How To Prepare Your Mobile App for BFCM

Just like any of your sales channels, you’ll need to optimize your mobile app for the upcoming BFCM if you want to drive more sales for the biggest sales season of the year.

Don’t know where to get started yet? Don’t worry! Here’s a preparation checklist that OneMobile experts have compiled for you.

1. Choose a BFCM-dedicated theme

First thing first, we’d highly recommend using our purposely built BFCM theme – Doorbuster (in case you haven’t). The theme has bold, contrasting colors and is built with UI-UX design and conversion rate best practices in mind. 

Instead of dragging and dropping everything from scratch, switching to a theme dedicatedly optimized for BFCM would save you tons of time and effort. 

The best part? When you switch to Doorbuster, all your custom designs and styling configurations will be automatically migrated to the new theme, allowing you to immediately pick up where you left off. 

>> See Doorbuster’s demo

2. Prepare a push notification calendar

Did you know that push notifications have a much higher open rate and click-through rate than email messages? Therefore, if you want to drive traffic and sales to your app during Black Friday, Cyber Monday, you’ll need a well-thought-out push notification calendar in place.

For example, you can use OneMobile’s push notification scheduling feature to automatically send push notifications to your app users 1 week before BFCM, 3 days before BFCM, Black Friday Eve, Black Friday morning, Black Friday afternoon, etc.

💡Pro tips:

• Use BFCM push notification templates : Our team curated tons of push notification templates for you to choose from, including those for BFCM purposes.

• Personalize your message for different segments : Besides sending out push notifications for all app users, try personalizing your push notifications for some “special” segments. For instance:
• Inactive users who haven’t visited your app for 15 days
• The users who visit your products without checkout
• Users who have added products to their wishlist
• What you name and define it!

3. Create a loyalty rewards program for BFCM

According to a recent report, a loyalty and reward program would work much more effectively on mobile apps than on websites. Therefore, if you want to boost your customer retention and drive more sales for the upcoming BFCM, it’s highly recommended that you integrate a loyalty program to your mobile app.

You can use OneLoyalty– an omnichannel loyalty app that works seamlessly across channels: your Shopify store, Shopify POS, and most importantly, mobile apps built with OneMobile.

Quick fact: OneLoyalty is a solution developed by the same talents who developed OneMobile. So, we make sure OneLoyalty works with OneMobile more seamlessly than any other loyalty solutions on the Shopify App Store.

A few ideas on how to rock BFCM with your loyalty program:

• Offer your customers more points for shopping during BFCM
• Allow your customers to check in daily to earn points
• Gamify your loyalty program with a spinning wheel

4. Create excitement with a countdown timer

Consider adding a countdown timer on your app’s home screen and product screen to create a sense of urgency, urging your customers to make more impulse purchases.

Simply search for Event countdown timer black, drag it onto your home screen, and product screens, and configure your countdown timer settings (when do you want it to start counting down and for how long). Ideally, we’d recommend putting the countdown timer at the top of your screens to trigger your app users’ curiosity.

5. Leverage sales elements

Besides countdown timers, you can try to add several sales-driven elements to your app. Here are some other sale-driven elements you might want to add to your mobile app to improve its conversion rate:

1. An image banner featuring your deals

2. Recommend your customer’s relevant search queries

3. Feature an announcement bar

6. Build a BFCM-exclusive mobile screen

One of the best ways to stand out during BFCM is by giving shoppers a reason to choose your app over other channels. Exclusive promotions create that advantage while also strengthening customer loyalty.

You can design app-only perks such as special discounts, early access to sales, or limited-edition bundles that aren’t available anywhere else. To drive faster action, highlight these offers with countdown timers or bold banners that clearly show when deals are expiring. Adding interactive touches like spin-to-win wheels or mystery boxes can also turn a simple discount into a more engaging experience.

For maximum visibility, create a dedicated BFCM screen inside your app to showcase all time-sensitive promotions in one place. Setting this screen as your temporary home page ensures that every customer who opens the app immediately sees your hottest deals.

💡 Pro tip: Announce your BFCM screen and promotions early. Teasing them a few weeks in advance builds anticipation, encourages downloads, and makes sure your audience is ready when the sale goes live.

7. Display your BFCM products in different layouts

Don’t forget to put your products front and center with OneMobile’s product blocks. However, featuring your products in the same layout from “top to toe” might bore out your customers. Therefore, we suggest differentiating your BFCM products with something different.

Just search for “product” or “collection” and you’ll see tons of ready-made product blocks in our block inventory.

