Key Black Friday and Cyber Monday Insights | Preparation, Execution, and Post-Event Strategies for Your Amazon Business During Holiday Shopping Season

As the fourth quarter shopping season approaches, the eCommerce industry begins preparing for the upcoming holiday season and sales events. Amazon Black Friday and Amazon Cyber Monday are two of this quarter’s highly anticipated eCommerce sales events. 

Whether you are selling on Amazon or other eCommerce platforms such as Walmart Marketplace or eBay, achieving success during Black Friday and Cyber Monday requires more than mere luck. A successful Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaign requires thorough preparation and a strategic approach. 

To help you boost your sales and enhance your overall Amazon business performance, we have compiled insights and valuable tips on pre-event, actual-event, and post-event strategies.

Overview: Black Friday and Cyber Monday Shopping Events

In the consumer industry, Black Friday occurs on the Friday after Thanksgiving Day. Initially, it was an in-person shopping event only. However, as technology evolved, Black Friday expanded beyond brick-and-mortar stores and into online shopping platforms like Amazon. 

While Black Friday’s origins can be traced back to the 1950s, Cyber Monday was introduced in 2005. Cyber Monday is the Monday after Black Friday, when consumers continue shopping online. 

The main difference between Black Friday and Cyber Monday is that Black Friday deals are offered online and in physical stores, whereas Cyber Monday deals are more online-focused. Nevertheless, the difference between Black Friday and Cyber Monday is almost negligible, for both holiday shopping events offer huge discounts and great deals.

Important eCommerce and Amazon Data 

Knowing vital market information is crucial when preparing your Amazon business for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. From factors influencing shoppers’ buying decisions to sales reports, these data points can help you quantify your results, identify trends, determine which products & categories attract consumers, and more. 

Factors Influencing Buyers’ Decisions

Understanding the factors that influence online shoppers’ purchase decisions can significantly enhance your strategies for Amazon Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2025. To provide you with a clearer understanding of the triggers that lead shoppers to click the “Add to Cart” button, here are some of the key factors influencing buyer decisions:

• Product Reviews

Many shoppers commonly turn to the review section of product listings to gain insights and recommendations from other customers who have previously purchased the item. It is estimated that 75% of shoppers rely on reviews when deciding on holiday gifts.

Amazon, in particular, is a platform where reviews have a significant impact on shopping behavior. Recent data shows that over 60% of Amazon buyers choose products based on the best reviews. In simple terms, without strong reviews, even well-priced listings may struggle to convert into sales.

• Free Shipping

Consumers are increasingly sensitive to shipping costs, often valuing them more than delivery speed. A FedEx survey found that 75% of shoppers would be willing to wait longer for their purchases if it meant free shipping.

Failing to consider this consumer preference can be detrimental to sales. With cart abandonment rates averaging 70% across eCommerce, unexpected delivery fees are among the leading reasons shoppers abandon their carts.

For that reason, Amazon sellers are advised to offer free shipping during their Black Friday and Cyber Monday events. Free shipping has shifted from being a mere incentive to becoming an expectation among consumers.

• Discount Offers

As the holiday season approaches, many shoppers look forward to discounts and promotions from eCommerce sites like Amazon or Walmart Marketplace. Offering price reductions can significantly influence their buying decisions in your favor. In fact, more than 60% of US consumers actively search for Amazon promo codes or discounts when shopping online.

As online entrepreneurs, you should note that discounts drive impulse purchases, with many shoppers completing their purchases after seeing a discount applied to items already in their cart.

• Website Interface

An eCommerce site’s design and functionalities also significantly impact consumers’ shopping behavior. Hence, online sellers and business owners should take time to optimize their websites or listings.

A mere 1-second delay in page response could lead to a 7% drop in conversions. Moreover, an alarming 88% of online consumers are unlikely to revisit a website after encountering a negative user experience. 

Therefore, you should optimize your website for the upcoming holiday season, focusing primarily on mobile responsiveness, navigation, security, search functionality, checkout process, and product details. 

