Black Friday is approaching, and with it the pressure for results, inboxes overflowing with urgent tasks and nervousness about whether everything will turn out as it should. Analytics before Black Friday, however, can save you a lot of stress, money and sleepless nights. Preparing for the biggest shopping weekend of the year without data is like planning a holiday without GPS – you may get somewhere, but certainly not by the most efficient route. What if we told you that most of the chaos during Black Friday is actually predictable and can be prevented?
Summary for Those Who Don’t Have Time to Read the Whole Article
- Analytics can reveal which products are pulling and which are just taking up space. You focus your marketing on what really sells.
- Thanks to analytics you decide better where to invest your budget. Data shows which advertising channel brings the highest return.
- Personalisation can increase conversions by up to 40 %. A targeted offer often works better than blanket discounts.
- You can prevent technical outages. Analysing your website’s load prepares you for the rush of customers.
- You can potentially save money. Instead of shooting blindfolded, you invest where there is more potential.
We will be happy to help you set up analytics and prepare for Black Friday.
Why Start with Analytics Long Before the First Discount Flyer?
The time when Black Friday meant one mad shopping spree on the Friday after Thanksgiving is long gone. Statistics show an interesting thing: interest in Black Friday starts to grow as early as 91 days before the event itself (according to Google Trends).
While you are only tuning your campaigns, your customers are already actively searching, comparing and deciding where to spend their money. Whoever has the data has a head start. Whoever ignores data pays too much for advertising and wonders why their website went down at the worst possible moment.
Data Can Show You the Future
One of the biggest advantages of analytics before Black Friday is the possibility of prediction. Historical data from Google Analytics or GA4 can tell you:
- Which products were pulling in previous years,
- what the average basket value was,
- where customers came from,
- at what hour the rush was biggest.
For example: If you know that last year the cost per click rose by 60 % during Black Friday, you can prepare an appropriate budget or change your strategy. Instead of surprises you have a plan.
You might be interested in: Preparing PPC Analytics for the Main Season, or Why Modern Campaigns Need Quality Data
What Can Analytics Reveal?
Data is not just dry numbers in tables. It is the answers to questions you need to know before the campaign starts.
Who Your Customers Are and What They Want
Customer segmentation is the foundation. Analytics before Black Friday lets you divide customers by age, interests, previous purchases or behaviour on the website.
The data will show you, for example: Users aged 18–24 often look primarily for electronics, while customers aged 30–40 usually prefer home textiles and decorations. Such segmentation can increase the conversion rate by up to 20 %. You target your advertising at the right people with the right offer.
Which Products Are Pulling and Which Are Just Taking Up Space
Not all products deserve the same discount. Portfolio analysis can show you:
- Which products generated the highest margin,
- which had the highest purchase completion rate,
- which ended up as abandoned baskets.
This information is essential for deciding where to focus marketing effort and what discounts to offer.
Which Discounts Really Work
Blanket discounts are tempting and easy to communicate, but often ineffective. Personalised offers can reach up to a 40 % higher conversion rate than general discounts.
If a customer has looked at running shoes in the past, they usually have a greater tendency to complete a purchase when you send them a targeted email with a discount on exactly this category.
Specific Metrics You Can Track
Now we get to the technical side. Which numbers and metrics are really important?
Conversion Rate from Previous Years
This metric tells you what percentage of visitors actually completed a purchase. If you know that your average conversion rate during Black Friday is 3 %, you can estimate how many visitors you need to reach the target turnover.
Average Order Value (AOV)
If you know that last year the average basket value was CZK 1,500, you can create offers that motivate customers to spend more – for example free shipping over CZK 2,000 or a gift with an order over CZK 2,500.
Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)
ROAS tells you how many crowns of revenue each crown invested in advertising generated. If Google Shopping ads reached a ROAS of 500 % and Meta ads only 200 %, it will be more logical to move a larger part of the budget to Google Ads.
Read also: Your Christmas Campaigns Will Make No Sense Without a Measurement Strategy
How Analytics Saves Your Marketing Budget
Money in marketing is easy to spend. It is much harder to spend it wisely. Data will show you where you are throwing money out of the window and where, on the contrary, you have room to invest more.
Invest Where It Works
Data from past campaigns will show you exactly which channels brought the highest return. If email marketing had a conversion rate of 8 % and paid ads on social networks only 2 %, it is clear where to direct a larger part of the budget.
So that you can see all the data in one place, organised and reliable, we recommend using the reporting options in Looker Studio.
The Right Timing of Campaigns
If you know that the biggest rush comes on Friday afternoon between 4 and 7 pm, you can set aside a larger budget and more aggressive offers for that time. Instead of spending the whole budget during the first hours, spread it evenly over the whole day or week. That way you avoid the situation where you run out of money before the peak of sales.
Prevent Technical Problems
The best campaign in the world is useless if your website goes down on Friday evening. Technical problems can destroy months of preparation within minutes. The good news is that most of them can be prevented if you know what to prepare for.
Uncover the Weak Spots of the Website
Nothing kills a Black Friday campaign faster than a non-working website. Analytics before Black Friday helps you identify potential problems before they cause losses.
Analysis of page loading speed, mobile optimisation and the stability of payment gateways should be part of the preparation. If you know your website normally handles 1,000 visitors at once but you expect 5,000 during Black Friday, it is time to invest in strengthening the infrastructure.
One of the tools that lets you do these analyses is, for example, Microsoft Clarity.
Prepare for the Rush
Load tests and high-traffic simulations reveal where the weak spots are. These problems are usually simpler (and cheaper) to solve a week before Black Friday than on Friday at 6 pm, when customers start writing on social networks that your e-shop isn’t working.
Do you need help preparing for Black Friday? We will set up analytics for you, optimise campaigns and make sure your website can handle a bigger rush.
Conclusion
Start preparing for Black Friday as early as possible. The sooner you start analysing historical data and customer behaviour, the potentially better results you can achieve. Data lets you estimate demand better, optimise your budget, personalise offers and prevent technical problems.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I use data from past years when every year is different?
Even though trends change, historical data will show you the basic patterns of customer behaviour, seasonal fluctuations and the performance of individual channels. This information is still relevant and forms the basis for prediction. It is important to combine the data with current trends and be ready for change.
Is analytics before Black Friday useful for small e-shops too?
Definitely. Basic analytics in Google Analytics is free and can save you thousands of crowns on ineffective campaigns. Even small e-shops can use data to optimise their budget, improve conversions and avoid technical problems that would otherwise cause them losses.
Which metrics are the most important?
Focus primarily on the historical conversion rate, average order value (AOV), return on ad spend (ROAS) and customer acquisition cost (CAC).
Sources
AnalyticaHouse (n.d.) Data-Driven Black Friday: Strategies and Tools That Boost Sales. [Online].
Google Trends (n.d.) Analysis of searches related to Black Friday. [Online].
Terrific Minds (n.d.) Black Friday Analytics: Measuring Success. [Online].
Sheth, N., Elbendary, A. and Wendt, S. (n.d.) Customer Experience Optimization for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. LinkedIn. [Online].
University of Management and Technology (2021) A Big Data Approach to Black Friday Sales. [Online].