You only take out the real profit from Black Friday after the weekend

In e-commerce, one weekend is the most important weekend of the year: Black Friday weekend, ending on Cyber Monday. Prepare yourself well! After all, there is a lot to organise, from implementing discounts to running campaigns. We are happy to help you. With this ultimate guide, you can get your entire Black Friday planning up and running in no time. How convenient!

Black Friday sugar rush

It's the end of November. Campaigns are in full swing, discounts are flying around and orders are pouring in. The Black Friday weekend feels like the ultimate victory in e-commerce. But what happens when the dust settles? For many webshops, the “sugar rush” of sales is followed by an inevitable crash: the customers you worked so hard to attract, at the expense of your margins, are never seen again.

The competition focuses on the transaction. Tomorrow's winners focus on the relationship. In this guide, you'll dive into the only strategy that matters in the long run: how to turn those expensive, one-time Black Friday buyers into loyal, returning fans.

The trap of the one-time buyer: Why 80% don't return

Black Friday shoppers are bargain hunters by nature. They are attracted by the deal, not necessarily by your brand. Without a well-thought-out strategy to retain them after the purchase, they disappear as quickly as they came. So the real challenge is not to get them to buy, but to get them to stay. The profit is not in that one transaction, but in the Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) that you build up afterwards. Various studies, for example by LoyaltyLion and Omniconvert, show that the average retention rate is around 20 to 30%. This means that you are missing out on at least 80% of customers who only buy from you once. What makes it even worse is that, according to research by Shopify, 64% of webshops indicate that shoppers recruited during Black Friday have a lower customer lifetime value. This shows that there is a real need to retain customers to the webshop after Black Friday. For example, 80% of buyers indicate that their loyalty to an online shop is increased if it offers benefits, such as early access to Black Friday deals. So there is plenty of profit to be made before Black Friday, during Black Friday and after Black Friday.

Pre-Black Friday email strategy tips

You want to announce Black Friday early. But really: early. On Black Friday itself, your inbox will be flooded with Black Friday offers. With a Pre-Black Friday sale, you can attract your customers' attention earlier and spread the rush on your website and in your warehouse. There are several ways to announce your Pre-Black Friday sale.

1. Engage customers early by signing up for Pre-Black Friday Deals

Bax Music lets their customers sign up for Pre-Black Friday Deals. This creates an exclusive list of customers who are genuinely interested in the deals. This increases the chance of success. Not every customer in your customer base is subscribed to your newsletter. It's time to take action on this before Black Friday begins.

2. Reward brand loyalty and encourage direct sales

Drankgigant ensures that brand-loyal fans receive an extra discount on their favourite brand. They offer a discount on a specific range with a discount code. The advantage of this is that you don't have to discount all items. By adding “the discount code is only valid for a few more days”, you create urgency to use the discount code now. Soon it will be too late. This creates extra urgency among your customers.

3. Spread the rush by offering promotions throughout the week (Cyber Week)

Vichy also spreads the Black Friday rush by offering promotions throughout the week in their “Cyber Week”. This allows you to move away from the concept of Black Friday and capture your customers' attention throughout the week.

4. Engage fans with your loyalty programme

Now is the time to shine with your loyalty programme. Give the loyalty programme a prominent place on your website. And, for example, at checkout, immediately show the customer what benefits they will receive and how many points they will earn for their purchase. Later, in the post-purchase flow, you can reinforce this again. Show how many points the customer has and how many points they still need for free shipping, for example. This is the only way to give your customer a legitimate reason to make that all-important repeat purchase from you.

5. Increase conversion with a faster checkout

Loavies did something clever: even before Black Friday, they encouraged customers to create an account. The result? A wealth of customer data and faster checkout during peak times. This is why you should prioritise profile enrichment before the sale. When you created an account, you were sent a special access ticket on your phone. This ticket gave you early access to the Black Friday promotions, so you could be sure that your favourite must-have items were still available. This is smart in several ways:

• Customers create accounts with you en masse, which often speeds up the checkout process.
• Profile enrichment to the max: people are even willing to give out their mobile number for the special ‘early bird ticket’.

6. Turn customers into loyal fans with a Pre-Sale

KoopjesDrogisterij takes a smart approach to spreading out the Black Friday rush. They hold a pre-sale before Black Friday. Through their newsletter, they announce that you can already get big discounts on the “coming soon” page for Black Friday. Smart for them and great for customers. A big advantage of this is that you give everyone the chance to hunt for bargains and you enjoy high turnover for a longer period of time.

7. Make it exclusive and exciting: win a prize

Mark Bongers takes a very different approach. To attract customers for his online training courses, he is running a Black Friday promotion: come to the online training course and have a chance to win great prizes on the prize wheel. The online training course is free, so it's a real win-win situation. When you link a competition to a purchase, it becomes even more exciting to order from you. You get a big discount and then you have a chance to win something.

