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6 Black Friday blind spots retailers miss
Uncover 6 Black Friday blind spots that cost retailers sales, from mobile checkout friction to third-party risks and missed resilience planning.
Uncover 6 Black Friday blind spots that cost retailers sales, from mobile checkout friction to third-party risks and missed resilience planning.
Retailers often say they are fully prepared for Black Friday. Then we check their mobile checkout flow.
The confidence disappears fast.
In reviewing retail sites ahead of Black Friday, the same blind spots surface repeatedly. Small friction points that seem harmless during normal trading can quickly become conversion killers when traffic surges.
The difference between surviving Black Friday and thriving through it comes down to spotting these gaps before your customers do.
Mobile drives most Black Friday sales, yet mobile cart abandonment remains extremely high.
We see the same issues repeatedly. The “continue as guest” button is buried below the fold, form fields fail to auto-populate, and discount code boxes are hard to find.
On desktop, customers might tolerate an extra form field or unclear error message.
On mobile during Black Friday, frustration outweighs intent. Even motivated customers abandon their carts.
The fix often takes minutes.
Small changes that remove obvious barriers can unlock significant mobile commerce conversion gains without requiring a complete rebuild.
Retailers test their core site thoroughly but often miss the bigger picture.
Third-party integrations represent one of the most dangerous blind spots. Payment gateways, personalisation tools, recommendation engines and analytics platforms all add dependencies that can buckle under Black Friday pressure.
From the customer's perspective, a third-party failure looks identical to a site failure:
Take GymShark for example. An app integration famously caused their site to crash for eight straight hours on a Black Friday.
We encourage retailers to run stress tests that include every third-party tool, not just their core platform. Test the full ecosystem under load before real traffic arrives.
When something breaks during testing, panic can be productive. Most fixes involve configuration changes, scaling adjustments or temporarily disabling non-critical features.
It is far better to surface these issues early when you still have time to implement solutions.
Forcing account creation seems logical because you want customer data for future marketing.
During Black Friday, this approach backfires. Requiring registration creates friction at the point where speed matters most and shoppers are comparing prices across multiple tabs.
The solution is straightforward. Offer guest checkout prominently, collect email addresses for order confirmation and save the account creation pitch for after purchase.
You can always invite customers to create accounts post-purchase, when the pressure is off and they are satisfied with their experience.
Something will go wrong during Black Friday. The question is how you handle it.
Most retailers think acknowledging problems makes them look incompetent. The opposite is true.
When issues arise, transparency builds trust while silence breeds assumptions. Customers fill information gaps with worst-case scenarios.
We have seen simple banners transform frustration into patience. A message such as “We are experiencing high demand, but your order is safe” reassures customers.
The key is acting quickly but staying calm.
Customers forgive technical problems when they feel informed and reassured.
They abandon sites that leave them guessing about order status or payment processing.
The biggest difference between retailers who thrive and those who merely survive comes down to mindset.
Most approach Black Friday with a launch day mentality where everything must be perfect and no problems are allowed.
Successful retailers adopt a resilience mentality. They plan for friction, test beyond the obvious and prepare recovery strategies for when things inevitably go wrong.
Black Friday becomes a stress test of the entire customer journey, not just a sales event.
This mindset shift changes everything. Instead of hoping nothing breaks, you prepare systems that can handle problems gracefully. Instead of hiding issues, you communicate transparently to maintain trust.
Pressure becomes an opportunity to demonstrate reliability and build customer loyalty that extends far beyond the shopping weekend.
If you are reading this close to Black Friday and realising gaps in your preparation, focus on friction removal.
Test your checkout flow on mobile devices. Ensure guest checkout works flawlessly. Verify that payment processing handles peak loads.
Run stress tests that include all third-party integrations. It is better to discover problems now than during live traffic.
Prepare communication templates for common issues. Draft banners that acknowledge problems while reassuring customers about order security.
You might not be able to rebuild everything, but removing key friction points can make the difference between customers completing purchases or walking away to competitors.
The retailers who understand this distinction turn Black Friday pressure into competitive advantage. They build resilience that serves them long after the shopping weekend ends.
Retailers who thrive on Black Friday are the ones who identify blind spots before customers do.
These practical insights highlight where sales are most at risk.
At Sherwen Studios, we help retailers extend their setup with Experience Lift, ensuring they are prepared not just for Black Friday but for every peak moment.
Retailers often ask similar questions when preparing for Black Friday.
Here are answers to the most common concerns around conversion, resilience and customer trust.
Mobile checkout friction is usually the biggest sales killer, as small UX issues add up to major cart abandonment.
Every dependency, from payment gateways to recommendation engines, can slow or fail under load, damaging customer experience.
Yes. Requiring account creation adds unnecessary steps and drives abandonment, especially when customers are comparing deals across sites.
Quick, transparent updates reassure customers and reduce abandonment. Even a simple banner can prevent frustration.
It is about expecting issues, testing beyond the obvious and preparing recovery strategies so systems adapt under pressure.
Yes, if you prioritise high-impact fixes such as mobile checkout testing, ecosystem stress tests and pre-drafted communication templates.
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