Black Friday Preparation Checklist for Skincare Brands 2025
In 2024, during the Black Friday-Cyber Monday (BFCM) weekend Shopify merchants made $11.5 billion in global sales. That’s a 24% increase in sales from 2023, not to mention an increase in purchases leading up to the weekend. It’s clear, BFCM is a huge opportunity for beauty brands as every year it breaks new records.
To help you get a piece of those sales we have made a Black Friday checklist for you to prepare for the 2025 holiday season.
Table of Contents
Why beauty brands need a Black Friday strategy
Even with these numbers you might be thinking, "Do I really need to participate in another discount frenzy?" And my answer without a doubt is yes! Beauty brands can benefit from BFCM in multiple ways:
Acquire new customers: This is when shoppers are actively looking to buy. A well-executed BFCM campaign can introduce your brand to a huge new audience, turning browsers into first-time buyers.
Boost average order value (AOV): By strategically bundling products or offering tiered discounts, you encourage customers to spend more per transaction, increasing your overall revenue.
Increase brand visibility and awareness: With shoppers actively looking for deals, a well-executed marketing campaign can ensure your brand not only gets noticed but also remains top-of-mind.
Clear inventory: It's a great opportunity to move slower-selling stock or seasonal items, making room for new product launches.
Build loyalty: Beyond the initial sale, a positive BFCM experience, coupled with excellent customer service, can convert new buyers into loyal, repeat customers.
BFCM is more than just discounts for shoppers. It’s about creating an engaging shopping experience that makes them want to come back.
Black Friday checklist
So what is it exactly you need to do to prepare for Black Friday? Let’s start from the beginning.
Define your goals
As for any marketing campaign, you need to set your SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) goals for your Black Friday campaign. What numbers you want to hit. Like “Increase our BFCM sales by 20% over last year”.
Understand your target audience
Before you launch any campaign, you must truly know who you're speaking to. Start by gathering information on your existing customers' shopping habits and preferences. You can use Google analytics and other tools. Your customer insights will give you a window into new customers who are similar to them. That will help you make targeted marketing activities before the BFCM comes and boost sales.
Another good idea is to analyze shopper behaviors from previous Black Fridays to refine your marketing efforts for maximum impact. For example, cosmetics purchases in 2024 peaked at 7 p.m. on Black Friday, suggesting impulse buying driven by targeted marketing.
Leverage this information and plan additional promotions during BFCM to drive buyers to your store when they're on their shopping spree.
Product selection
Decide which products will be your stars. Plan your discounts and promotion strategies. I would suggest choosing messaging based not only on discounts, but also on the properties of your selected products. Or even the active ingredients to emphasize benefits beyond a good price.
Consider offering bundles or gift sets, as these are powerful ways to increase sales and average order value.
Store setup
Store setup is one of the most important parts, especially for skincare dropshipers. You can have a great campaign, but if your store is not ready, you will not be able to provide an easy, seamless Black Friday experience. Make sure your store has all the necessary extensions and apps.
In 2024 WooCommerce most installed extension categories as stores got ready for Black Friday-Cyber Monday were:
Pricing and discounts: These include apps that allow your customers to pay in multiple currencies, to extensions that extensions for bulk discounts, role-based pricing and much more.
Social media: From apps that allow you to create Meta ads directly on WooCommerce, to ones that allow your customers to log in with their social media accounts for seamless checkout, and more..
Product reviews: These enable you to collect and showcase verified product reviews and customer feedback to boost trust and sales.
Payment gateways: Extensions that allow you to set how your customers pay for their orders. Credit card, debit card, Apple Pay, Venmo, PayPal, or even cryptocurrency. There are also apps that allow buy now, pay later (BNPL) options at checkout.
Order status and tracking: These include extensions that allow you to share order statuses and shipment tracking information with your customers. Some apps even let you send SMS updates to customers with marketing alerts, stock notifications and updates on their order status.
Shopify also suggests apps for discounts, marketing, inventory management, apps for a memorable customer experience (like loyalty programs, and apps that create a personalized shopping experience) and others.
Once your store is set up, make sure to test if everything works perfectly. The better experience your customers will have in your store, the higher your sales will be. So ask your friends and family to check out your store, and give feedback. Find out what’s missing, what could be improved so you can deliver a hassle-free shopping experience. Shoppers will abandon their carts, if their shopping process is inconvenient.