8. Be ahead of the competition: extend deals for a few more days

Dekbeddiscounter offers last-minute deals so that all customers who were unable to buy something can still do so. Respond to this smartly by extending your offers at the last minute. Your competitors have already stopped their promotions, but you are continuing for a little while longer. The email highlights the most important points:

• Extension of the promotion
• 2nd + 3rd item free

9. Convert with urgency by using ‘last chance’

Pig & Hen creates extra urgency at the very last moment by clearly stating in the email that the promotion is only valid today. The result? At the very last moment of Black Friday, they still manage to generate sales. Give your customers one last chance by showing them the promotion again. Pig & Hen's email creates extra urgency by clearly stating that:

• The promotion is only valid today
• The promotion is only valid while stocks last

The message here is very clear: shop now, before it's too late.

10. Activate without a discount, but with a free gift

Are you unable to offer discounts on your product range? Then give away a free gift! That way, you can still participate in Black Friday and not miss out. Black Friday is the perfect time to reconnect with your customers. Sometimes it is possible to make an agreement with brand owners, sometimes you have to be creative with what you can give away. In most cases, offering a free gift is easy to set up in the back-end of your webshop.

11. Gain trust with eye-catching emails

Festyfashion stands out by using GIFs. This is a smart move, as it makes your email very memorable. GIFs are eye-catching and people often enjoy watching them. The most important information is highlighted: everything under £15. The promotion is clear at a glance.

11. Ensure recognisability

Customers remember you best when your emails always look reasonably similar in terms of appearance. Customers don't like the unexpected and appreciate recognising your communication. Because recognisability inspires confidence. And confidence means sales. The best thing to do is to tailor all your email communications to Black Friday. How great would it be if your customers received an abandoned cart email in the style of Black Friday during that period? This way, you maintain a consistent style in all your communications. And it stands out even more when your customer leaves a shopping cart behind.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday email subject lines for high conversion rates

Do you find it difficult to come up with subject lines that stand out during Black Friday? This list will help you get started with the best email subject lines for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Of course, you want a high open rate and a high conversion rate. The trick is to entice your customer in the header and pre-header. Why would your customer want to click through? Check out these subject lines for a high open rate during Black Friday.

Subject lines for urgency

• Only 6 hours left before all Black Friday deals are gone
• 🔥 Extended due to popularity: Only 1 day left for Cyber offers
• Black Friday warning: 9.99 deals are selling out!
• Last chance to save up to 50%!
• The clock is ticking, the last hours of Black Friday are here
• Reminder: Black Friday sale is almost over
• Countdown: 6 hours left to take advantage of Black Friday Deals
• 70% discount for Black Friday. Open quickly and discover
• The discounts you've been waiting for!
• Now started: Black Friday Sale

Subject lines that arouse curiosity

• Ready or not: big discounts! Shop now
• 70% discount! What are you waiting for?
• BLACK FRIDAY EARLY ACCESS STARTS NOW
• Black Friday Week is in full swing!
• 🔥 CYBER MONDAY DEALS 🔥
• Ready for the Pre-Black Friday Sale?
• Get our amazing deals now!
• How do you feel about 50% off?
• Surprise! 25% off the entire webshop!
• The biggest sale we've ever had! 50% off!
• 50% off for Black Friday + free shipping
• Black Friday Alert! Be quick!
• Deals, deals, deals! Save now with huge discounts
• Shop 'till you drop with the Black Friday sale!
• Deal Alert! Black Friday Deals everywhere
• Black Friday 3-day sale: Get the best deals now!
• 50% off. Free shipping! BLACK FRIDAY!
• Hello, Black Friday: up to 40% discount!
• Cyber Monday: 50% discount!
• OMG! Big discounts for Cyber Monday!
• Cyber Monday sale! All items with a big discount!

Subject lines for exclusivity

• Pssst... Black Friday Week starts tomorrow!
• Sneak peek for Black Friday? Now online!
• Unlock your exclusive Black Friday Deal now
• Biggest sale of the year Exclusive deals
• Exclusive preview of Black Friday deals

In addition to ready-made subject lines, here are a few tips to help you stand out in your customers' inboxes during Black Friday and Cyber Monday:

• Make it personal and use the customer's first name in the subject line. Personalised emails are opened more often than generic emails.
• Use a personal sender. Personal contact remains important to consumers. You see this a lot online: chatbots on various websites have names. In a newsletter, using your sender is a very good method, for example, “Tom from Reloadify”. The best combination is a personal name with your company name. For example, Billie is the face of Bol.
• Use emojis to stand out. 🔥 It has been trendy for quite some time to include various emojis in the subject line. Think of hearts, hourglasses, eyes and suns. It's a great way to stand out, but don't overdo it. Using too many emojis detracts from your name and makes your customers take you less seriously. And you don't want that.
• Use A/B testing during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Especially when it comes to your subject line, as this has a significant impact on your open rate. Experiment with different subject lines and find out which one yields the best results for your online shop. The results of the A/B test will definitely help you get to know your target group better and learn from this for next year.

How do you turn Black Friday shoppers into loyal customers?

The answer lies in creating a seamless, personalised experience immediately after purchase. This is where you make the difference.

Tip 1. Make the perfect first impression with automated email flows for Black Friday

The period immediately after the purchase is crucial. A simple order confirmation is not enough. With a smart welcome flow, you introduce your brand and lay the foundation for a lasting relationship.

