How to Prepare Your Ecommerce Brand's Post-Purchase Experience for Black Friday

Retaining the customers you gain during Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) is a great way to set your ecommerce brand up for success in the new year. Reference our BFCM post-purchase checklist below to make sure you're prepared.

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Black Friday Post-Purchase Prep Checklist for eCommerce Shopify Merchants

As the busiest shopping period of the year approaches, it's essential that during Black Friday Shopify merchants ensure a smooth post-purchase experience for their customers. After all, Black Friday/Cyber Monday (BFCM) success isn’t just about making the sale—it’s about how to retain customers after Black Friday and turn one-time buyers into repeat customers. Here’s a Black Friday prep ecommerce checklist to help you maximize post-purchase efficiency and drive long-term customer retention for your Shopify brand.

1. Perfect Your Order Confirmation & Thank You Pages

2. Optimize Your Shipping & Fulfillment Workflow

  • Accurate Inventory Management: Ensure inventory levels are up-to-date to avoid overselling and fulfillment delays, which could damage your reputation.
  • Shipping Strategy for BFCM Shopify: If possible, offer a variety of shipping options (standard, expedited, and international). Make sure to communicate the final shipping deadlines so during Black Friday your brand can ensure on-time deliveries.
  • Partner Preparedness: Work with your fulfillment partners to guarantee they’re ready for the surge, and test communication between your Shopify store and their systems ahead of time.

3. Automate Your Post-Purchase Email Flows

  • Order Confirmation Emails: As we already checked, your order confirmation email should be set up and automated with links to order tracking. We can't over-emphasize how crucial it is to deliver peace of mind during the busy Black Friday ecommerce period.
  • Shipping & Delivery Updates: Use automated emails and/or SMS updates for shipping status, especially if there are any delays. These post-purchase notifications will also point customers to a tracking page. A branded tracking page will convert and retain more customers than a carrier (UPS, FedEx, etc) page. But we'll talk about that in the next section.

4. Implement a Robust Shopify Order Tracking System

  • Branded Order Tracking: Provide real-time and fully branded tracking to keep your customers up-to-date on delivery status, display other products, and engage customers with your social media using Shopify apps like Malomo. Use post-purchase emails to recommend complementary products or offer special discounts to encourage repeat purchases. This strategy can boost Black Friday retention and increase revenue. Shopify stores can also retain customers by educating them with product care tips, loyalty programs, reviews, mission statements, and more on a branded order tracking page. Proactive shipping and delivery notifications helps build trust with the customer, especially during high-volume periods like Black Friday in ecommerce. And, it will also help decrease customer support tickets around shipping and delivery. See some examples of branded order tracking page to get inspiration around what would be most valuable for your customers during Black Friday.

5. Prepare for Increased Customer Support Demands

  • Scale Customer Support: Ensure your support team is prepared for the influx of questions, requests, and complaints that often come during BFCM. Adding temporary team members or using chatbots can sometimes help with the holiday influx.
  • Accessible Support: Make support easy to find. Display contact options like email, phone, and live chat prominently on your site and in order confirmation emails. It may seem counterintuitive to make accessing support easy, but your customers will be very frustrated if they need help and can't easily find your team.
  • Update FAQs: Many common questions during BFCM for brands will center around shipping, returns, and product availability. Keep your FAQ section updated to help customers answer their questions without having to inquire.

6. Simplify Returns & Refunds

  • Hassle-Free Returns Policy: Ensure that your return policy is straightforward and visible on your website. A seamless returns process can encourage more buyers to purchase with you for the first time and return for future purchases.
  • Prepaid Return Labels: Provide easy-to-print prepaid return labels or QR codes for returns, which can help create a frictionless post-purchase experience, building goodwill among your Black Friday brand's customers.
  • Automated Refunds: Set up automatic triggers in Shopify for refunds when a return is processed, reducing manual labor and speeding up the refund process.

7. Capitalize on Discount Season

  • Exclusive Offers for Next Purchase: Reward customers with an exclusive offer or discount on their next purchase. Use a time-sensitive offer to incentivize quick action, driving more holiday-season sales.

8. Manage Shipping Delays Proactively

  • Communicate Shipping Delays: Stay on top of your shipping providers and communicate any potential delays with your customers before they reach out to you. Transparency is crucial for Black Friday Shopify success. Some third-party apps allow Shopify brands to easily trigger email/SMS notifications when there are Problem Orders.
  • Offer Alternatives: If a product is out of stock or delayed, offer customers alternative products or give them the option to backorder, while keeping them informed about restocking timelines.

9. Introduce or Boost Loyalty & Referral Programs

  • Post-Purchase Loyalty Programs: Launch or promote a loyalty program to capitalize on the influx of BFCM ecommerce customers. Reward customers for each purchase to incentivize future sales.
  • Referral Program: Use the post-purchase moment to encourage customers to refer friends. Offer referral discounts that are valid during the rest of the holiday season to keep customers engaged during Black Friday with your ecommerce brand.

10. Analyze Performance & Adjust for Next Year

  • Monitor Key Metrics: Keep an eye on metrics like order processing time, shipping delays, and return rates. Understanding these figures will help you refine your Black Friday prep ecommerce strategies for future peak periods. If you notice something you need to adjust during the holiday season, monitoring will allow you to do so but we wouldn't suggest making updates unless it's essential or you trust that it won't break other systems. Many Shopify ecommerce merchants during BFCM try not to adjust their processes during Black Friday.
  • Customer Feedback: Send out surveys post-purchase to gain insights into the customer experience. Take this feedback to optimize your store for next year’s BFCM brand prep.

Final Thoughts: For Shopify brands during Black Friday, proper post-purchase preparation is key to driving long-term success. By focusing on customer retention and ensuring a smooth shopping experience, your ecommerce store during store can foster loyalty and grow customer lifetime value, ensuring shoppers return long after Black Friday has passed.


Want to keep learning about retention past Black Friday? Check out these related resources...

Examples of proactive shipping and delivery notifications

Informative and proactive emails and SMS notifications will save your brand big bucks and headaches during the holiday season and after it. Check out some examples of email & SMS shipping notifications from top ecommerce brands and how they're using branded tracking to retain customers.

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There are easy ways for your brand to retain customers during the holiday season

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