It’s that time of the year. Shoppers gonna shop. Spenders gonna spend. And our prediction? This Black Friday 2024, subscriptions are your golden ticket.
As public uncertainty looms, consumers are laser-focused on value—making this the perfect moment for subscription-first brands to take the spotlight.
We’ve pulled together insights from working with 3,000+ DTC brands. Dive into this actionable playbook and set up your brand to win this Black Friday Cyber Monday.
As public uncertainty looms, consumers are laser-focused on value—making this the perfect moment for subscription-first brands to take the spotlight.
We’ve pulled together insights from working with 3,000+ DTC brands. Dive into this actionable playbook and set up your brand to win this Black Friday Cyber Monday.
Prepare for the BFCM rush
Start Early
In the time leading up to Q4, it’s essential to refresh your email lists to ensure you're reaching the right audience. Being top of mind pays off during the BFCM season, so keep your email campaigns prepared and ready to deploy ahead of time.
In the time leading up to Q4, it’s essential to refresh your email lists to ensure you're reaching the right audience. Being top of mind pays off during the BFCM season, so keep your email campaigns prepared and ready to deploy ahead of time.
"We generated over $1M in a day before Black Friday even started.
The challenge with BFCM for e-commerce brands is the intense competition. Most brands don’t invest in marketing or advertising until Q4, leading to higher advertising costs, crowded customer inboxes, and diminished attention on social media. It’s tough to stand out without overspending.
It’s cliché, but thinking outside the box is more important than ever during BFCM, especially with the surge in online sales since 2020. Our goal is to stay ahead of the crowd and be first in line, which starts with priming your audience early in the year. If you're running late, you should at least begin building and engaging your audience 30 days before your BFCM launch. This involves building trust, delivering results to customers, maintaining communication, and staying visible so you're top of mind when it counts. For the promotion itself, plan to launch your sale in early to mid-November alongside something engaging, like a giveaway. Waiting until BFCM is too late. By launching early and keeping your promotion active through BFCM, you’ll see spikes in revenue both early on and during BFCM when consumers are naturally hunting for deals."
The challenge with BFCM for e-commerce brands is the intense competition. Most brands don’t invest in marketing or advertising until Q4, leading to higher advertising costs, crowded customer inboxes, and diminished attention on social media. It’s tough to stand out without overspending.
It’s cliché, but thinking outside the box is more important than ever during BFCM, especially with the surge in online sales since 2020. Our goal is to stay ahead of the crowd and be first in line, which starts with priming your audience early in the year. If you're running late, you should at least begin building and engaging your audience 30 days before your BFCM launch. This involves building trust, delivering results to customers, maintaining communication, and staying visible so you're top of mind when it counts. For the promotion itself, plan to launch your sale in early to mid-November alongside something engaging, like a giveaway. Waiting until BFCM is too late. By launching early and keeping your promotion active through BFCM, you’ll see spikes in revenue both early on and during BFCM when consumers are naturally hunting for deals."
- Devyn Merklin, Founder at X-Scale
Nail Down the Subscription Offer
Create a subscription offer that's too good to pass up. It’s not just about the volume of the discount, but the value-added perks that come along with it. Consider options such as BYOB, a free shipping guarantee, members-only access to best-selling products, price lock-in for three months, or a giveaway.
Create a subscription offer that's too good to pass up. It’s not just about the volume of the discount, but the value-added perks that come along with it. Consider options such as BYOB, a free shipping guarantee, members-only access to best-selling products, price lock-in for three months, or a giveaway.
"Build an Early Bird list for your promotion! Two weeks before your launch, use all channels to tell your audience about your early BFCM promotion, encouraging them to register so they don’t miss out. Ethically use scarcity—remind them that inventory is limited, and early shoppers are less likely to see their favorites sell out. Add extra incentives, such as a giveaway like, “We’ll select one registrant to win a year’s supply of X.” This motivates your audience to “raise their hand” and commit to shopping your promotion, which is exactly what you want."
- Devyn Merklin, Founder at X-Scale
Invest in High-Quality Product Images
If there’s one time of the year when you want to invest in your digital presence, it’s now. Bring out the big guns, and give your product images a well-deserved glow-up. Since BFCM has gone digital, there’s a lot of noise. This tactic will ensure your brand stands out in a crowded marketplace.
