Our Black Friday-tips

1. Deactivate Unnecessary Scripts and Features

Black Friday and Black Week typically result in significantly higher traffic than usual. This surge can slow down site load times, especially if the server capacity is stretched. To avoid this, we recommend deactivating as many non-essential elements as possible, so bandwidth isn’t wasted on loading scripts and functionalities that customers are unlikely to use. Examples of such elements include tracking events, heatmaps, chatbots, conversion plugins, and popups. However, some tools like Hotjar can be valuable for post-event analysis, as they allow you to review customer behavior and identify any pain points or overlooked issues. Note, however, that tools like Hotjar consume bandwidth and could reduce site speed, so weigh the pros and cons carefully before Black Week.

2. Limit CMS Content on Category and Landing Pages for Magento Users

CMS content, such as large content blocks on category or product pages, can slow down your site’s load time, which may frustrate customers and lead them to abandon the site rather than complete a purchase. Since customers often have limited patience, particularly on Black Friday, avoid content that causes “jumpy” or delayed page loading. Clean, minimal, and essential CMS content will help ensure your pages load smoothly.

3. Coordinate with Project Managers and Developers for Efficient Price Indexing

If you plan to update prices across a large product catalog, particularly for Black Week sales, consult with your project manager (PM) in advance. Developers can then be prepared to push through price indexing updates, which can otherwise take significant time. If these prices need to update across multiple channels—such as search engines, product recommendation platforms, and shopping channels like Klarna, Google, and Meta—be sure to plan accordingly to avoid delays.

4. Scale Up Server Capacity

Coordinate with your PM or development manager to scale up your server capacity to handle the anticipated peak traffic. Reviewing previous traffic metrics for Black Week or similar campaigns can help you gauge what to expect and prepare for. Enhanced server capacity ensures that your site doesn’t slow down or crash, even with high volumes of customers browsing, adding items to their carts, and checking out.

5. Increase Customer Service Staffing for Quick Assistance

During Black Week, customers expect quick responses to their inquiries, especially when they’re racing against the clock to catch a deal before it sells out. Extra staffing in customer service can reduce wait times and build trust, as customers feel that they’re valued and taken care of, even during peak shopping times.

6. Prioritize Effective Merchandising: Make Your Deals Easy to Find

Ensure that your Black Friday deals and campaigns are clearly organized and easy for customers to navigate. Set up dedicated landing pages to display all promotions and offers, making it easy for customers to find what they’re looking for. With so many competing offers during Black Week, customers are unlikely to search around—if they can’t find your deals quickly, they may simply move on to another site.

7. Minimize Backend Activity on Magento During Black Week

Heavy activity in the Magento backend, such as publishing or enriching new products, or syncing large volumes of product data from ERP or other integrations, can slow down the frontend customer experience. Avoid performing these types of updates during Black Week to prevent any slowdowns or disruptions in checkout and cart functionality.

8. Avoid Rolling Out Last-Minute, Untested Changes

While it may be tempting to launch new features or enhancements right before Black Week, this is not recommended. Even well-tested changes can introduce unexpected issues under high-traffic conditions. For instance, if a new shipping module malfunctions, it could prevent customers from selecting a delivery option, leading to frustration and abandoned carts. Reducing friction and minimizing risk is crucial during Black Week to ensure a smooth and fast experience for all customers.

All of us at PearlConvert wish you GOOD LUCK WITH THE BLACK FRIDAY SALE, and feel free to contact us for a chat about this or anything else. We can help you with good ideas, campaign planning, design and onsite preparations such as setup in Adobe Commerce, or Pimcore etc. This is high season for both us and you, so get in touch well in advance of Black Week so that we can help you as best as possible.