How to prep your Shopify store for Cyber Monday

A storm is coming. The good kind.

Last October, consumers spent $76.8 billion dollars online. According to the Adobe Analytics report, that’s a $4.3 billion dollar spike from 2022.

As for Cyber Monday itself, Retail Report notes that buyer activity on the day increases by around 512% in the US.

It’s no secret that the pre-holiday season is huge for e-commerce. But how, exactly, can you take advantage of this massive spike in consumer purchasing? These 4 simple tips will have your Shopify store ready for big numbers on Cyber Monday, Black Friday, and the interim leading up to them. 

1. ‘Tis the season for discounts

Many e-commerce brands run discounts year-round. Others prefer to keep their prices consistent. No matter which strategic camp your Shopify store falls under, it’s essential to offer sales before and during the holiday season. Consumers expect discounts leading up to the end of December, and especially so on Cyber Monday and Black Friday. In fact, 88% of the top 50 online retailers offer sales on Cyber Monday. If a potential buyer heads to your Shopify page in the next month and sees everything at full price, they’ll likely wave goodbye in order to see what your competitor is up to.

Best practices for Cyber Monday discounts

• Price your products mindfully. Moderate discounts on your best-sellers will drive volume without dinging your margins. You can also use this opportunity to deepen discounts on excess inventory, while keeping them smaller on newer products to not devalue them. Last year, the average product discount on Cyber Monday was 27.4%. Sales typically range between 12% and 35%.

• Consider flash sales that have time limits to create a sense of urgency. For example, you can heavily discount a product for only 1 day, or even a few hours. Note: This strategy will have to be bolstered by significant marketing through social media and e-mail to be successful. (We’ll get into this below).

• Reward VIP customers with early access. Have a list of repeat customers? Reward them by providing access to deals before they go live for everyone else. 

1. Amp up your email marketing strategy

There’s no point in running Cyber Monday sales if your prospective clients don’t know about them. Early October is the time to begin building excitement through a series of creative Newsletter campaigns to your email lists.

It’s all about anticipation 

• You want your customers to know that you’re having amazing sales for Cyber Monday and Black Friday, but not exactly what the discounts or products will be. This can be achieved by a series of Newsletters that tease small glimpses of info about the products or bundles you’ll be discounting. You can even include a countdown timer in your emails closer to the date.

• Take advantage of your Shopify data with targeted emails to specific types of customers. Something as simple as using the customer’s [First Name] in the subject or pre-header of your e-mail can create feelings of exclusivity and increase the open rate. Shopify data will also highlight which of your customers are the biggest spenders, so you can offer them exclusive deals or early access to the discounts that you plan to feature.

2. Ensure your store has PO boxes blocked

Experts are predicting a challenging shipping season this year, due to the projected spike in online holiday shopping, truck driver shortages, and other constraints. This means that it’s more important than ever to optimize your shipping logistics. A simple solution to ease this process is to ensure that PO boxes are blocked on your Shopify store.

A single app can save your season

• Ultimate PO Box Blocker for Shopify is a one-time download that will automatically highlight and block PO addresses from being entered in customer orders.

• Major shipping carriers like FedEx, UPS and DHL do not ship to PO boxes. If a customer makes a purchase on your site and enters a PO box, you’ll have to deal with either refunding or re-routing the item, which is guaranteed to take a significant amount of time due to the increased stress on the shipping industry from now until December.

• Automatically blocking PO boxes is a simple way to save you an innumerable amount of time, stress, and costs leading up to Cyber Monday and Black Friday.

3. Perfect your mobile site 

In 2023, a whopping 43% of Cyber Monday purchases were made on mobile devices. Despite this, many Shopify store owners neglect the function and design of their mobile pages compared to their desktop sites. Take advantage of the upcoming spike in purchases by making sure that both the web and mobile versions of your platform are fast, user-friendly, and nice to look at.

Focus on speed, design, and checkout processes

• Loading times can make or break a mobile site. Be sure to remove any unnecessary scripts that may slow down your site’s performance. You can also compress images to maintain their quality while also reducing loading times.

• Your navigation should be touch-friendly and feature large CTA buttons. Take advantage of Shopify’s number of pre-made templates, which are specifically designed to streamline the user’s shopping experience on mobile devices.

• Speaking of streamlining: the checkout process on mobile should be as fast as possible. Keep clicks to a minimum by reducing the amount of pages the customer needs to load in order to purchase your product on Android or iOS. Every additional page is another chance for your customer to change their mind and abandon their cart. For more best practices on streamlining the process, check out this blog post.

Best of luck in the months to come!

We hope that the tips above have inspired you to take steps to shape up your Shopify store for an incredible holiday season. Remember: a little effort in the months to come can go a long way towards moving products, cementing your brand’s identity, and having a very merry Cyber Monday.