Get Your eCommerce Store
Ready for Black Friday.
Black Friday is one of the biggest shopping events of the year, and for eCommerce businesses it’s a golden opportunity to boost sales and attract new customers.
But preparation is key; a rushed or unprepared store can lead to lost revenue, frustrated shoppers, and missed opportunities. Here’s a comprehensive guide to getting your eCommerce store ready for Black Friday.
Contents
How to prepare for eCommerce stores for Black Friday
Promote Across Media
Audit Website for Performance
Review Product Listings
Optimise Checkout Process
Plan Marketing Campaigns
Get Customer Support Ready
Test Everything
Test Everything
Black Friday data
The History of Black Friday and What It Means for Online Retailers
Black Friday didn’t start as the eCommerce giant we know today. Its roots stretch back decades, and understanding how it evolved helps retailers plan smarter for the modern shopping frenzy.
Why Is It Called Black Friday?
The term Black Friday first appeared in the 1960s in Philadelphia, where police used it to describe the chaotic traffic and crowds that flooded the city after Thanksgiving. Retailers later embraced the name, reframing it to symbolise a turning point in the year when stores went from being “in the red” (operating at a loss) to “in the black” (turning a profit).
Today, it represents the official start of the holiday shopping season, and one of the biggest revenue opportunities for all forms of retail .
Is Black Friday Sale Only One Day?
Not anymore. While it originally referred to a single Friday, modern ecommerce has stretched the event into “Black Friday Week” or even “Black November”. Many brands launch early-bird deals days in advance and extend promotions through Cyber Monday, which focuses on online sales.
In fact, according to Adobe Analytics, UK consumers spent £4.6 billion online across the Black Friday–Cyber Monday weekend in 2024, showing how the event now spans multiple days rather than one big sale.
Is It Better to Shop on Black Friday or Cyber Monday?
It depends on what you’re buying. Black Friday tends to feature deep discounts on high-ticket items such as electronics, home appliances and fashion.
Cyber Monday, which follows on the Monday after, often focuses on tech deals and ecommerce-exclusive discounts, sometimes even better than Black Friday’s.
For online retailers, the key takeaway is to prepare for both. Offering tiered promotions that evolve over the long weekend, rather than a single day, helps sustain traffic and revenue.
What Date Is Black Friday This Year?
In 2025, Black Friday falls on 28 November, with Cyber Monday on 1 December.
That means now is the perfect time to plan, optimise, and promote your store to capture shoppers’ attention before the big rush.
How Do you get your eCommerce store Black Friday ready?
1. Promote Your Deals Clearly on Your Website and Social Media
Why it matters
Shoppers won’t buy what they don’t know exists. Black Friday is highly competitive, so making your deals obvious across your website and social channels can significantly boost traffic and conversions.
What to do
- Update your homepage with banners highlighting your key Black Friday deals.
- Create eye-catching graphics for social media (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok) that clearly show “Black Friday”, “Limited time”, “X% off” etc.
- Pin or feature the deals in your email campaigns and newsletters.
- Use countdown timers or “deal ends in…” messaging to build urgency.
- Make sure your social feed and website visuals match — consistent branding builds trust.
Our Offer
At Envisage Digital, we help eCommerce businesses create and promote high-converting Black Friday campaigns with custom designed banners and social graphics that drive traffic and sales.
2. Audit Your Website for Performance
Why it matters
A slow-loading website can cost you. For example, even a one-second delay in page load can decrease conversions by around 7%. Ensuring your site runs smoothly means you won’t lose customers right when they’re ready to buy.
What to do
- Test page speed on both desktop and mobile. Tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix will show what’s slowing you down.
- Optimise images (compress size, use modern formats like WebP) so pages load faster without losing visual quality.
- Ensure your hosting and infrastructure can handle high traffic — Black Friday means spikes, so you want server performance to hold up.
- Make sure mobile performance is strong: many users will visit via smartphones.
3. Review Product Listings and Inventory
Why it matters
Shoppers expect accurate product information, availability, and clear detail. Out-of-stock items or unclear listings frustrate customers and can damage trust.
What to do
- Check all inventory levels: avoid promoting items you don’t have or can’t fulfil.