Marketing preparation
A cohesive marketing strategy and a detailed content calendar are key to a successful Black Friday. Plan your marketing activities throughout different channels to cover all customer touchpoints (email, social media, website, etc.).
So what can you do on different channels:
Email marketing: Your emails are a direct line to your customers, so use them to promote special offers, time-limited deals, deals for your VIP customers. In the weeks leading up to BFCM, send countdown emails to build anticipation.
Don't forget to segment your mailing list, so you can reach out to different groups with personalized messaging. Consider setting up an “abandoned cart” email, to remind customers about products they forgot to buy. After a purchase follow-up with a “thank you” email that includes a “you might also like” section to help you with upselling.
Last year over 41,000 email campaigns were sent to nearly 460 million contacts leading up to Black Friday, this highlights the importance of email lists.
Social media marketing: Shoppers are more likely to discover a product on social media than any other channel over Black Friday. Promote your offers, do countdown clocks, do giveaways and showcase your USG and customer reviews. 71% of millennials trust shopper content more on product pages, than brand-provided content, like product descriptions and professional photos. So work on getting real reviews from your customers and share them on socials, not just your website.
This, of course, is something you can do on a daily basis, but before BFCM the content should be more about what is coming – your upcoming deals. Promote opportunities for your customers to get in on a VIP deal if they sign up for your mailing list, or enter your loyalty program. You can also show behind the scenes of preparation for this busy season. Why? Storytelling humanizes your brand, it creates an emotional connection with your audience.
Collaborate with content creators of different social media platforms. Use affiliate programs, special promo codes, or build your USGs with these collaborations. Host live sessions with content creators to talk about your products and upcoming deals. This will help you reach new customers.
54% of Gen Z-ers and 45% of Millennials are using social media to discover gift ideas, so use this opportunity to promote your store and your offers. Here is a guide on social media marketing for beauty brands.
Paid ads: Plan your paid ads on platforms like Google, Facebook, and Instagram to reach a broader audience and drive more traffic to your Black Friday sales.
Try to avoid ad fatigue and refresh your ad creatives frequently, don’t just set and forget. Also, keep your hand on the pulse of add results. Analyse and adjust accordingly.
Use retargeting ads to bring back users who visited your website but left without making a purchase. Just be careful, you don't want to annoy your customers. Use personalized messaging and eye catching visuals.
Website: Use popups, countdown clocks and banners on your website to promote your upcoming deals. Be creative with your messaging and visuals to keep it engaging and not intrusive.
Inventory management and shipping speed
Having enough products in your inventory during BFCM is crucial. To avoid the challenges and delays that come with replenishing out-of-stock items in such a busy season, consider stocking up on your bestsellers and products with longer fulfillment times.
“Not having enough stock is the most painful problem in the holiday season. It’s already hard enough to generate sales - everyone’s fighting for the same customer dollars. But imagine, you finally get people who want to spend money on your product but they can’t because you’re out of stock.
There isn’t a more frustrating feeling in this business.”
Your shipping efficiency is also an important competitive factor. More than half of buyers abandon their carts if delivery times do not meet expectations. Be mindful of shipping timeframes and cut-off dates (the deadlines set by shipping carriers to ensure a package arrives by a certain holiday). You should never over promise on a delivery date, but be clear on the real timeline.
This is especially important for skincare dropshippers who don’t hold physical stock. A reliable partner is key, you need to have a clear understanding of your partner’s stock levels and fulfillment times to avoid disappointing customers with unexpected delays.
Selfnamed offers a 2-7 day order fulfillment and delivery time depending on order size and delivery country. So if you are a private label dropshipper, partnering with Selfnamed can be beneficial to you.
When to start preparing. Your 2025 timeline
BFCM is not just a weekend. Shoppers are getting a head start on holiday gifts, with about 197 million Americans shopping over the five days from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday in 2024.
You need to make a decision on when you want to start your BFCM marketing campaign to capture the attention of your ideal target audience.
Whenever you decide to launch your campaign, it's clear that you need to start prepping now! Here's a suggested timeline we have seen used by successful brands:
September & early October: The planning phase
Decide on your product discounts and promotion strategies.