If there’s one time of the year when you want to invest in your digital presence, it’s now. Bring out the big guns, and give your product images a well-deserved glow-up. Since BFCM has gone digital, there’s a lot of noise. This tactic will ensure your brand stands out in a crowded marketplace.
Fix the Leaky Bucket
Analyze your Product Detail Page (PDP) heatmaps to pinpoint where buyers drop off; we call this the "leaky bucket." Then, address those areas to improve conversion rates. Make final optimization touches on your website and take it up a notch!
Analyze your Product Detail Page (PDP) heatmaps to pinpoint where buyers drop off; we call this the "leaky bucket." Then, address those areas to improve conversion rates. Make final optimization touches on your website and take it up a notch!
Customize your customer portal.
book a demoGo all out on acquisition
Customer Experience that Delights
Have you considered a festive upgrade with BFCM-specific themes and banners? Embrace the holiday spirit with themes like "Product of the Season" or "Season's Greetings." DTC brands have also found success by adding a countdown timer on their deals.
Have you considered a festive upgrade with BFCM-specific themes and banners? Embrace the holiday spirit with themes like "Product of the Season" or "Season's Greetings." DTC brands have also found success by adding a countdown timer on their deals.
Strategic Upselling
Upselling during BFCM is a no-brainer, but winning upsells are personalized and targeted. Our upsell engine enables precise targeting of different subscriber segments and tracks the data behind it all.
Leverage upsell banners to launch new products, announce an upcoming sale, and improve the customer experience. Some Loop merchants have acquired 15% of their subscription revenue with zero CAC, simply from strategic upselling.
Upselling during BFCM is a no-brainer, but winning upsells are personalized and targeted. Our upsell engine enables precise targeting of different subscriber segments and tracks the data behind it all.
Leverage upsell banners to launch new products, announce an upcoming sale, and improve the customer experience. Some Loop merchants have acquired 15% of their subscription revenue with zero CAC, simply from strategic upselling.
.png)
Dynamic Discounts for Accelerated Acquisition
Differentiate your subscription offerings and acquire more with dynamic discounting. For one-time buyers, offer 40% off on the first order, and 15% off on subsequent orders. For subscribers, offer 40% off on the first two orders, followed by a 20% discount on future orders. Incentivize hesitant shoppers to take the leap and start a subscription. It takes less than 10 minutes to set up through Loop’s selling plans.
Differentiate your subscription offerings and acquire more with dynamic discounting. For one-time buyers, offer 40% off on the first order, and 15% off on subsequent orders. For subscribers, offer 40% off on the first two orders, followed by a 20% discount on future orders. Incentivize hesitant shoppers to take the leap and start a subscription. It takes less than 10 minutes to set up through Loop’s selling plans.
"BFCM sales are a great way to get new subscribers. You can be aggressive with initial discounts or offers, but typically churn rates are high after the initial period. To get long-term subscribers from BFCM, you need a great initial offer AND a great follow-on offer.
A high discount followed by a gift offer on the second order will give you a better chance of keeping new subscribers engaged."
A high discount followed by a gift offer on the second order will give you a better chance of keeping new subscribers engaged."
- Matt Holman, Subscription Prescription
Bundles for the Win
Bundles are essential for cracking BFCM. Turn your most frequently bought-together products into fixed bundles. Emphasize the long-term savings that come with bundle subscriptions to attract new customers. As always, getting customers is good but getting subscribers is better.
Bundles are essential for cracking BFCM. Turn your most frequently bought-together products into fixed bundles. Emphasize the long-term savings that come with bundle subscriptions to attract new customers. As always, getting customers is good but getting subscribers is better.
"AOV is a key lever to growing subscriber LTV, and that's why bundles are literally a superpower for sales growth. During the sale season, you want to let users build a multi-item cart effortlessly - and offering static or dynamic bundles is the best way to do that. Across pretty much every vertical, bundles consistently show 2-3x AOV increases on the first purchase, and every subscription order after."
- Andriy Rudnyk, Good Subscription Agency
Frictionless Shopping with Checkout Links
Reducing friction will take your conversions through the roof. Try Loop’s single-click checkout links to make the cart experience as seamless as possible. Remember, in the competitive holiday shopping environment, a quick checkout process can be the difference between a completed sale and an abandoned cart.
Reducing friction will take your conversions through the roof. Try Loop’s single-click checkout links to make the cart experience as seamless as possible. Remember, in the competitive holiday shopping environment, a quick checkout process can be the difference between a completed sale and an abandoned cart.
Keep reading for best practices
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
