For many ecommerce merchants, Cyber Monday is the busiest shopping day of the year, although the entire Thanksgiving weekend period between Black Friday and Cyber Monday is a huge time for ecommerce and in-store merchants alike.

Last year, a record 196.7 million Americans shopped both in-store and online during the five-day Thanksgiving weekend, with over 77 million customers buying from online retailers specifically during Cyber Monday promotions. However, Black Friday was an even bigger day for online shopping, with 87.2 million online shoppers.

In this article, we’ll look at how merchants can promote Cyber Monday deals that will not just bring in new customers for a single shopping event, but will help them build loyalty in their brand that will carry them through the rest of the year, too.

We’ll discuss:

  • What are the most popular Cyber Monday deals?
  • What should your brand know about preparing for Black Friday-Cyber Monday weekend?
  • How can you use your Cyber Monday event as a way to drive customer retention?

When it comes to Cyber Monday, you’re going to be competing for customer dollars with big brands like Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart. Pay attention to them to find out what customers are in the market for, and how competitive you need to be with your pricing to have a chance at winning their business.

Some of the most popular deals from 2022 included:

  • Homeware

    The 20 oz Rambler from Yeti, the Kitchy Pizza Cutter Wheel, the All-Clad HA1 Nonstick Fry Pan Set, and the OXO Brew Single Serve Pour-Over Coffee Maker were among the most popular deals from the holiday season last year.

  • Gaming consoles

    The Nintendo Switch Cyber Monday bundle, which included the Mario Kart game and a 3-month Nintendo Online membership, was one of the hottest ecommerce deals in 2022.

  • Smart home technology

    Customers flocked to smart home devices including the myQ Chamberlain Smart Garage Control, the Kasa Smart Plug, Ring Video Doorbell, and Kasa Smart Light Switch and Bulbs.

Other popular products on deep discounts from online retailers like Amazon and Target included Apple AirPods, Kindle Paperwhites, and the Anker 313 Power Bank.

Obviously, your brand is unique, and you may choose completely different categories of products to feature in your Cyber Monday sales. But by understanding what you’re up against, you’ll have a better idea of what to spotlight and how to promote it to bring in new customers for the holiday season.

What should your brand know about preparing for Black Friday-Cyber Monday weekend?

As you’re beginning to gear up for the holiday shopping season, here are a few pointers to keep in mind:

  • Give customers the chance to register for deal alerts early

    Shoppers will be flooded with ads once the Black Friday – Cyber Monday shopping season is upon them, so if they’ve already interacted with your brand, it’s important to give them opportunities to sign up for promotional emails and SMS messages that will keep them posted on deals in their preferred categories. Offer a smaller promotional discount to incentivize signups for your marketing messages, and then you’ll be able to cut through the noise on the holiday shopping weekend to spotlight your best deals of the year.

  • Offer a mix of big-ticket items and stocking stuffers
    Don’t just focus on marking down expensive items like TVs — while larger discounts on normally-expensive products can get shoppers in the door, they’re likely to add a variety of lower-priced discounted items to their shopping carts once they’re already there. For instance, if you’re offering a major markdown on a video game console, consider offering a generous package bundle that includes a variety of video games to go along with it.
  • Make sure that you have a clear refund policy and process in place
    Even though you can expect your sales to go up during the Thanksgiving weekend, you’ll also likely see a significant spike in returns as well. To deliver a post-purchase experience that’s just as great as your purchasing experience, it’s important to build a clear and transparent return policy, ideally with an extended returns period for shoppers who purchase items during the holiday shopping window. A great returns policy will help encourage more shoppers to consider your brand in the first place, feeling confident that if the product isn’t the right fit, they can safely send it back.

How can you use your Cyber Monday event as a way to drive customer retention?

Customer acquisition costs have been steadily going up, and they’re especially high during the Thanksgiving weekend shopping period between Black Friday and Cyber Monday: paid digital advertising costs 13% more to reach the same number of customers during this time period.

That means it’s even more important than ever to find ways to turn one-time shoppers lured in by a good deal into loyal customers who’ll come back to your brand year after year. Some strategies include:

  • Provide relevant product recommendations after the initial purchase
    After a shopper has browsed your inventory, created a wishlist, and/or purchased products from your Cyber Monday sales event, you’ll have a good idea of what types of products are likely appeal to them. Use your customer purchase and behavioral data to send each shopper targeted recommendations for similar or complementary products that they may like as well. For instance, if they purchased a new overcoat, you might send a promotion featuring sweaters from the same brand the following month.
  • Invite shoppers to join your customer rewards program
    Shoppers will be more likely to return to your brand if they know that they’ll be rewarded for their loyalty. Invite them to join a customer loyalty or VIP program, where they can earn points for accumulated spending that they can apply towards a discount or gift. Send them regular reminders of how many points they have, so that they know whether they’re eligible for a reward.
  • Incentivize exchanges over refunds
    You know that a relatively high number of shoppers are likely to return products—and if they do, that may be the end of their relationship with your brand. To encourage customer retention, offer incentives such as bonus credit that customers can apply towards the cost of a different item in your store. This will help you retain revenue from the transaction, and keep a customer that you risk losing—helping you boost the customer lifetime value from your Cyber Monday shoppers.

Boost your Cyber Monday customer retention with a best-in-class returns solution. Try a demo of Loop today. 

Kelli Trapnell