Black Friday Success: How Personalized Product Recommendations Can Fit The Customer Journey

As the holiday shopping season approaches, Black Friday represents an opportunity for online retailers to capitalize on consumer demand. With millions of eager shoppers looking for deals, personalization has become a critical tool for driving sales and improving customer experiences.

Creative Ways to Use Personalized Recommendations for Black Friday

What separates great Black Friday campaigns from good ones is how online retailers can leverage personalization to meet the customer at different points in their journey. By incorporating upselling, cross-selling, and inventive marketing techniques, online stores can boost their bottom line, all while providing a highly customized shopping experience.

1. Activate Recommendations Ahead of Black Friday 

➡️ Target low-intent website visitors

Encourage visitors to explore your website in the weeks leading up to Black Friday to effectively map out their individual preferences and shopping behavior. By navigating through various product categories, viewing different items, clicking on specific products, and adding items to their cart, visitors generate valuable data that your product recommendations engine can analyze in depth.

This early engagement helps identify the types of products they are most interested in, thus allowing for highly personalized product recommendations during the Black Friday period.

2. Learn How to Work Around Small Margins

➡️ Target medium-intent website visitors

Take advantage of Black Friday by offering personalized product bundles based on a customer’s browsing history. Since profit margins during Black Friday tend to be slim, the focus should be on driving volume sales while subtly steering customers toward higher-margin products.

For example, a customer shopping for a new smartphone could see a recommended bundle that includes a case, screen protector, and wireless charger. This approach encourages them to purchase additional items, increasing the overall average order value, rather than just buying the low-margin smartphone alone.

3. Post-purchase Personalized Email for Cross-sell

➡️ Target customers right after the acquisition

Black Friday isn’t just about getting a single sale. Once a purchase is made, online retailers can use personalized post-purchase emails with recommendations to encourage further shopping during the Black Friday period, especially if sales last longer than 1 day.

For example, after a customer buys a new laptop, a follow-up email during the Black Friday period could offer accessories like a laptop stand, external hard drive, or software package, which complement the initial purchase.

4. “Early Access” Personalized Deals for Loyal Shoppers

 ➡️ Target recurrent customers

Retailers can create exclusive, early-access offers for loyal customers based on their past behaviors. For instance, sending an email a few days before Black Friday with a personalized preview of discounts on items the customer has either browsed, saved, or bought in the past can make them feel valued and create a sense of urgency.

Additionally, offering an incentive such as a “VIP discount” or “special bundle” available only to the early birds can drive significant pre-Black Friday traffic. The anticipation of access to personalized deals can keep them engaged and more likely to purchase before sales even officially begin.

5. Fast Cart Abandonment Rescue 

➡️ Target high-intent website visitors

Cart abandonment is a common challenge, particularly when online shoppers browse your website to compare offers with those from other retailers. But here’s the silver lining: a customer who adds items to their cart and then abandons it is typically someone who is very close to making a purchase decision.

Instead of a generic reminder email, online retailers can take a personalized approach to recovering abandoned carts fast. By sending a follow-up email that includes the abandoned items and a discount for exactly the products which the shopper added to cart, you can entice shoppers to return and complete their purchase.

Get creative this Black Friday!

Black Friday is one of the busiest and most profitable times of the year for online retailers, and personalized product recommendations can make all the difference. But who says there aren’t creative ways to use personalized recommendations for this year’s Black Friday?

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