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Ecommerce Selling Guide

Black Friday Products Top Picks To Sell & Inspirational Ideas To Boost Sales For POD Businesses

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Dieu Linh

Oct 01 2024 12 minutes

Black Friday Products Top Picks To Sell & Inspirational Ideas To Boost Sales For POD Businesses
Table of Contents

Introduction

When Black Friday comes closer than ever, this is the perfect time for e-commerce sellers, especially for print-on-demand merchants to prepare sales plans. Whether you're new to the game or have been selling for years, this day is packed with potential to help you skyrocket your sales a lot during this peaking season. As shoppers are on the lookout for great deals, you can turn those browsers into buyers thanks to early preparation for the right products and a smart strategy.

 

In this post, we provide you with the best print-on-demand products to sell on Black Friday 2024, plus share some marketing tips to help you stand out in the crowd. Ready to make this your most successful Black Friday yet? Let’s dive in!

I- Why Black Friday is a Golden Opportunity for Print-On-Demand Sellers

We all know that Black Friday is appreciated as the golden chance for e-commerce sellers, and specifically POD sellers.

 

For many recent years, Black Friday has shifted from being a primarily in-store shopping event to an online shopping habit, which makes it the prime time for e-commerce sellers to shine. On online shopping platforms, shoppers browse not only what they need, but also the deals. In particular, this sale event often lasts only one day, which creates urgency and pushes customers to complete their purchases soon.

Recently, because shoppers tend to love personalized items, Black Friday customers are often looking for unique, thoughtful gifts, and customizable items. Furthermore, when Black Friday falls just before the holiday season, it becomes an ideal time for customers to buy gifts. So, POD products such as personalized Christmas ornaments, custom family sweatshirts, or unique home decor items are chosen as perfect holiday gifts.

That's the reason why POD sellers should take advantage of this biggest shopping event and have early preparation for online stores.

II- Standards To Choose Products To Sell On Black Friday

Before selecting products to sell on Black Friday, print-on-demand sellers need to consider several key factors to maximize sales and profits carefully. With so much competition during this shopping event, it's essential to choose products that not only attract attention but also deliver value. So, what are the standards for sellers to choose the most suitable products for POD stores? If you haven't had any ideas for your online website, let's take a look at the four important standards:

1- High-profit Margin

Black Friday is known for the "blooming" time of exclusive discounts, and customers are expecting to find good deals. However, offering steep discounts can sharply reduce your profits if you're not strategic.

That’s why it's important to pick products with a more profitable margin. These products give you the flexibility to offer significant price reductions while still making a healthy interest. For print-on-demand sellers, items like personalized apparel or home decor often have strong margins, allowing room for discounts that will excite your customers without sacrificing your bottom line.

2- Appreciated Value

Beyond providing the cheapest products to attract your customers during Black Friday, you need to provide excellent deals that make them feel valuable. When your potential apply a discount to something with a high perceived value, it makes them feel like they're getting an incredible deal, even if the product itself didn’t cost a fortune to produce.

Obviously, POD products are quite outstanding in this term because of their uniqueness and customization options. This makes them great candidates for Black Friday promotions, where the discount makes them feel like an even bigger win for shoppers.

3- Medium Or High-ticket Products

Many shoppers wait for Black Friday to make more expensive purchases. This is the perfect time they’re looking to buy higher-ticket items at a reduced price, often holding off on these purchases throughout the year in anticipation of the deals. These products typically have a higher price point, so a well-placed discount will entice shoppers who’ve been waiting for the right deal to make their purchase.

4- Evergreen Products

Although sellers can boost sales with seasonal products on Black Friday because this is also the time of the holiday season, many people still prefer evergreen items. Products like customizable mugs, tote bags, or phone cases can be sold year-round but still benefit from Black Friday promotions. These items often have a timeless appeal and are excellent for gifting, which aligns perfectly with the holiday shopping season.

III- Recommend Products To Sell On Black Friday

best selling products to sell on Black Friday Statista

According to Statista's report 2023, there are a lot of product types that POD sellers can consider promoting for Black Friday campaigns, such as clothing and accessories, toys, home designs, pet items, arts and crafts, etc. Based on the above standards and careful research, we recommend the following potential product categories to help you choose quickly.