In cases where your products are featured on an eCommerce platform like Amazon, where you lack control over the technical setup, directing your efforts toward listing optimization becomes essential. This ensures that Amazon shoppers receive precise product details they can use to evaluate your product more effectively. 

Conversion by Devices 

As you gear up for the holiday season, you must gain insights into the conversion rates across different devices. This information is highly valuable for your eCommerce business, enabling you to fine-tune your marketing strategies based on customer device preferences.

Furthermore, this understanding can reveal trends in device performance during peak shopping periods, such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Identifying these trends allows you to pinpoint areas of your business that may require improvements or updates, such as optimizing content presentation and enhancing user experiences.

Ultimately, understanding device-specific conversion rates empowers you to craft a tailored approach for upcoming holiday sales events. The following showcases last year’s conversion rates, highlighting the varying performance of different devices during the critical shopping days of Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2025.

Consumer Spending 

Knowing what consumers have purchased previously on Black Friday and Cyber Monday gives you an idea of the possible purchases for the upcoming Cyber Monday and Black Friday 2025. Most shoppers spent their money on gift items in anticipation of the gift-giving season. 

Some of the popular items consumers spent their money on include the following: 

Social Media Platforms Demographics

Social media platforms have become essential for promoting products and driving traffic to websites. These platforms enable you to offer consumers early or exclusive access to your listings. Understanding the user demographics of leading social media platforms can help you enhance the effectiveness of your Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaigns.

Instagram: Instagram remains popular among younger audiences, particularly those aged 18-24, who constitute 31.7% of its user base. The platform has 3 billion monthly active users.

Facebook: Facebook boasts over 3 billion monthly active users, with the largest age group being 25-34 years old (31.1%). Users spend an average of 32 minutes per day on the platform. It remains a top choice for social commerce, with 40% of consumers making purchases directly through Facebook.

TikTok: TikTok has over 1.5 billion monthly active users, with its largest demographic being those aged 25 to 34 (35.3%). Notably, 57% of TikTok users are likely to make a purchase after seeing a brand advertised on the platform.

Pinterest: Pinterest has over 570 million monthly active users, primarily aged 18-24, with almost 70% being female. Its visual discovery platform is ideal for promoting holiday deals, gift guides, and curated product boards that appeal to women shoppers.

Snapchat: Snapchat has over 930 million monthly active users. Its partnership with Amazon allows users to purchase products directly from ads, making it a strong channel to showcase Cyber Monday and Black Friday deals to a younger audience.

YouTube: YouTube is now a major social commerce channel, boasting over 2.8 billion monthly active users. It reaches diverse audiences and is ideal for product discovery, with over 90% of users finding new brands through videos. This makes it perfect for tutorials, unboxing videos, reviews, and influencer collaborations that boost trust and drive holiday sales.

Each social media platform or website has its own distinct users, behaviors, and features. Based on the information above, you can tailor your Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaigns to maximize their reach, helping your business thrive in the competitive eCommerce landscape.

The Amazon Holiday Shopping Weekend 

To further refine your approach for the forthcoming Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales events, delving into Amazon’s statistics from last year can be a game-changer. These crucial data insights will be instrumental in shaping your strategies for Amazon Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2025.

Key Insights from Amazon Black Friday and Amazon Cyber Monday 

Last year’s peak shopping period, which included Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday, achieved record-breaking results across the eCommerce market. During this time, consumers spent over $41 billion online, demonstrating strong demand despite economic concerns.

Amazon remained the leader in holiday spending. Reports indicate that independent sellers, primarily small and medium-sized businesses, account for approximately 60% of the total sales on Amazon’s marketplace.

