The Ultimate Shopify BFCM 2025 Guide: Master Your BFCM Sales Prep

Every year, we prepare for one of the biggest weekend-long (or longer) shopping events of the year—Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM). For many brands, Black Friday Cyber Monday weekend is a defining moment, one that can herald in a flood of increased sales, making for an auspicious start of the 2025 holiday shopping season that ends at New Year's.

For Shopify merchants who have been on the platform long enough to see holiday sales continue to break records, 2025 promises to be no different, and, with shoppers starting their holiday shopping early, success this year depends less on luck and more on strategic BFCM sales preparation.

Last year, 2024, Black Friday generated $10.8 billion in U.S online sales, a number that is up  10.2% from the previous year. Moreover,  shoppers continued to favor shopping for their goods online, with mobile shopping making up the majority of online transactions.

This year, Black Friday kicks off on Fri, Nov 28, 2025, while Cyber Monday falls on Fri, Nov 28, 2025. If you’re a Shopify store owner, this guide breaks down BFCM sales preparation, walking you through everything you need to do—from planning your promotions to optimizing your store for conversions, running effective marketing campaigns, and ensuring a flawless customer experience. By following these tips, you’ll maximize your Shopify holiday sales and perhaps even turn your seasonal shoppers into loyal, year-round customers of your brand! Let’s get started on breaking down BFCM sales preparation:

Get your Shopify store BFCM 2025 ready! Maximize sales this Black Friday and Cyber Monday with Ecommerce Pro’s expert Shopify support. Contact Ecommerce Pro

1. Start BFCM Sales Preparation Ahead

Planning is everything when it comes to a successful BFCM strategy—and prep needs to begin early, long before November!

Last year, Shopify merchants saw unprecedented traffic and sales during BFCM, and stores that prepared early were able to capitalize fully on the surge. BFCM sales preparation starts as early as August. Here is why early planning matters:

• Inventory lead time: Suppliers may take longer to fulfill orders during peak season. Locking in inventory early ensures you can meet demand without running out of your best-performing products.
• Marketing buildup: Running early teaser campaigns builds anticipation and ensures your audience knows about your deals before the rush.
• Operational readiness: Your team will have time to test workflows, site speed, and customer support protocols before traffic peaks.
  

Sales prep also means creating a BFCM calendar. Map out all promotional dates, discounts, and communications in a shared calendar. Include:

• Start and end dates for each promotion
• Email campaigns and social media posts
• Key product launches or exclusive bundles

By setting your timeline early, you create a clear roadmap for your Shopify holiday sales and reduce last-minute stress.

2. Consider Launching Sales Early

BFCM doesn’t have to begin or end on an assigned date, and brands that kick off their sales early usually attract more shoppers. In fact, many brands run promotions that start days or weeks leading up to the main events. It’s been found that brands that began their sales early, by at least two weeks prior, experienced a 45% increase in sales in 2024! While flash sales are a cause of excitement and perhaps even a sense of scarcity, these longer sales tend to make more money, sell more products, and reap more benefits overall.  Shoppers are increasingly starting their holiday buying weeks before the official Black Friday weekend, and brands that meet them there are often the ones that win big.

For example, early-bird shoppers looking to avoid the holiday rush will appreciate having extra time to buy, while last-minute deal hunters will still respond to your peak BFCM promotions. By overlapping these audiences, you expand your reach and maximize your Shopify holiday sales.

Simply put, starting early isn’t about minimizing the impact of the hype—it’s about giving your brand more chances to win. Whether it’s an early launch for VIP customers, a week-long pre-sale, or a series of lead-up offers, expanding your timeline is one of the smartest BFCM sales preparation strategies you can use.

3. Analyze Your Product Performance

Shoppers go online to shop on BFCM because of the good deals on products they’ve been eyeing during the past year. With this fact in mind, one of the most important steps in preparing for Shopify BFCM is identifying which products deserve the spotlight and how to determine which items go on sale. This is because not all items perform equally well during holiday sales, and promoting the wrong ones can lead to wasted ad spending.

Here’s why it matters. Focusing on your proven winners while making room for slower movers ensures you maximize profit, avoid stockouts, and clear out old inventory before the new year.

Tools and strategies to use:

• Shopify Analytics: Review sales data from last year’s BFCM and recent months. Spot trends in top sellers, repeat purchases, and seasonal demand.
• Segment your products into three groups:
• A-grade: These are your best-sellers that generate the bulk of your revenue (prime for moderate discounts or bundles).
• B-grade: These products are your steady performers (ideal for upsells and cross-sells).
• C-grade: Slow-moving or outdated stock (candidates for deep discounts to move inventory).

Once you've segmented your products, you can take a data-driven approach to how you assign your product discounts and deals.

4. Optimize Your Shopify Store

Even the best discounts won’t matter if your store isn’t optimized for conversions, and the first step to optimizing your website always starts with a Shopify store audit to gather data on what needs to be tweaked or changed.

During Shopify BFCM, shoppers expect fast, seamless, and mobile-friendly experiences. We suggest beginning by checking and ensuring your store is mobile-responsive—last year, more than half of BFCM shoppers used their phones to browse and buy, making mobile experience the clear priority over desktop.

Next, speed and performance—the modern shopper expects a fast shopping experience. Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to identify areas slowing your site down. You may also want to consider cutting out and cleaning out the data from unnecessary apps, compressing images, if you haven’t already, and offering express checkout options.

Finally, give attention to SEO and product pages. Use seasonal keywords in your titles, descriptions, and meta tags, while also making product descriptions clear and compelling. High-quality images and trust signals can make the difference between a bounce and a conversion.

When your Shopify store is optimized before the holiday rush, you’re in a stronger position to capture and convert the surge of BFCM sales traffic.