Apparel

Black Friday apparel products to sell

It's undeniable that clothing is always appreciated as the best choice for experienced and new POD sellers. In particular, many print-on-demand businesses estimate that t-shirts are always their sales magnets during the whole year. And they can still escalate sales in the peak season thanks to inventing more designs for this product.

 

Along with basic T-shirts, sellers can consider updating some other apparel types for their stores, such as sweatshirts, hoodies, and jackets. They are all the essential items that all shoppers need for cold weather.

As per the above report, 82.7% of women want to buy clothing and accessories on Black Friday while the number of men is 70.3%. So, sellers can freely create new designs for both genders or promote sales events for the old products because of the great demand during this shopping season.

 

Explore the sales magnet apparel products in Printway:

DTF | Classic Unisex T-shirt | Gildan 5000 - T-shirts | Printway.io

DTF | Unisex Hoodie | Gildan 18500 - Hoodies | Printway.io

DTF | Unisex Sweatshirt | Gildan 18000 - Sweatshirts | Printway.io

AOP Baseball Jacket - Jackets & Coats | Printway.io

Accessories

Black Friday accessory products to sell

Along with clothing, accessories are also another type of popular choice of female shoppers in the United States. Consequently, we hope that sellers will not miss out on the golden opportunities to launch new product lines and boost sales.

 

In terms of print-on-demand accessories, tote bags, hats, and phone cases are the perfect stocking stuffers or small gifts for friends and family when festive comes closer. Therefore, sellers can update Christmas and Halloween designs for these items and quickly promote them on Black Friday. Moreover, keychains are also one of the most powerful accessories that help many POD merchants upsell and cross-sell effectively.

 

Here are some best-selling accessories that help many of our POD sellers increase sales:

AOP Classic Cap - Hats | Printway.io

Phone Case - Phone Cases | Printway.io

Custom 2 Layered Acrylic Keychain - Keychains | Printway.io

Custom Stainless Steel Keychain - Keychains | Printway.io

Home Decor

Black Friday home decor products to sell

Many shoppers say that Black Friday is a golden opportunity to buy Christmas essentials with good deals. Therefore, many home decor products are picked as popular black friday items on many shopping platforms such as Amazon, Etsy, eBay, etc.

 

Some home decor items with high-profit margins you can choose for your POD stores are metal signs, wooden hanging signs, house flags, garden flags, canvas prints, or bedding sets. When updating POD stores on Black Friday, sellers also have more chances to warm up their customers for the upcoming Christmas.

 

Explore top-notch home decor products from Printway:

Custom Metal Sign - Signs | Printway.io

Wooden Hanging Sign - 5mm - Signs | Printway.io

House Flag - Flags | Printway.io

Garden Flag - Flags | Printway.io

Canvas - Canvas | Printway.io

Ornaments

best selling ornaments to sell

Actually, ornaments are estimated as one of the best-selling in the home decor market as the holiday season comes closer. With POD sellers, this is also the potential market in which they can invent thousands of creative designs and skyrocket revenue during this season.

 

In Printway, sellers can freely choose the most suitable types for their stores in a 30+ ornament collection with many different materials and shapes. If you can create more stunning designs for your ornaments, you can increase your selling prices compared with other competitors.

 

Explore ornament collection in Printway: Catalog | Printway.io

Drinkware

black friday drinkware products to sell

For many years, some drinkware items like mugs, tumblers, or bottles are also evaluated as popular choices during Black Friday sales. Firstly, these drinkware items are something people use every day, which means customers are not only purchasing a product. They tend to buy a daily reminder of their personality, interests, or the person who gifted it to them.

 

Moreover, merchants can also get high profit margins with these items featuring personalized features. With creative designs, sellers can enhance the value of such a normal product. That's why, these products are also appreciated because of their high perceived value at affordable prices. If any POD seller still hesitates to decide what to sell on Black Friday, let's take into consideration our best-selling drinkware items.

