Black Friday and Cyber Monday, also known as Cyber Weekend or simply BFCM, is one of the biggest shopping events of the year - and this year was no exception. According to Shopify, merchants reached a record $9.3 billion in sales, a 24% increase from last year.
Already impressed? Here are some other noteworthy statistics:
Today, we’re sharing our own exceptional results and highlighting some of our favorite holiday campaigns from our community of over 75,000 leading and fast-growing brands, plus some tips on how to make the most of your product reviews and loyalty programs in the future.
Looking to level up your reviews and loyalty strategies before the new year? Connect with our team to learn what Stamped can do for you.
This year, Stamped’s brand community also had one of the best BFCMs to date:
Finally, during BFCM, we served 1.5 billion requests to merchants' storefronts across tens and thousands of stores, and one of our top-performing brands saw their basket size increase to offset their discounts and keep their average order value (AOV) steady, which is typical for Stamped Loyalty customers. We’re incredibly impressed with the results and look forward to seeing what else our customers can do!
To learn more about Stamped Loyalty, check out our recent posts on Loyalty 2.0 and Analytics 2.0, including what’s new in VIP tiers.
Cozy Earth is a bedding, bath, and apparel brand that specializes in premium-quality sheets, towels, loungewear, and more. For this year’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday, they offered lots of great deals, including 30% off site-wide, 40% off all bedding and all apparel, free shipping on orders over $50, and new arrivals all month long.
One way to make the most of surges in site traffic during major sales like BFCM is to highlight your product reviews. While most shoppers at this time are looking for the best deals of the year, they’re also looking for brands and products that they can trust. Reviews provide social proof and give customers the confidence they need to make their first purchase. They can even help turn skeptics into eventual lifelong customers.
Brands like Cozy Earth drive more sales and revenue by placing reviews on their product pages, linking to a dedicated reviews landing page in their main navigation, and even featuring some of their best testimonials right on their homepage. Reviews make customers 71% more comfortable purchasing a product and will spend an average of 31% more when they see positive reviews. Check out this article to learn other ways to leverage your customer reviews.
Lilac St. is a beauty brand best known for its vegan, cruelty-free DIY lash extensions made with 100% premium Korean silk PBT. They also offer accessories like lash glue and applicators, compact mirrors, and travel bags. For BFCM, they offered 20% off site-wide, 25% off brand merchandise for one day only, and six days of deals, including 40% off some of their best-selling products.
Reviews play a big role in Lilac St.’s marketing strategy as they build trust and boost conversion rates. In addition to featuring them on their product pages, Lilac St. also posts some of their best reviews on social media. Beauty brands like Lilac St. specifically prioritize photo reviews because they’re proven to drive more conversions. Shoppers want to see proof of other customers’ results before purchasing: 79% of customers say user-generated content highly impacts their purchasing decisions.
Lilac St.’s eyelashes come in different lengths, and occasionally, different limited-edition colors for seasonal promotions like Pride Month, which is where Stamped features like Product Groups come in. With Product Groups, brands can share reviews across similar products, meaning brand-new products already have reviews ready for converting new customers. This is especially helpful for brands promoting their holiday collections.
Check out our recent case study to learn how Stamped helped Lilac St. boost their average order value by 37%.
Brixton is an apparel and headwear brand whose products are inspired by music, culture, and creators of different lifestyles. For this year’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday, they offered 30% off site-wide, 50% off select styles from past seasons, free shipping on orders over $150, and free gifts with purchase. They also offered early sale access and exclusive discounts to customers who signed up for SMS, known as the Brixton Secret Society.
Similar to their SMS marketing tactics, Brixton’s loyalty program, Brixton Rewards, also regularly includes exclusive offers for different VIP tiers. Customers in their Proper Partner Plus tier get first access to new product releases, special collaboration access for future releases, invite-only access to events, and exclusive seasonal shipping offers.
VIP tiers are a powerful way to increase lifetime value: loyalty programs with tiers are reported to result in a 1.8x higher ROI and a 2.1x higher average spend compared to loyalty programs without. Check out this article to learn more about why brands need VIP tiers in their loyalty programs.
NOGU is an accessories brand that specializes in unconventionally colorful jewelry, including bracelets, necklaces, charms, and more. For BFCM, they offered up to 80% off site-wide, an extra 25% off their lowest ticketed prices, and triple the reward points on every purchase. They also had a limited-time restock of some of their best-selling products.
Compared to many other brands, NOGU offers tons of unique ways for customers to earn points beyond purchases and reviews. They also reward customers for engaging on social media, registering for their newsletter, and choosing their eco-friendly packaging option. Customers also get extra points for including photos in their reviews, leaving reviews on Google, making purchases in their app, and subscribing to their SMS messages and push notifications.
Limited-time points multipliers are the perfect way to incentivize sales, as customers get more value out of every purchase. They also give customers more points to spend, increasing the likelihood of future orders. Check out this article to learn other ways to optimize your loyalty program during major sales like BFCM.