Key Sales Highlights:  

Amazon shoppers took advantage of the discounts and deals during last Black Friday 2024, and here are some of the most discounted products from last year’s Black Friday sale:

• Electronics (especially TVs and computers)
• Apparel and Fashion
• Beauty and Makeup
• Appliances (large and small)
• Toys and Seasonal Gifts

NBC News also reported that some of the best sellers during last year’s Black Friday event were all electronics, including the following: 

• Amazon Smart Plug
• Lifestraw Personal Water Filter
• Apple AirPods Pro 2 Wireless Earbuds
• Cosrx Snail Mucin 96% Power Face Serum
• Anker Power Bank 30W
• Chamberlain Smart Garage Control
• Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K
• MYNT3D Super 3D Pen

Black Friday and Cyber Monday Advertising Trends:  

Brand owners, online sellers, and entrepreneurs have significantly increased their advertising investments during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The combined Black Friday and Cyber Monday period showed strong growth across key advertising metrics:

• Year-over-year orders increased by 68.4%
• Impressions grew by 40.4%
• Clicks rose by 46.8%
• Ad sales increased by 28.2%
• Ad spend grew by 26.5%
• Overall conversion rate improved by 14.7% to 14.1%

Amazon Cyber Monday and Black Friday Selling Tips 

To increase your success this holiday season, you need to optimize your strategies, especially for Cyber Monday and Black Friday. Here are some strategies you can apply to help you prepare your Amazon business for the upcoming holiday weekend and improve Cyber Monday and Black Friday sales.

Determine Priority Items  

Since not all products will be in demand this season, you must identify which products or categories are likely to generate sales on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. You can check product ranking and sales history for reference. 

You can further narrow your search by checking the best-selling categories, such as Home, Fashion, Toys, Beauty, and Kitchen. You can also review previous years’ Amazon Black Friday deals to find offers that will interest new customers. By doing so, you can focus your resources on supporting strategic marketing campaigns for the said products. 

Ship Inventory Before Your Amazon Deadline

Once you have identified your priority inventory items, make sure to ship them before the deadlines. For Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Amazon’s deadline for receiving minimum split inventory is October 20, 2025, and for distributed inventory, it is October 30, 2025. To prevent delays or congestion in fulfillment, it is recommended to ship at least one week before these deadlines.

Consider Your Fulfillment Service  

Amazon sellers can choose between independently fulfilling customer orders (FBM) or leveraging Amazon’s proprietary fulfillment service (FBA). Nonetheless, if you opt for FBA, having an alternative third-party logistics plan is highly beneficial. This contingency proves invaluable should FBA facilities become inundated with customer orders and fulfillment tasks.

Conduct Promotions Ahead of Time 

Like your Prime Day deals, you should drive traffic to your listings ahead of Black Friday and Amazon Cyber Week. Driving organic traffic to your listings can improve their organic ranking.

To market your product or listing before the holidays, consider offering early-bird discounts to pique customer interest and build anticipation.

Furthermore, you can employ another popular Black Friday marketing strategy involving newsletters or sharing compelling content on your social media channels to attract shoppers to your store’s Black Friday sale.

Manage Your Reviews  

As you prepare for Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2025, it is crucial to oversee the feedback and customer reviews featured on your listings. If possible, aim to address any negative feedback associated with your listings. Negative feedback can deter potential shoppers from making purchases.

Accordingly, 86% of shoppers hesitate to buy products with negative reviews. Negative customer feedback can also damage your business’s reputation, as 50% of shoppers are more likely to share it with other potential customers.

Perform Listing Optimization 

Optimizing your listings on Amazon before Black Friday and Cyber Monday can significantly improve your Amazon business’s overall performance. In particular, listing optimization leads to better product visibility, improved click-through rates, and enhanced conversion rates. 

To optimize your listings, conduct keyword research to inform your titles, bullet points, and product descriptions. 

Listing optimization also includes using high-quality product images. A well-optimized image should accurately represent your product. Accordingly, 90% of online shoppers consider photo quality the most crucial factor in an online sale.

Before uploading your listing photos, ensure they comply with Amazon’s photo guidelines and requirements. For guidance, you may follow the specifications below:

Tips During the Holiday Events 

Managing your Amazon Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaign does not end during the actual sales events. There are still important things to do to achieve a successful Cyber Monday and Black Friday campaign, and these include the following:

Monitor Your Amazon Business

Monitoring your conversion rates, stock levels, and cart abandonment is necessary during the holiday weekend. It provides insight into how your business performs during the holiday event and allows you to make the necessary adjustments for favorable results.

