Data-Driven BFCM Strategies for Shopify Merchants
As Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) draw near, Shopify merchants are gearing up for their most crucial sales periods of the year. Leveraging SMS effectively during this time can truly be transformative for ecommerce brands as it presents an opportunity to not only convert astronomical amounts of orders but grow their audience substantially. At Postscript, our proprietary data constantly reveals advantages and strategies that can supercharge Shopify merchants' BFCM revenue. Here’s how to make the most of SMS this holiday season:
1. Increase Opt-ins with Better BFCM Popups
The journey starts with building a robust subscriber list, which becomes especially critical in the lead-up to BFCM. But based on our data, opt-ins peaked on Black Friday last year, highlighting a massive opportunity to acquire subscribers who are ready to shop. The temptation may be to ease off the acquisition gas pedal as your BFCM sales go live, but be sure to continue capturing shoppers so that you can continue marketing to them all year long. Postscript’s recommendations for Shopify merchants include:
Offering CashBack instead of Discounts: Popups with a cashback offer can boost list growth by 30%, giving brands more subscribers AND more margin on orders.
Relevant BFCM Updates: Use Postscript’s code-free popup editor to keep your messaging aligned with other BFCM offers you may have out in the wild. If your popup doesn’t meet or beat those offers, why would anybody subscribe?
Contact Card Reminders: Encourage users to save your contact card so that they don’t miss exclusive access to exclusive deals. Becoming a friendly face in their inbox helps with loyalty and deliverability.
Pro Tip: Refreshing your welcome series with BFCM-specific content can boost early engagement and set the tone for a profitable weekend and holiday season.
2. Prime Your Timing: When to Send for Maximum Engagement
During BFCM, timing is everything. For example, our analysis of 2023 data shows that the most popular time to send messages on Cyber Monday was between 9 am and 2 pm EST, with a peak around 11 am. Around 59% of ALL BFCM messages went out during this five-hour window.
Meanwhile, both Black Friday and Cyber Monday also saw increased earnings per message (EPM) from 6 pm to 8 pm EST, underscoring the importance of sending in less-trafficky hours.
Optimal Time Frames: Include at least one send between 6 pm and 8 pm on BFCM days.
To get even more granular, Avoid Overcrowded Minutes: Sending between :20-:30 or :35-:45 of the hour reduces competition, enhancing EPM and click-through rates (CTR).
3. Targeted BFCM Automations Drive Revenue
Automated flows, especially for browse abandonment and abandoned checkout, remain huge contributors to BFCM revenue. In 2023, we observed a 357% increase in automation sends during BFCM, proving how paramount they are in retargeting high-intent shoppers.
Keeping these automations active throughout BFCM ensures you’re capturing every potential sale and keeping your brand top-of-mind for users who might need a little extra nudge.
Pro tip: Use Infinity Testing to optimize your SMS Automations before BFCM: Postscript’s Infinity Testing functionality can yield a 20% conversion lift for browse abandonment and abandoned checkout flows by testing hundreds of message variants to find unforeseen conversion opportunities in your list. Give it a shot for an easy BFCM win and revenue boost.
4. Choosing SMS vs. MMS: What Works Best
Interestingly, MMS outperformed SMS by 56% in EPM during the week leading up to Cyber Monday. However, from November 26 to December 3, SMS is preferable for better throughput during the higher-volume days.
Use MMS for Visual Appeal: Consider multiple MMS in the days before Black Friday to maximize engagement and EPM
Switch to SMS for Throughput: From Black Friday through Cyber Monday, SMS-only messages can help ensure delivery during peak volume times.
5. How Message Frequency Influences Revenue Per Subscriber
For Shopify merchants concerned about sending frequency (and fatiguing their list with too many pings), our data shows that the brands sending 13+ messages per subscriber in November had a revenue per subscriber over $2. Additionally, brands that sent on both Black Friday and Cyber Monday maintained higher EPMs compared to those that skipped one of these key days. So while it may feel intuitive to send less and not bother your customers, more texts often equal more revenue. So put your foot on the gas.
Pro Tip: Thoughtful frequency helps a lot to combat potential subscriber fatigue and unsubscribe rates. Find a consistent cadence and always try to include relevant, personalized offers to help drive sustained engagement without overwhelming your list.
6. Industry Benchmarks: Setting Realistic Expectations
Orienting your brand amidst accurate ecommerce benchmarks is vital to assess the success of your campaigns (and to keep you sane). Here’s a snapshot from Postscript’s 2023 data for SMS click-through rates (CTR), EPM, and conversion rates across industries:
Fashion & Apparel: CTR of 3.61%, EPM of $0.25, Conversion Rate of 0.23%
Beauty & Cosmetics: CTR of 2.47%, EPM of $0.27, Conversion Rate of 0.28%
Health & Wellness: CTR of 3.31%, EPM of $0.26, Conversion Rate of 0.25%
These benchmarks can serve as a baseline to evaluate your performance during the BFCM rush. Not hitting these marks? Don’t sweat it—they can serve as stretch goals this year. Beating these numbers with ease? Lean into your role as the outlier and swing the average even more this year!
7. Post-BFCM: Why December is a Critical Month
The data shows that merchants who sent 15-20% more messages in December compared to November managed to match or exceed their November revenue. Think about that: just by keeping or increasing the cadence of sends, merchants made more money in the month AFTER BFCM.
Our analysis also highlighted that unsubscribe rates in December are the lowest of the year, indicating a strong appetite for continued engagement post-BFCM and a reduced risk of unsubscribes if you continue to text to your subscribers with relevant offers.
Maintain Frequency: December is an ideal month for sending to your list more regularly without risking a rise in unsubscribes.
Holiday Campaigns: Plan impactful campaigns like “5 Days of Gifts”, shipping reminders, or last-minute gift guides to keep engagement high.
Final Tips
By refining timing, automations, and messaging formats, ecommerce brands can do more than just ride the BFCM wave to more revenue; they can blow past their goals. Small wins and minor optimizations have a much bigger impact during BFCM, so don’t hesitate to test these simple strategies this year.
With access to vast amounts of merchant data and hands-on support from the sharpest minds in SMS, Postscript helps Shopify merchants craft an SMS strategy that delivers incredible BFCM results every year. If your brand wants help optimizing its SMS program in time for a record-breaking Cyber Weekend, give us a shout.