StumpCraft is a jigsaw puzzle workshop crafting laser-cut, heirloom-quality puzzles showcasing the best of Canadian fine art. Instead of offering big savings and exclusive deals during BFCM, StumpCraft celebrated Giving Tuesday with their own Giving Week.
Every year, StumpCraft partners with a specific non-profit organization to “raise funds and awareness for local causes that align with our values and broader community needs”. This year, they partnered with Highbanks Society, which provides accommodation and support for young mothers and their children.
In addition to doubling their donation of $5 to $10 for every purchase of a specific puzzle, StumpCraft also rewarded customers with double the loyalty points for every purchase. As a bonus, when customers donated their extra points, StumpCraft matched their donation threefold.
Customers don’t always want to spend their points on discounts and free products - giving them the option to turn their points into donations is a great way to showcase your brand values and build better relationships with your customers, leading to increased retention and LTV over time. Check out this article to learn more ways to strengthen your brand community.
Georgiemane specializes in hair care products for all different hair types like shampoos, serums, scalp scrubs, and more. For this year’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday, customers received an extra 30% off on top of already reduced prices, as well as free shipping and gifts once they reached minimum order value. Everyone who shopped during the sale was also automatically entered into their holiday giveaway, where the winner received $25,000 AUD in cash.
Similar to Brixton, Georgiemane’s rewards program includes exclusive benefits for different VIP tiers. Bronze members earn 1 point per dollar spent, Silver members earn 2 points, and Gold members earn 4 points, along with early access to sales, product launches, and product testing opportunities. These benefits motivate customers to make bigger and more frequent purchases to gain access to these perks.
Georgiemane also regularly features photo reviews on social media to demonstrate customers’ success with their products. Before-and-after photos are especially beneficial for products like beauty and hair care. They give new customers the confidence to make their first purchase and encourage existing customers to try other products.
Another way Georgiemane encourages customers to add a few more items to their basket, especially during the holiday season, is with product bundles. Gift guides and stocking stuffers are great for up-selling and cross-selling, increasing average order value (AOV), and getting precise control of your inventory. Cross-selling is proven to increase sales by 20% and profits by 30%. Check out this article to learn other quick and easy BFCM wins for next year.
Coco Moon is a baby apparel and accessories brand best known for its Hawaiian-inspired prints, swaddle blankets, pajamas, and more. For BFCM, they offered 30% off site-wide, doorbuster prices, daily giveaways on social media, and free gifts with purchase for orders over $150, $200, and $300.
Similar to StumpCraft, Coco Moon focuses heavily on building their dedicated brand community through rewards and donations to non-profit organizations that align with their brand values. Coco Moon’s Mahina VIP Facebook page gives their best customers priority access to shop select products, member-only sneak peeks, and exclusive giveaways, sales, and discounts. Charity work and exclusive benefits create an emotional bond between Coco Moon and their customers, leading to increased AOV and LTV over time.
Coco Moon also leverages their community of loyal customers to drive new business. Their Rainbow Rewards program not only rewards shoppers for making purchases, leaving reviews, and engaging on social media, but also for referring their friends. Referrals increase customer trust and boost LTV: 77% of consumers are more likely to buy a new product when learning about it from friends or family, and customers referred by other customers have a 37% higher retention rate. Check out this article to learn more about referral marketing.
Bathorium is a wellness brand best known for its high-quality bath bombs, soaks, bubble baths, and more. For this year’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday, they offered 25% off site-wide, free shipping and gifts with purchase for all orders above $200, and new products only available during the sale, including supersized bath treatments and soaks. They also locked their website in advance of BFCM, where customers had to sign up for SMS to receive an early access code.
In addition to their SMS marketing strategy and TubClub Rewards program, Bathorium also connects with their customers in several other ways, increasing trust, retention, and LTV. Their blog educates customers about the ingredients they use, their “Find Your Perfect Soak” quiz helps shoppers determine which product best fits their needs, and their main reviews widget includes a Q&A section.
Brand and community Q&A directly answers customers’ specific questions and makes them feel seen and heard by the brand. They also boost customers’ confidence in the product and increase the likelihood of them making their first purchase. Check out this article to learn other effective reviews tactics to prepare for major sales like BFCM.
Lastly, to build up interest around their products in advance of BFCM, Bathorium announced their Eras Tour Sweepstakes in mid-October. Customers who spend over $125 receive 15 sweepstakes entries for the chance to win 2 Taylor Swift concert tickets. They can also earn additional entries by liking, commenting, and sharing related posts on social media. Running special events and offers before BFCM is an effective way to acquire new customers. Brands can then reach out to these customers to let them know about their biggest deals of the year, incentivizing them to return and make another purchase.
While our brand community saw 3x the amount of traffic during BFCM compared to the average weekend, that doesn’t mean they’re stopping there. Once holiday shopping starts to slow down, it’s time to focus on retention and re-engagement strategies that keep customers coming back. Join us for our upcoming webinar to learn five quick and easy post-BFCM tactics for maximizing lifetime value using product reviews and loyalty programs. Don’t miss out - register now.
To learn more about Stamped, book a demo with one of our sales reps today.