Black Friday isn’t just one day anymore — it’s an entire season of opportunity. Shoppers start searching weeks in advance, competitors roll out promos earlier each year, and marketplaces are packed with deals vying for attention. If your search, merchandising, and marketplace strategies aren’t connected, you risk missing out on conversions and leaving revenue on the table.
Here’s how to create a seamless, connected approach that delivers consistent experiences across every channel — and drives results when it matters most.
Why Disconnected Strategies Leave Money on the Table
When your Black Friday planning happens in silos, shoppers feel it.
- Search results fall flat. If search isn’t tuned for seasonal terms or promotions, shoppers see irrelevant results and bounce.
- Merchandising feels random. Without alignment, your landing pages and product recommendations don’t match what shoppers are searching for.
- Marketplaces go rogue. Misaligned feeds mean inconsistent pricing, inaccurate inventory, or promotions that don’t match your site.
The result? Lost conversions, higher return rates, and a fractured brand experience.
Connecting Search: Capture Intent at the Starting Line
Search is where shoppers tell you exactly what they want — don’t miss the signal.
- Use intent recognition. NLP-powered search can understand queries like “under $50 gifts” and surface relevant products instantly.
- Showcase seasonal promos. Add badges, pricing info, and promotions directly in search results to make it easy to buy.
- Let data guide decisions. Track trending searches daily and adjust campaigns, pricing, and inventory to match demand.
Think of search as your campaign kickoff: if you lose shoppers here, you may never get them back.
Connecting Merchandising: Guide the Journey
Once shoppers click, your merchandising strategy needs to carry them the rest of the way.
- Curate landing pages. Make sure Black Friday pages reflect what people are searching for — and keep them fresh throughout the weekend.
- Spotlight the right products. Use a mix of rules-based boosts and AI-driven recommendations to highlight best-sellers and high-margin products.
- Create urgency. Badges like “Low Stock” or “Today Only” keep shoppers engaged and moving toward checkout.
Merchandising is where you turn interest into action.
Connecting Marketplaces: Extend Your Reach, Stay in Control
Marketplaces are key discovery channels — but they can’t be an afterthought.
- Perfect your product feeds. Ensure titles, descriptions, and images are accurate, optimized, and updated in real time.
- Align pricing and inventory. Keep channels in sync to prevent overselling or undercutting your own site.
- Track and react quickly. Watch channel performance and reallocate budget or promotions where they’ll have the biggest impact.
When your marketplace strategy is connected to your site, you create a consistent shopper experience everywhere they browse.
Bringing It All Together
When search, merchandising, and marketplaces are connected, each channel feeds insights into the next:
- Search trends inform your landing pages and featured products.
- Merchandising data guides which products to promote on marketplaces.
- Marketplace performance informs search and merchandising priorities.
The result is a feedback loop that lets you react faster, stay consistent, and maximize revenue potential across the entire Black Friday weekend.
Your Next Steps
The clock is ticking — now’s the time to:
- Audit your site search for seasonal terms.
- Refresh product feeds and confirm promotions are consistent.
- Align promotional calendars across your team.
- Set up reporting so you can react quickly during the event.
With the right connected strategy, Black Friday isn’t just busy — it’s your most profitable time of year.
Ready to connect your Black Friday strategy across search, merchandising, and marketplaces?
Schedule a free site and feed audit with Athos Commerce and head into peak season with confidence.