Plan your entire Q4 marketing campaigns (October, November, December).
Build up your subscriber and follower lists. Additionally, actively collect customer testimonials and reviews.
Prepare all your BFCM campaign content.
Mid-to-late October: The warm-up
Launch a warm-up campaign, such as a stock clearance sale or a giveaway.
Start teasing your BFCM discounts and promotions to build anticipation.
November: The main event
Launch your private sale (subscriber only discounts) or early-bird sale (available for the general public but can be also available if buyers subscribe to, let’s say, your mailing list).
Unleash your main BFCM sale during Black Week.
Keep actively promoting your sale and engaging with customers across all channels.
December: Final promotions & holiday deadlines
Promote "last chance" sales for any remaining BFCM deals.
Follow up with festive holiday content and promotions.
Crucially, remind customers about holiday shipping cut-off dates to manage expectations.
Tips and tricks to boost sales on Black Friday
With everyone offering deals, how do you make your skincare brand stand out during BFCM? The key is clarity, value, and smart positioning.
Offer value: Center your messaging not just around your discounts, but also on the value your discounted products bring.
We see more and more customers willing to splurge on higher quality products. Communicating their benefits can increase the value of your deals beyond money saving.
Consider creating bundles and gift sets: This is a powerful strategy to increase sales and average order value. Curated sets simplify shopping, especially for gift buyers, and can introduce customers to more of your private label products.
Offer early access: Consider launching exclusive sales to your most loyal customers and subscribers before the public launch. This builds loyalty and rewards your community. To increase website traffic, feature special offers, exclusive discounts, and limited-time promotions in your email marketing.
Consider reward programs: People love earning rewards. Spending based reward programs or referral programs are great for this. Encourage your existing customers to refer friends and family by offering rewards for successful referrals.
80% of customers have spent more money with a brand to unlock a reward. So consider starting a loyalty program based on rewards.
Let’s start preparing
BFCM is an opportunity your skincare brand should not miss! But success requires preparation and a smart strategy.
By starting early, optimizing your website, planning your promotions, and communicating clearly with your customers, you can truly benefit. Your proactive efforts now will pay off not only in sales, but also in building lasting relationships with your customers. Good luck with preparations.
Frequently asked questions
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Beauty brands can benefit from BFCM in multiple ways, including acquiring new customers, boosting average order value (AOV) by encouraging customers to spend more, and increasing brand visibility and awareness. It is also a great opportunity to clear out slower-selling inventory and build loyalty by converting new buyers into repeat customers.
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To prepare for BFCM, skincare brands need to:
Set a goal for their campaign
Define their target audience
Select products and decide on discounts
Develop core messaging
Choose marketing channels
Set a timeline for all marketing activities and allocate budget accordingly
Create promotional materials
Set up and test their store for a seamless shopping experience
There is a downloadable checklist for more detailed preparations in the blog.
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A good approach would be to start planning the campaign in September and launch a warm-up campaign in October. And allowing the campaign to stretch into the first weeks of December can maximize sales.
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Your store must be ready to provide a seamless BFCM experience. This involves making sure it has all the necessary extensions and apps for pricing and discounts, social media integration, product reviews, payment gateways, and order status and tracking. You should also test your store to ensure everything works perfectly and deliver a hassle-free shopping experience.
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A cohesive marketing strategy is key to a successful Black Friday. First of all - communication and promotion of your deals. Use email marketing, social media marketing, and paid ads to reach customers.
Secondly, think about maximizing sales and increasing the average order value (AOV). Consider offering bundles and gift sets that are a great way to increase AOV. Use crosseling and upselling tactics. Sending a “a thank you email” after the purchase is made and including a “you might also like” section can help with upselling.
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With everyone offering deals, the key is clarity, value, and smart positioning. Focus on the value your discounted products bring, offering bundles and gift sets, and giving your most loyal customers early access to deals. Building reward programs is also a great way to stand out
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Email marketing is a direct line to your customers. Use it to promote special offers and time-limited deals. In the weeks leading up to BFCM, send countdown emails to build anticipation.
Think about setting up "abandoned cart" emails and "thank you" emails that include a "you might also like" section to help with upselling.
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