Are you preparing discounts and advertising campaigns for Black Friday? Great. But do you know how many potential customers will slip away just before completing a purchase? Conversion rate optimisation (CRO) is no add-on, it is the foundation that decides whether you get hundreds of conversions out of thousands of visitors, or whether hundreds of thousands of crowns slip through your fingers.
Summary for Those Who Don’t Have Time to Read the Whole Article
- Conversion rate optimisation can increase revenue by 20–40 % without raising the advertising budget.
- A typical e-shop may lose 60–70 % of customers somewhere in the purchase process.
- Optimisation for mobile devices is a priority. Over 70 % of visitors come to the website from mobiles.
- Correct conversion measurement in GA4 and GTM will show you exactly where customers leave and why.
- You must start A/B testing at least 4–6 weeks in advance for it to make sense.
Does it seem too complicated? We will be happy to help you with conversion rate optimisation before Black Friday.
Why Can Last Year’s Data Be Your Secret Weapon?
Last year’s Black Friday brought one electronics e-shop a turnover of CZK 3.5 million. The owner counted on a similar result this year. The problem was that he had no idea how many customers had abandoned the basket last year, which page they spent the most time on, or what the average order value was for mobile vs. desktop customers.
The result? This year’s campaign brought 40 % more visitors, but revenue grew by only 12 %. The conversion rate fell from 2.8 % to 2.1 %. Why? Because the purchase process was not optimised for mobile devices, which 68 % of visitors came from. Customers got as far as payment, but a complicated form and slow loading put them off.
The data from Google Analytics showed it clearly, but only after Black Friday, when it was too late.
Why Should CRO Before Black Friday Be a Must for You?
Every year you invest in PPC campaigns, SEO and discounts. But what if half of the customers who have already added a product to the basket never complete the purchase? During Black Friday, when you pay more for every visitor because of competition, every lost conversion is expensive.
Conversion rate optimisation means systematic work with data – identifying problems, testing solutions and implementing changes that demonstrably increase the number of completed purchases. And the best part? Raising the conversion rate from 2 % to 3 % means 50 % more revenue with the same number of visitors.
TIP: Training of internal analytics teams
What a CRO Audit Reveals
A CRO audit is like an X-ray of your e-shop. It reveals weak spots you may not even have known about and shows you specific opportunities for improvement.
Where Customers Leave the Purchase Process
Google Analytics shows you exactly which page customers leave most often. Perhaps it is the basket page, where the shipping costs are not visible. Or an address form with too many mandatory fields. Funnel analysis reveals where you lose the most potential customers.
Typical problems:
- Complicated registration forms.
- Unclear information about availability or delivery time.
- Slow loading of the basket or payment page.
- Hidden costs in the last step.
- Missing trust elements (reviews, certificates, guarantees).
How the Behaviour of Mobile and Desktop Users Differs
During Black Friday, over 70 % of visitors may come to your e-shop from mobile devices. Do they complete the purchase as often as desktop visitors? In most cases they don’t. Mobile users tend to have a lower conversion rate, often because websites are not properly adapted for mobiles.
The analysis will show you:
- Differences in average order value by device.
- Which steps of the purchase process are problematic on mobile.
- Where mobile users spend the most time.
- What the bounce rate ratio is between mobile and desktop.
User Testing: Have You Seen How Customers Really Use Your Website?
Data from Google Analytics tells you what is happening. But tools such as Smartlook, Microsoft Clarity or Hotjar show you why it is happening.
What These Tools Reveal
Smartlook records how visitors move around the website – where they click, how far they scroll, where they hesitate. You see their frustration in real time. You may find that customers click on a product image expecting the detail to open, but nothing happens.
Typical findings from heatmaps and session recordings:
- Customers look for information that isn’t there (for example cash on delivery).
- They click on elements that are not interactive.
- They keep returning to the same page because they haven’t found what they were looking for.
- They leave the page immediately after opening it because of slow loading.
Read: The Microsoft Clarity tool
A/B Testing Before Black Friday
Have a hunch that the “Buy” button should be bigger? Or that green would work better than orange? Don’t guess – test.
A/B testing lets you compare two versions of a page and measure which brings more conversions. While preparing for Black Friday you can test:
- Different versions of product pages.
- Alternative forms in the basket.
- Different placements of discount banners.
- Variants of call-to-action buttons.
Start testing 4 to 6 weeks before Black Friday. An A/B test needs enough visitors for the results to be statistically significant.
Measure the maturity of your company’s analytics and marketing here.
Mobile Optimisation as Priority Number One
If your website is not optimised for mobiles, you are losing most of your Black Friday sales. Mobile optimisation is not just about responsive design, it is about the whole user experience.
What to check:
- Loading speed – users on mobile are even less patient than on desktop. If a page doesn’t load within 3 seconds, they leave. During Black Friday, when competition for every click is fiercer, this is crucial.
- Touch-friendly elements – buttons must be large enough to be easily tapped with a finger. Forms should display the right keyboard depending on what the user is filling in (for example a numeric keyboard for a phone number).
- Simplified checkout – on a small screen every extra step is an obstacle. Ideal is a one-page checkout or at most 3 steps with a clear indicator of where in the process the customer is.
- Express payment methods – Apple Pay and Google Pay dramatically shorten the time needed to complete a purchase on mobile. Customers who use them have up to a 40 % higher completion rate.
Conversion Measurement: Do You Know What Really Works?
Correct measurement setup in Google Analytics 4 and Google Tag Manager is the foundation. But do you know exactly what to track before Black Friday?
The basic conversions you must have set up:
- Completed purchases (with order value),
- add to basket,
- checkout start,
- filling in contact details,
- selection of payment and delivery,
- registration of a new user.
You should measure every step of the purchase process as a separate event. Then you see exactly where customers leave the journey.
Enhanced e-commerce in GA4 in turn gives you a detailed view of customer behaviour:
- Which products they view most often.
- What the average time is between the first view and adding to the basket.
- Which products they most often remove from the basket.
- What effect discounts have on purchase decisions.
Do you need help with conversion rate optimisation? We have prepared CRO optimisation pricing packages for you.
Conclusion
Conversion rate optimisation before Black Friday can decide the success of the whole campaign. Start with an audit at least 6 weeks in advance, identify the weak spots and test solutions using A/B tests. Raising the conversion rate by 1 percentage point can mean up to hundreds of thousands of crowns extra during Black Friday.
Frequently Asked Questions
What tools are needed for CRO optimisation?
The basis is Google Analytics 4 and Google Tag Manager for measurement. For analysing customer behaviour, Smartlook or Hotjar. For A/B testing, Google Optimize or VWO were used. Google Optimize was shut down in 2023 and since then we have recommended Microsoft Clarity. More important than the tools, however, is the right methodology and the ability to interpret the data.
Can CRO optimisation be done on Shoptet or Shopify too?
Yes, it works on any platform. Both Shoptet and Shopify integrate well with Google Analytics and often have their own A/B testing tools. What matters is setting up the measurement correctly.
What if I don’t have data from last Black Friday?
You can carry out an audit even without historical data. Focus on best practices for e-commerce, user testing and competitor analysis. Data from regular traffic will help you estimate what to expect.
Sources
Google Analytics Help Center (n.d.). Enhanced Measurement & Ecommerce tracking. Available at: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9322688
Google Developers (n.d.). GA4 Ecommerce Implementation Guide. Available at: https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/ga4/ecommerce
Statista Research Department, 2024. Mobile commerce in the United States – statistics & facts. Available at: https://www.statista.com/topics/1185/mobile-commerce/