Handle Customer Queries and Support

Be sure to promptly respond to customer queries or concerns during the holiday weekends. This is especially true for Amazon FBM sellers who are primarily responsible for their business’s shipping and customer support.

If you run an ad campaign outside the Amazon website, promptly reply to customer queries, including questions about promos and coupon codes.

Boost Social Media Campaign

During holiday weekends, you can further improve your Amazon store’s engagement and conversions by boosting your social presence. Be active and create engaging posts by showcasing attractive product videos and images.

You can also delve into influencer marketing as part of your social media campaign. You can offer influencers a free gift to encourage them to promote your brand and products during the holiday season. However, any connection between you and the influencer receiving the gift should be disclosed as per Amazon guidelines, 

Influencer marketing is based on psychological principles. Since the brain is inherently receptive to influencer marketing, this approach can bring substantial advantages to your Amazon business.

Post-Black Friday and Cyber Monday Tasks  

Your responsibilities do not end with the conclusion of the holiday shopping events. Some tasks demand continued careful attention, and some might even require immediate action. Following Amazon Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales events, here are some essential things you should do. 

Deal with Customer Returns

Along with your Amazon sales, you also receive Amazon returns. Handle product returns professionally, as this affects your performance. Since customers might already be frustrated, it is best to make the returns process more convenient by extending the return window or offering different return channels. 

You may also offer a full or partial refund depending on the situation. If possible, make instant refunds to clients you consider VIPs or those loyal to your brand. If you wish to learn more about product returns, we prepared a separate article concerning Amazon Returns and How to Deal With Them. 

Check Analytics

It is crucial not to overlook the necessity of comprehensive data analysis for your Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaigns. Delving into the numbers is instrumental in identifying potential mistakes and gaining insights to enhance your business strategy for the Amazon Black Friday and Cyber Monday events next year.

Ask for Customer Feedback

After Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Amazon sellers should ask for customer feedback. Obtaining favorable customer reviews can help you improve your seller metrics and credibility. 

Although Amazon does not require sellers to request reviews, they may still do so, especially for specific orders. Instead of requesting via email or Buyer-Seller Messaging, you could request an appraisal from a customer using Amazon Seller Central’s “Request a review” feature on the Order Details page. 

Amazon allows you to request a review from a customer once per order, within 5 to 30 days of the delivery date. Alternatively, if you want a more convenient way to request customer reviews, you can use a feedback management tool to automate Amazon review requests.

Effective Amazon Seller Tools Approved By Amazon 

Below are some essential Amazon seller tools crucial for optimizing your Amazon venture. These seller tools are Amazon third-party software partners, which means Amazon approves using these software tools. These software tools can help sellers automate, manage, and grow their businesses. 

Seller Snap: An AI-powered repricing software that helps you automatically adjust your listing prices based on essential factors such as market trends and competitor prices. Thus, ensuring your products are competitively priced to maximize sales and profits.

Jungle Scout: This is a comprehensive tool for product research and competition analysis. It helps you identify profitable niches and products to sell on Amazon, especially ahead of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. 

FeedbackWhiz: A feedback management software that helps you monitor and manage customer feedback or reviews. This Amazon software tool is important for building credibility and driving sales.

InventoryLab: As its name suggests, this Amazon seller tool can help you manage your Amazon inventory. It can help you track your inventory levels, sales, and expenses, thus preventing stockouts and overstock.

Helium 10: This Amazon seller software offers a wide array of functionality, including—but not limited to—advertising, analytics and reporting, order management, product research and scouting, and more. 

Preparing Your Amazon Business for Success 

Amazon Cyber Monday and Black Friday 2025 mark the start of the holiday shopping season. Significant consumer engagement, increased order volume, and challenges accompany these pivotal eCommerce events..

Proactive preparation is essential to preempt or mitigate potential issues within your Amazon business during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The insights provided above serve as a guide to preparing your Amazon business, ensuring customer satisfaction and optimal overall business performance. By embracing these strategies, you position your business for success amidst the holiday shopping rush.