- Update product descriptions — highlight features, benefits, bundle offers.
- Create gift guides or themed bundles (e.g., “Black Friday Tech Bundle”, “Holiday Gift Pack”) to encourage larger orders.
- Clearly mark stock availability (“Only 5 left”), estimated delivery times, and shipping cut-off dates.
4. Optimise Your Checkout Process
Why it matters
Cart abandonment often spikes when things get busy. A seamless checkout experience helps convert more of the traffic you’ve worked to attract.
What to do
- Enable guest checkout: don’t make customers create an account unless it’s absolutely necessary.
- Offer multiple payment options, including digital wallets (e.g., Apple Pay, Google Pay) for speed and convenience.
- Test the full checkout flow yourself (from cart → payment → confirmation email) to ensure everything works and gives the right messaging.
- Check for any friction points (unexpected shipping fees, login requirements, slow payment gateways) and remove them.
5. Plan Your Marketing Campaigns
Why it matters
Attracting traffic is only half the battle! You also need a clear marketing plan telling people when, where, and why to shop your deals.
What to do
- Segment your email list (e.g., loyal customers, lapsed customers) and craft tailored offers for each group.
- Use paid advertising (Google Ads, Facebook/Instagram Ads, retargeting) to reach high-intent traffic.
- Build a schedule or timeline: start teasing deals early, count down to Black Friday, push hard during the event, and follow-up quickly afterwards.
- Make sure your social media visuals and website banners align with the ads — consistency helps build trust and recognition.
6. Prepare for Customer Support
Why it matters
With increased traffic and sales comes increased questions, returns, and issues. If your support can’t keep up, you risk negative reviews and lost trust.
What to do
- Brief your support team on expected high-volume periods. Plan for extra staff or extended hours if possible.
- Create a clear FAQ page specifically for Black Friday (e.g., shipping delays, returns policy, how to use promo codes).
- Consider setting up chatbots or automated help-desk responses to handle common queries quickly.
- Monitor social media and email for customer issues; being responsive builds loyalty.
7. Test Everything Before the Rush
Why it matters
You don’t want to discover problems when your peak traffic hits. Testing ahead means you catch issues early and reduce risk.
What to do
- Run stress tests on your site (simulate high traffic volumes) to ensure performance holds up.
- Check all your links, promo codes, banners, and images to make sure they point to the right places and display correctly.
- Perform at least one complete test purchase (on desktop and mobile). Include coupon use, shipping options, email confirmation, etc.
- Check analytics and tracking (Google Analytics, conversion pixels) to ensure you’re capturing data correctly for campaign evaluation.
UK Black Friday Statistics & Trends
Here’s a snapshot of current UK market data to help you understand the scale and behaviour of Black Friday and why it’s worth investing in.
| Metric | Insight | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Online revenue growth in UK for Black Friday 2024 vs prior year | 3.1% growth across online sales in 2024 (UK) | eCommerceNews UK / Ecommpay / IMRG |
| Average conversion rate during Black Friday week in UK | 4.6% conversion rate in Black Friday week 2024 | ecommerce-forum.co.uk / Ecommpay / IMRG |
| Estimated total UK spending during Black Friday (2023) | £13.3 billion total sales in UK in 2023 | event store.mintel.com / Mintel |
| UK online shoppers’ spend on Black Friday 2024 (online only) | £1.12 billion online on Black Friday, up 7.2% year-on-year | Reuters / Adobe Analytics |
| UK store-footfall increase week-on-week during Black Friday 2024 | +40.5% week-on-week for UK footfall during Black Friday week | retailnext.net / RetailNext |
This data clearly shows that Black Friday remains a great opportunity to increase profit — both online and offline — and that eCommerce stores that prepare well can capture a share of this spike.
Ready to Maximise Your Black Friday Sales?
Black Friday can be a game-changer for your eCommerce business, but only if you prepare well. From website performance to clear deal promotion, seamless checkout, marketing and support — every detail counts.
At Envisage Digital, we help eCommerce stores get fully Black Friday-ready, from technical optimisations to bespoke graphics that convert. Don’t leave your success to chance: plan ahead and make this your most profitable Black Friday yet!
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