E-commerce

Small Changes, Big Impact: Make This Black Friday Cyber Monday Count Beyond the Sale

November 4, 2025

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are still the biggest days in ecommerce, though the era of explosive growth seems to be behind us. 

Spending is expected to stay steady in 2025, meaning brands can’t rely on the same huge spikes in purchases that they did in years before. This year, the focus should be on not just attracting new shoppers, but keeping them around.

Shoppers expect sales, but do they stick around after them? Looking at the post-sale repeat rate (12-month lookback) for Prime Day, we’re inclined to say no: only 16% of them came back. It’s a lot of work for not a whole lot of long-term value.

Retention As A Missed Opportunity

For ecommerce brands, BFCM (Black Friday Cyber Monday) is expensive. There’s a lot of competition with ads, additional overhead to meet demand, and lower margins on inventory, which means that acquiring a new customer during this window costs more than at almost any other time of year. 

It doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom though, in fact, for savvy ecommerce brands, BFCM presents an irresistible opportunity to build fresh relationships with new customers. Looking at BFCM as an investment, putting some smart post-purchase tactics into action just makes sense. 

Making a few minor tweaks to your loyalty program, reviews engine, owned marketing channels—or better yet, all three—in these weeks leading up to BFCM can go a long way towards recovering some of the revenue left on the table when bargain hunters don’t turn into repeat purchasers.  

See loyalty as an extension of your brand

We’re all guilty of entering a little sales-induced fugue around BFCM, clicking the “checkout” button a little more feverishly than we would without the urgency of “ONE DAY ONLY” looming heavy. We love a good deal, but what makes us want to come back? How the brand makes us feel. With shoppers rushing through checkout, touchpoints before and after can help.

Even with a new loyalty program, there are some very easy ways to build excitement around BFCM so that shoppers will see beyond the “30% off” to the bigger picture. 

  • Offer double points during the BFCM sale window, which will naturally increase AOV and encourage a repeat purchase 
  • Use loyalty as an opportunity to opt shoppers into a marketing sequence, using SMS or email to notify them of their points, if they’re “unlocked” anything special, or to simply remind them of their status and unused points 
  • Use objectives and time limits to carry revenue goals through the end of Q4: for example, offer 500 bonus points to be spent before the end of December if shoppers spend $100.
  • Lower limits for leveling up throughout the holiday season so shoppers are motivated to get to the next tier of loyalty. Make it visual by adding a simple progress bar to your post-purchase email or customer account page so new shoppers see how close they are to a reward or leveling up.

Loyalty should never be an afterthought, but rather an extension of your brand and a tool to make it more accessible to people who really want it. Discounts are a great hook, but when they have a purpose behind them and something fun to keep shoppers engaged, they go much further. 

Use reviews as a momentum-builder

Most brands ask for reviews, but very few are on the cutting edge of using them as a tool for retention. If you reach them at the right time, BFCM buyers can be a goldmine of social proof, which can be an excellent way to increase urgency on the product page.

With so many first time visitors with such little attention spans, reviews are a great way to engage the customer, reward them for participation, boost confidence for new shoppers through the power of UGC, and build a feedback loop that keeps your marketing engine running.

  • Be mindful of review request timing, it doesn’t make sense to ask for a review immediately after a purchase is made and the shopper hasn’t had a chance to try it out. (Unless it’s a digital product, of course.) Waiting 3-4 days after the product is marked as “delivered” is a good practice, but your ideal timeline will vary according to what you sell.
  • Points are a better reward than promo codes because points will keep shoppers coming back. Offering loyalty points instead of a one-time discount, encourages the next purchase and brings your loyalty and review programs into the same orbit.
  • Your reviews should not be banished to your product page—you worked hard for them, show them off! Use them in ads, in email campaigns, in banners… wherever shoppers could use a little encouragement to make the purchase, share them there.

Shoppers are people like you and me, and people love feeling like they’re a part of something. Run a “Holiday Favorites” UGC campaign in December using your best BFCM reviews. Not only does this reinforce purchase decisions, but it invites customers to see themselves as part of your brand story.

Realize that second impressions matter, too

Email and SMS have evolved from “distribution channels” to “conversational commerce.” They have a lot of value to offer once you stop seeing them as a way to blast out updates and the occasional promo code, and start seeing them as an open dialogue—even if that dialogue is technically only “one-way.”

During BFCM, most brands focus their email and SMS energy on the build-up: hype, urgency, offers. But where they fall short is after the sale, once the noise has subsided, when the customer is most primed to engage.

  • Forget everything you know about post-purchase flows—order confirmed, tracking number, etc., everyone does these. Add messaging that reinforces the value of the purchase—think usage tips, unboxing experiences, or “what to expect next.” Reference BFCM directly: “You scored one of our best deals—here’s how to get even more out of it.” A little messaging will go a long way here, use this as an opportunity to show off your brand’s personality. 
  • Offer loyalty as the rule, not the exception by enrolling customers automatically or with minimal opt-in, then follow up via SMS or email that’ll get them excited to be a part of your program: “You’re in. Here’s what that unlocks.” Tie it to review requests for even more engagement.
  • Use SMS to create value, not volume. Your customers are probably on a dozen SMS lists, it’s just the nature of the business. Stand out with messages that add value (reminder to redeem loyalty points, last chance to review for rewards, early access to your “January Reset” collection, even inspiration galleries). The goal isn’t to blast, it’s to offer something they find interesting.

The biggest takeaway here is that if your first message post-sale is another promo code with no context, you’ve missed a relationship-building moment. Start with gratitude, follow with value, then focus on selling. 

Better retention starts now

BFCM might be all about the sale, but what happens after it is what defines your brand. 

The hard part is getting someone to make that first purchase, and then starts the fun part: turning that moment into a relationship. When loyalty, reviews, and owned channels like email and SMS work together, they create a post-purchase experience that brings people back, not just for another discount, but because they genuinely want to engage with your brand again. Just a few small tweaks and you’ll be well on your way.

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Having the right tools in place, like SiteVibes’ all-in-one retention platform, can make a big difference. Contact us to get started.