8. Recommend trending searches on your search screen

One mistake we noticed that OneMobile clients usually make is not making the best out of your search screen. What we actually mean by that is, that when your customers make a typo or search for a product that doesn’t exist, many would show them a “No products” result.

While this is fine – why don’t you optimize your search screen to increase your product visibility and time spent on your app?

Our idea: Add trending search phrases + Recently viewed products below the search result section. If your customers can’t find what they are looking for, they can explore your other popular offerings or jump right back into the products they are likely interested in.

9. Optimize all screens

If you want to truly prepare your mobile app for BFCM, you need to optimize all your existing screens, not just home screens or product screens. 

Like in the example above, the search screen is usually neglected by many merchants even when this is still a very important touchpoint between you and your customers.

Hence, make sure that you optimize all your screens, including:

• Home screen
• Product detail screens
• Cart screens: Cart screen with items & Empty cart
• Search screens: Search default, Search results, No search result
• Customer account screen
• Any custom screen you created

10. Localize your mobile app

And last but not least. If you do international selling or plan to expand your business globally, we’d highly suggest localizing your mobile app for the upcoming BFCM.

This is because BFCM is now not just an American thing. In recent years, the BFCM concept has spread worldwide, with various countries adopting “Black Friday” sales or creating similar events tailored to their local customs.

So, if you want to drive more sales from your international shoppers, you should definitely localize your mobile app as well. And for that, we’d highly recommend Transcy to instantly translate your app into 135 languages and 168 currencies.

11. Conduct thorough testing & Prepare for traffic surges

Before BFCM, your app needs to be stress-tested like it’s game day. Customers expect smooth performance, and even a small glitch can cost thousands in lost revenue. In fact, research shows 53% of users will abandon an app if it crashes or loads too slowly (According to Performance Matters)

• Test across devices and screen sizes: Make sure your app runs flawlessly on different iOS and Android versions, popular phone models, and tablets. What looks good on one device can break on another.
• Simulate heavy traffic: Run load and stress tests to see how your app behaves when thousands of users log in at once. Work with your dev team to identify bottlenecks, whether that’s on your servers, database, or third-party integrations.
• Have contingency plans: Even with strong prep, unexpected issues can arise. Set up a clear plan that includes hotfix procedures, rollback options, and communication templates to reassure customers quickly. A transparent, fast response can turn a potential failure into a trust-building moment.

12. Ensure seamless checkout:

Getting customers to add products to the cart is only half the battle, 17% of cart abandonments happen due to a complicated checkout process (Baymard Institute). BFCM shoppers are in a rush, so checkout must be effortless.

• Test end-to-end: Walk through the process as a customer would, from adding items to confirming an order. Identify and remove friction points like slow page loads, confusing steps, or hidden shipping fees.
• Offer multiple payment options: Include digital wallets like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal, since these reduce typing and increase conversion rates.
• Make shipping information clear: Unexpected costs or unclear delivery times are among the top reasons people abandon carts. Display shipping fees, estimated arrival dates, and return policies upfront.

A seamless checkout isn’t just about convenience, it directly impacts your sales. The smoother the process, the more likely customers are to complete their purchase and come back for more.

Boost In-App Engagement with Personalized Experiences

If you want to maximize conversions during BFCM, personalization inside your mobile app is just as powerful as external campaigns. Shoppers are flooded with deals everywhere, but a customized in-app journey can make your app stand out.

Here’s how to do it:

• Dynamic product recommendations: Use browsing and purchase history to surface the most relevant products for each user.
• Personalized home screen blocks: Highlight categories or collections based on what customers have interacted with before (e.g., “Because you liked…” or “Recently viewed”).
• Geo-based promotions: Offer location-specific deals, shipping perks, or limited-time offers tied to local events.
• Smart upsells and cross-sells: Suggest complementary items right before checkout, tailored to what’s in the cart.

👉 Want more inspiration? Check out our full guide on BFCM Promotion Ideas, where we dive into creative campaign examples, proven strategies from top-performing brands, and practical tips to help you maximize sales during the busiest shopping weekend of the year.

Good luck with your mobile app customization!

If you want to unleash your mobile app’s full sales potential for the upcoming BFCM, you need to start optimizing your mobile app right from this moment. And for that, we hope this blog post can give you some ideas on how to turn your mobile app into a sales magnet. 

Alexandre Le Content Specialist

“I'm Alexandre Le - a marketer with 5+ years of hands-on experience in the eCommerce industry. I want to use my expertise and personal perspectives to produce insightful blog posts that help online store owners to launch, run, and scale up their businesses successfully.”