Not sure where to start with optimization? Our Ecommerce Pro Website Audit pinpoints exactly what’s holding your Shopify store back. Book your audit today and get your store BFCM-ready.

5. Craft Irresistible BFCM Sales

Black Friday and Cyber Monday shoppers are shopping online with the expectation of finding great deals that only roll around once a year. While they're in it for the slashed prices, remember that shoppers are also willing to spend more money during BFCM weekend and the holidays more than at any other time of the year, and discounts are what motivate consumers to shop with enthusiasm. Your offers are going to be the hook that draws shoppers to your store, so here are some discount strategies and tips on some creative offers you can provide:

Discount strategies

• Flat percentage discounts: Simple and effective, easy to keep track of
• Tiered discounts: Encourage bigger carts (e.g., 10% off $50, 20% off $100)
• Bundles: Package complementary products for a higher average order value
• Loss leaders: Deep discounts on a flagship product to attract traffic

Creative offers

• Mystery boxes or gift sets
• Early access deals for VIPs or email subscribers
• Limited-edition products or holiday exclusives

Well-designed offers can not only boost your Shopify holiday sales during BFCM but also increase average order value and customer satisfaction.

6.  Marketing Strategies for Shopify Holiday Sales

Once you have your discount strategy down, it's time to consider and formulate how you will market your BFCM deals. Letting your customers and target audience know that you’re throwing down a BFCM sale is imperative, and you’ll need to share the news as effectively as you can.

Driving traffic to your store is just one part of Shopify BFCM success. Here are some potential marketing strategies to use on Black Friday to get customers excited for the big sales to come:

Email marketing

• Segment your email list for personalized campaigns
• Use teasers, countdowns, and early access offers
• Set up abandoned cart flows to recover lost sales

Paid ads and retargeting

• Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Google ads drive targeted traffic
• Use retargeting for past customers or visitors who didn’t convert
• Highlight bestsellers and exclusive deals

Social media campaigns

• Showcase deals on Instagram Reels, TikTok, or Pinterest
• Partner with micro-influencers for authentic promotion
• Use seasonal hashtags and user-generated content to increase reach

Marketing campaigns aligned with your BFCM strategy ensure your Shopify store captures attention, drives traffic, and converts visitors into paying customers.

Read Our Guide: Ecommerce Marketing: Top Trends of 2025

7. Double Down on Customer Support

Customer experience can make or break Shopify BFCM success, and can even impact your growth as a brand long after the event is over. A smooth, responsive support system reduces abandoned carts and builds loyalty, encouraging shoppers to keep coming back long after the sale period.

Because BFCM is typically a busier time, more questions and even issues tend to arise, so you have to make sure your team is ready to manage the uptick in messages and support requests. The important thing is to provide a variety of ways for consumers to contact you, including live chat, email, and phone support. Many brands today are also relying on AI chat support to handle repeat questions and concerns, giving you and your team some respite. BFCM customers appreciate a quick response and resolution to any issue, which promotes repeat business.

Here’s a breakdown on how to double down on customer support:

Preparing your support team

• Train staff for high-volume periods
• Have templates for common inquiries (lost orders, shipping delays, returns)
• Implement chatbots for 24/7 assistance

Post-purchase experience

• Send confirmation and tracking emails promptly
• Provide personalized follow-ups to encourage repeat purchases
• Reward loyalty through points, discounts, or exclusive offers

Great customer support enhances satisfaction, reduces complaints, and strengthens your Shopify holiday sales results.

8. Post-BFCM Analysis and Growth

Once the holiday rush winds down, one of the most valuable things to do as a growing business is to analyze how your store performed during BFCM. This isn't just so you can goad over your sales numbers, it's so you can look at the data and understand what strategies worked, what didn't, and what you can try to do right next time. Post-BFCM, there is a wealth of data and information to go over, data that can help you do better as a brand that’s fully optimized for the next big sale.

With the help of Shopify Analytics and any other analytics systems you utilize, review your traffic sources, conversion rates, and top-performing products to see where your marketing efforts paid off. Dig into the ROI of your ads and email campaigns to uncover the channels that gave you the best return. At the same time, evaluate your average order value, cart abandonment rate, and customer acquisition costs to identify areas of friction in the buying journey. Identifying points of friction and optimizing these areas is going to lead you to a gold mine of improvements to the in-store experience.

Beyond the numbers, also take note of some lessons learned during BFCM 2025.

Try to note what offers attracted customers the most, and where elements like support or logistics can be improved. A well-executed post-BFCM analysis ensures you’re not just chasing short-term revenue or going in blind into the next sale season— you’re building long-term growth for your brand!

Metrics to track

• Traffic sources and conversion rates
• Best-selling products and average order value
• ROI of marketing campaigns

Lessons learned

• Identify what worked and what didn’t
• Use insights to optimize future promotions
• Plan follow-up campaigns to convert seasonal buyers into loyal customers

Conclusion

BFCM 2025 is more than a sales event—it’s an opportunity to maximize revenue, build long-term customer relationships, and learn along the way how to build a stronger brand.

Shoppers this year are starting early, and the competition is fierce, so plan ahead, optimize all aspects of your Shopify store, and get ready to deliver a seamless shopping experience that will help you win. By approaching the season with strategic BFCM sales preparation, you can set your brand apart.

Partnering with a Shopify Expert and agency can also help give you an edge, from technical store optimization to launching the best campaign strategies tailored to your brand. When it comes to BFCM preparation in 2025, don’t think about short-term wins, but in building a foundation for sustainable growth for your brand.

Ready to begin your Shopify BFCM 2025 holiday season into your most successful yet? Contact Ecommerce Pro for expert Shopify support and proven strategies that drive results.