Explore details of the best-selling drinkware products on Printway:

White Mug - Mugs | Printway.io

20oz Tapered Stainless Steel Tumbler - Tumblers | Printway.io

12oz Wine Stainless Steel Tumbler - Tumblers | Printway.io

32oz Water Tracker Bottle - Water Bottles | Printway.io

IV- Black Friday Sales Ideas Which Can Be Applied For All Products and Businesses

We all understand that all shoppers expect to hunt their favorites with good deals. Therefore, planning a suitable sale for this special occasion to attract customers is a really big challenge for all e-commerce businesses and POD ones. If you haven't had any ideas for black Friday sales, here are some versatile inspirational concepts that can help you maximize your profits.

1- Flash Sales

Black Friday Flash Sale

Flash sales are one of the most popular types preferred by many e-commerce stores. Flash sales create a sense of urgency and excitement that encourages shoppers to act fast. Depending on specific business models, you can totally promote these sales events on different channels, from social to email.

 

Wherever you promote your sales campaign, it will be a big mistake if you create flash sales without adding a countdown timer. With small businesses, you can hand-pick a few personalized items to launch flash sales instead of applying sitewide.

2- Create Black Friday Bundles

Making Black Friday bundles is also voted as an excellent choice which helps many merchants increase AOV (Average Order Value). Depending on the products in your stores, you can flexibly create different types of bundles to promote on Black Friday.

 

It is easier for POD merchants to create bundles because sellers can quickly make a set of different items with the same designs. For example, you can choose some popular items for the winter like a sweatshirt, mug, and blanket to make a "cozy winter bundle". And obviously, customers can get all the bundles at a discounted price that’s more attractive than buying the items individually.

 

3- Early Bird Sales & Loyal Customer Sales

Black Friday Early Bird Sales

One effective tip to make your customers cherish your discount value is creating limited editions. So, early bird and loyal customer sales are the typical methods to help you do this. You can send your customers an "early-bird" sign-up form to collect their data. In this way, you will have a qualified customer segment to promote your Black Friday campaigns, which ensures a high conversion rate for your stores.

 

Meanwhile, with loyal customer sales, you only focus on those who buy and even return to buy products on your website many times. However, with special customers, you need to provide special offers to ensure they feel your honest treasure.

4- Free Shipping

Black Friday Free Shipping

Black Friday is also the busiest shopping season and the shipping fees also tend to increase considerably. Therefore, free shipping is a powerful incentive that can make the difference between someone completing a purchase and abandoning their cart. Many customers expect free shipping during Black Friday, so offering it can help you boost conversions.

 

But you can consider putting the minimal order value to qualify for free shipping. For example, you can set a FREESHIP code for the order from $50 to encourage your customers to buy more products.

5- Some Other Creative Ideas For Small POD Businesses

Along with the above sale ideas, here are some special sales ideas tailored for small businesses. If you are confused about how to make creative sale events to attract your customers this holiday season, you can take a look at the following ideas:

  • Launch New Products: Compared to other types of businesses, it's easier for print-on-demand sellers to launch new products tailored only for Black Friday sales. Especially, with personalizing products, you don't need to worry about in-stock products
     
  • Create Gift Guides: Instead of directly promoting discounted products and sale events, you can make gift guides to deliver useful information to your customers. Based on your target customers, you can make a shopping list of Christmas essentials or a collection to let them know how to mix and match items.
     
  • Gamifying Discounts: For many recent years, discount gamification has been one of the most effective ways to attract more customers instead of giving a fixed discount code. Nowadays, you can easily find gamifying apps and apply them to your store.
     
  • BFCM Campaigns: The Black Friday sale is estimated as one of the biggest sale events at the end of the year. Therefore, it will be a mistake if your sale event just lasts one day. During this event, people often extend the sales from Black Friday to Cyber Monday, from November 29th, to December 2nd.
     
  • Early Black Friday Sales: In order to decrease the competition on Black Friday, sellers can organize early Black Friday Sales to attract their potential customers sooner.

