Do you remember the Friends episode with the wedding dress outlet shop? Monica, Rachel and Phoebe join a crowd of deal-hungry brides at a one-day sale. While most of the shoppers are just after a bargain, our heroines have a plan to find and acquire one very specific wedding dress. They found the original in an upscale boutique, but they’re convinced they’ll find it cheaper.
Black Friday is no different; not everyone who visits your website is there for the same reason. No matter what you sell, be on the lookout for these 5 types of shopper:
The 5 Types of Black Friday Shoppers
Deal Hunters
These shoppers know what they want; they’ve got a wishlist somewhere and they want to tick off items as cheaply as possible.
A good way to attract this group is to flag exactly how much they’re saving. “Was £xx, Now £yy” pricing labels make it easy for them to see that you’re offering a genuine deal in a way that’s easy to judge.
If you’re tracking website visitors clearly, you’ll know a Deal Hunter when they repeatedly land on 1 specific product page multiple times, but don’t buy. They’re checking out your regular price, and they’re ready to swoop when it’s the best deal.
Impulse Buyers
Probably the first people that come to mind when you think of Black Friday shoppers. Their signature call is “Treat yourself!”
Capturing this audience requires a broad strategy; eye-catching visuals across as many products as possible. A “you might also like” block on your product pages can be very effective. The goal is to keep them on your website for as long as possible, to make the most of their attention while you have it, because it won’t last long.
Loyalists
The marketers favourite. They’ll come straight to your door on Black Friday. They’ve bought from you before and liked what they saw enough to do so again.
However, the worst thing you can do is to take this group for granted. If nothing else, you’ve worked hard to get them to this stage, so you don’t want that effort to have been for nothing.
Serving this group means a little VIP sparkle. You could grant them access to your Black Friday deals earlier than everybody else or run a specific discount just for them.
It’s important to be clear about what they’re getting for their loyalty. Starting an email with “Hey there Favourite Customer” and then offering the same sales as to non-loyalists isn’t going to cut it.
Roll out every personalisation tool you have; make use of purchase history, feedback, and everything else you know about these people to make your emails feel like a 1-on-1 conversation.
This should also carry over to your website; use a CDP like Spotler Activate to put their favourite product front and centre as soon as they land on your site.
Researchers
The ones with an eye for detail.
Researchers have a lot in common with Deal Hunters; they’re prepared to put in the effort to get exactly what they want out of Black Friday. The difference is that they go deeper; while a Deal Hunter will be looking for the air fryer at the best price, a Researcher is going for value.
A Tefal air-fryer might be 15% more expensive than one from a Chinese brand they’ve never heard of, but is it more reliable? If one cooks food quicker, but uses more electricity to do so, which do they choose?
To win over Researchers, you need details. What does your product do, how does it do it, what doesn’t it do? Of course, there’s a fine balance between sufficient detail and information overload, so test various layouts for your product pages to see what works for your particular audience.
Reviews are incredibly valuable for this audience. They’ll have TrustPilot open alongside your website, they’ll have multiple searches for “Is [your brand] legit?”, they’ll scan your social media presence for comments from other customers.
Gift-Givers
In some ways the most interesting bunch. When people are giving gifts rather than shopping for themselves, a lot of what we say about building a clear profile of their interests doesn’t really work.
Your best chance of spotting these shoppers is a lot of activity with no obvious pattern. If you’ve set up audiences for the other 4, you’ll find these by elimination.
You really need your site menus and search bar to be up to scratch if you’re going to serve Gift Givers effectively. They could go anywhere on your site; a running shirt for their sister, a tie for their grandad, socks for that uncle who never talks about his interests with anyone.
Which Types are in your audience?
While you can almost certainly expect a jump in site visits and revenue over Black Friday no matter what you do, you’ll gain the most value by understanding and addressing these different subsets of your audience.
Whatever you do, don’t try to pull the wool over people’s eyes. In 2024, consumer advice site Which? found that 92% of Black Friday “deals” were the same or worse as prices at other times of the year. This simply erodes the trust you’ve earned and can impact the effectiveness of all your future sales campaigns.
Are you Black Friday-ready?
The countdown to Black Friday 2025 has already begun. Take a look at campaigns from last year for inspiration, and get your website action-ready with our Customer Data Platform.
Looking for more Black Friday help? Visit our Black Friday 2025 Hub for everything you need, including a checklist and key dates in the build-up.
Black Friday Marketing Hub
No need to stress about your Black Friday campaign. We have a complete toolkit ready for you with all the help you will need. Stress less. Sell more. Start with you Black Friday campaign now!
