insights. Make sure your top-performing pages are updated and ready to launch, and identify any merchandising changes that could boost under-performing categories. Finally, dig into your conversion reports from 2021. How does your Black Friday AOV compare with the rest of the year? Could you increase cart values with smart cross-selling and personalized recommendations this holiday season?
Here’s everything to look for in your Black Friday Reports >
Merchandising
Build Black Friday hype with merchandising that spans the entire shopper journey. Start by clearing out old campaigns that don’t align with your holiday strategy. If you haven’t already, implement a dynamic rule that removes products from view as they sell out. Then, curate dedicated landing pages that showcase your offers, sales, and promotions with eye-catching banners and badges. Apply the same messaging and visuals to your social media, email communications, and ad campaigns for a consistent end-to-end experience. Finally, remember to pre-schedule your Black Friday merchandising campaign launch, so you have one less task to do on the day.
Read more about Black Friday Merchandising >
Personalization
Black Friday is no longer a one-size-fits-all sale campaign. Each shopper has unique preferences and intent, which is why you need to personalize their holiday shopping experience. Provide intelligent recommendations based on individual shopper behavior, personalize their search results, and offer geo-merchandising based on visitor location. In the run up to Cyber Weekend, use personalized email recommendations to engage customers and drive them to your site with offers they can’t resist. In the sea of noisy marketing campaigns this Black Friday, personalization is your secret weapon to capture shoppers’ interest.
Learn more about Black Friday Personalization >
Site Search
Shoppers who search are among your highest-intent buyers this Black Friday. Support these customers to make quick and easy purchases with predictive autocomplete, spell correction, and hyper-accurate results. As mentioned above, your site reports are a goldmine to help you eliminate zero result queries or irrelevant products from search results. For a truly effortless search experience, apply personalization and merchandising rules to optimize the order in which search results appear. Boost products that match individual shopper preferences, or elevate best sellers and top rated results to drive increased conversions.
Get more tips on Black Friday Site Search >
General Prep
Now is the time to tackle all of those last minute tasks. Shop your own site as a final test for any glitches or bugs, and confirm all FAQ pages are up-to-date for the holiday season. Check with external vendors that they are prepared for a spike in traffic, and ask what their contingency plans are in the event of a system failure. Don’t forget to check in with your internal teams, too. Brief customer support, sales, and IT on everything they need to know for a seamless Cyber Weekend. And lastly, take some time to plan for your post-Black Friday loyalty campaigns – it will all be over before you know it.
Check the final steps on Black Friday Prep >
Deliver Exceptional Black Friday Shopping Experiences
Black Friday is a stressful time of year for online retailers, but the right solutions make it a lot easier. Searchspring’s ecommerce platform elevates the shopper experience with site search, merchandising, and personalization.
Get in touch today to learn more about Searchspring’s search, merchandising, and personalization platform.