V-  Tips To Optimize Customer Experience And Increase Conversion Rates

Along with improving Black Friday marketing campaigns, you also need to optimize your customer experience on your website to increase the conversion rate. If you don't know how to improve your customer experience this holiday season, here are some tips you should follow and apply to your POD store.

1- Optimize Your Website

Black Friday homepage

Source: Internet

With e-commerce businesses, a website is as important as a brick-and-mortar store. Before launching any Black Friday campaigns, it’s crucial to ensure your website is fully optimized to handle the traffic surge and provide a smooth shopping experience. A well-prepared website can help sellers increase conversion rates greatly. 

 

Here are three essential elements to optimize Black Friday success:

  • Homepage: Your homepage is one of the first things visitors will see when they land on your website, making it a vital tool for promoting Black Friday deals. Depending on the main purpose you want to promote, you can flexibly highlight right on your homepage. For example, you can add a banner to promote the Black Friday sale, a new arrival collection for the upcoming season, etc.
     
  • Landing pages: The landing page is where customers arrive after they click through your ads, email, or social post. This page often needs to focus on one specific message. Therefore, sellers should prepare high-quality images, and attractive offers on this page to captivate audiences.
     
  • Blog posts: Besides the homepage and landing page, sellers also need to have careful preparation for their blog post where sellers can explore more useful information.

2- Fast Customer Support Service

Black Friday is the beginning of peak season when the consumers' demand increases greatly. During this time, POD sellers face a surge in traffic and orders, which can lead to increased customer inquiries. Providing exceptional customer service can set your business apart from the competitors and build long-term customer loyalty.
 

To have the best customer service at this time, you need to train your customer service team, prepare automated responses for FAQs, have a clear timeline of processing and shipping, etc. Offering proactive and personalized support not only increases conversions in the peak season but also helps build lasting relationships with customers.

3- Email Marketing

Black Friday Email Marketing example

Source: Internet

 

One of the most powerful channels which we hope no sellers ignore during the peak season is email marketing. This is evaluated as one of the most effective channels that help merchants increase conversion rate and AOV effectively.

 

To optimize your customer experience on the email marketing channel, don't skip the following steps:

  • Pre-Black Friday Sale Campaigns: Instead of directly promoting campaigns only on Black Friday, sellers should promote pre-Black Friday campaigns to warm up customers. For example, you can send sign-up forms to your subscribers. Then, those who sign up in advance will receive exclusive offers instead of the normal discount codes like other customers.
     
  • Personalized Email Campaigns: Email marketing is always appreciated as one of the most effective channels for personalized marketing. With almost all email marketing tools, sellers can easily divide their subscribers into small segments like abandoned carts, 1st purchases, loyal customers, etc. Then, sellers can create different discount codes for every specific segment.
     
  • Special offers for loyal customers: It will be a big mistake if you miss out on promoting exclusive email campaigns for your loyal customers. With all businesses, especially POD ones, loyal customers are those who easily come back and make a new order at any sale event because they experienced your products before. Moreover, their average order value tends to be higher than others.
     
  • Limited-time Offers: Whether you promote sale events on social media or email, you need to put limited time into your offers to encourage your customers to complete their orders soon.
     

Email is just a small channel in Black Friday marketing campaigns. If you want to find more inspirational ideas for your upcoming Black Friday campaigns, you can follow our detailed guidelines with proven strategies to help you optimize your POD businesses.

Conclusion

Black Friday presents an incredible opportunity for print-on-demand sellers to boost sales, attract new customers, and showcase unique, customizable products. By offering Black Friday products like apparel, accessories, and drinkware, while using strategic sales tactics such as flash sales, bundles, and personalized email campaigns, you can maximize your success during this peak shopping season.

 

Now's the time to start planning and getting your print-on-demand store ready for the biggest shopping event of the year. We hope you can collect useful information to have a good preparation for your Black Friday campaigns.

Wish you have a successful Black Friday season.

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Dieu LinhI fall in love with finding creative ways to promote print-on-demand products online. If you need more creative ideas to optimize for your e-commerce business, especially for POD stores, you can check my posts published on Printway's blog.