• Email 1 (Immediately after purchase): A personal thank-you email. Tell the story behind your brand. Why do you do what you do?
• Email 2 (After 3 days): Share your bestsellers or inspire with content that ties in with the purchase made.
• Email 3 (After one week): Ask for a product review and offer reward points for your loyalty programme in exchange. With a well-thought-out loyalty programme, your customer will have already earned points with their first purchase.

Tip 2: Build loyalty from day one

Don't wait weeks to show your appreciation. Give new Black Friday customers an immediate reason to come back. Automatically enrol them in your loyalty programme and reward them with starting points. This changes the dynamic: they haven't just bought a product, they've immediately built up value for their next purchase. This makes the step to a second order considerably smaller. And you build a long-term relationship in a smart way.

Tip 3: Stay relevant with smart segmentation

Not every Black Friday buyer is the same. Someone who bought a specific brand has different interests than a customer from another category. By segmenting your new customers based on their purchasing behaviour, you can make much more relevant offers. Send the buyer of brand X an update on the new collection of that same brand a month later. This shows that you are paying attention and significantly increases the chance of a repeat purchase.

Centralised customer data management: your foundation during busy periods

Many webshops struggle with a fragmented tech stack: the data from the email tool does not communicate with the webshop system, and the loyalty programme functions as a separate island. This makes it impossible to build a coherent and complete 360-degree customer view.

The solution lies in an integrated approach, where all data streams come together in one central platform. When all customer data is collected in one place, you get a real overview. You no longer have to constantly switch between different tools or manually export and import data. Instead, you can manage all customer data centrally, even during the hustle and bustle of peak periods. This enables you to use the insights directly for hyper-personalised marketing that really makes an impact.

What's more, a central data hub provides a clear picture of the success of your campaigns. Because all results, from opens and clicks to actual conversions, are brought together in a single, clear dashboard, post-campaign analysis becomes much easier. This not only saves valuable time, but also provides immediate insight into which strategies work best, allowing you to continuously optimise. An integrated platform is not only smarter, but also provides peace of mind during the most hectic period of the year.

What is Black Friday?

Black Friday is originally an American tradition. The day after Thanksgiving is considered the start of the Christmas season. High discounts are offered in all stores, so that everyone can buy Christmas gifts at a bargain price. In the Netherlands, Black Friday is now also celebrated every year. Although the name suggests that high discounts are only given on Fridays, stores nowadays offer discounts valid for the entire weekend, the entire week (Black Week) or even the entire month of November.

The concept of Black Friday is simple: sell as much as possible thanks to the highest possible discount. Traditionally, retailers give the very highest discounts of the year on Black Friday.

When is Black Friday?

The special holiday takes place every year the day after Thanksgiving. The American celebration that is! America always celebrates Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November, which automatically causes Black Friday to fall on the fourth Friday of November. In 2024, Black Friday will be on November 29. Agenda tip: in 2025, Black Friday will take place on November 28.

Many shops don't just stick to Black Friday. They hold promotions throughout the weekend, ending on Monday. At some shops, you can even enjoy deals for a whole week: they hold a Black Week!

Where did the name Black Friday come from?

This is a tricky question, considering we have been using the term Black Friday for a very long time. Therefore, there are several theories where the origin of the name "Black Friday" comes from.

We start with the theory from the US city of Philadelphia. The term was first used in the year 1965. The term was then used for the huge crowds in the city on the day after Thanksgiving. This could be a link to "Black Saturday", which is what we use in Europe when everyone goes by car to their holiday destinations.

The second theory dates back to 1981. This theory claims that the day after Thanksgiving was the first day when shops came out of the red and thus "went into the black". In the US at that time, a company's losses were recorded in a book with red ink. Profits, in turn, were recorded with black ink.

What is Cyber Monday?

Cyber Monday is the Monday after Black Friday. The main difference between Black Friday and Cyber Monday is that Cyber Monday generally only applies online, where Black Friday applies in both an online and offline shop. Hence the name "cyber". Cyber Monday otherwise does not have a nice backstory like Black Friday does. It is an addition of the big sale weekend, which is a nice catch-up moment for you as a marketer or shop owner.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the Netherlands

The holidays Black Friday and Cyber Monday continue to gain in popularity in the Netherlands. Even in 2022, even more money was spent on these days compared to the previous year. Emerce writes that the growth of Cyber Monday is even higher than the growth of Black Friday! Many consumers know how to find the competitive offers and spend a lot of money.

Consumers are searching massively for Black Friday promotions. In fact, the first (small) peak in the number of keywords around Black Friday takes place as early as the beginning of August. The real, the biggest peak usually starts in October. Over a month before Black Friday actually takes place. So it's time to make some plans for your online shop!

Your Black Friday strategy for 2025? Think beyond discounts

This year, make the switch from one-off transactions to lasting customer relationships. Stop renting customers and start building a loyal community. Want to know how to build a long-term customer relationship? Need inspiration for retaining customers after Black Week? Read our blog in which we highlight five retention marketing strategies. Or discover for yourself how to turn Black Friday buyers into loyal fans. Book a no-obligation demo and experience the ease for yourself.