Grow Loyalty, Not Just Sales: 5 BFCM Strategies for Shopify Brands

What if your biggest Black Friday win was not how much you sold, but how many customers came back after?

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the biggest shopping events of the year, but they are also the most competitive. Every Shopify brand is sending emails, dropping discounts, and chasing clicks. What separates great brands from the rest is not just who sells the most that weekend, it is who turns those shoppers into long-term customers.

That is where your loyalty program becomes your biggest growth driver. A strong loyalty strategy helps you increase customer retention, grow lifetime value, and strengthen relationships well beyond the sale. With ethos, Shopify brands can transform the BFCM rush into a sustainable loyalty engine that keeps customers engaged all year long.

Below, you will find five actionable ways to grow your loyalty program during BFCM and beyond.

1. How to Promote Your Loyalty Program Before Black Friday and Cyber Monday

Start early. The best way to grow your loyalty program before BFCM is to email customers one to two weeks in advance. Invite them to join your program for early access, bonus points, or exclusive rewards.

These pre-BFCM campaigns do more than drive signups, they help your audience see your brand as one that values connection, not just conversion.

💡 Pro Tip: Use integrations like Klaviyo to send segmented campaigns and build personalized loyalty messages. Learn more about creating tailored loyalty communication in The Role of Personalization in Loyalty Programs.

2. Why You Should Give Loyalty Members Early Access to Black Friday Deals

Giving loyalty members early access to your Black Friday or Cyber Monday sale is one of the most effective ways to increase engagement and revenue. This approach does not take away from your main sale, it actually adds to it.

When brands open their sale to loyalty members a day early, they often see those members buying right away, creating a high-revenue day before Black Friday even begins. Then, when the public sale launches, performance remains strong, with little to no cannibalization. In other words, early access gives you an extra day of sales, deepens loyalty, and rewards your best customers first.

Consider offering:

Early access to your BFCM deals for loyalty members
Extra points for purchases made before the public sale
Exclusive loyalty-only bundles or VIP experiences

With ethos, Shopify brands can easily automate early access campaigns through email, banners, and in-app notifications. Explore more ways to integrate loyalty into your BFCM strategy Loyalty-Strategy Call.

3. How to Get More Loyalty Program Sign-Ups at Checkout

Your checkout page is one of your most valuable loyalty touchpoints. Customers on BFCM are already ready to buy, so make it effortless for them to join your loyalty program.

Using ethos’ Join from Checkout feature, customers can become members with just one click while completing their purchase. No redirects. No extra steps.

This feature captures new members at the moment of peak purchase intent, turning short-term traffic into long-term loyalty. Discover the benefits of integrated checkout sign-ups with our Integrated-Cart Sign Up feature.

4. What to Do After Black Friday to Keep Loyalty Members Engaged

After the sale ends, your relationship with customers is just beginning. A thoughtful post-BFCM strategy helps convert first-time buyers into repeat customers.

Send a personalized thank-you message to loyalty members right after BFCM. Offer bonus points for leaving reviews, a referral incentive, or an invitation to claim exclusive rewards before the holidays.

Keep the Excitement Going Year-Round

Loyalty shouldn’t feel like a one-and-done moment after BFCM. Keep your program buzzing all year by giving members new reasons to come back and engage.

Try mixing in ideas like:

Seasonal bonuses: Drop limited-time double-point events or themed rewards around key shopping moments.
Exclusive experiences: Surprise members with online or offline perks, like private sales, product previews, or contests.
Anniversary treats: Celebrate member milestones or birthdays with bonus points or special gifts.
Fresh rewards: Swap in new products or limited-edition items to keep your reward catalog feeling exciting.

Refreshing your loyalty program regularly gives members something to look forward to and keeps engagement high long after Cyber Monday ends.

Integrations like Judge.me make it easy to reward members for sharing authentic product feedback. Discover more ways to combine reviews and loyalty in ethos + Judge.me: Boost Reviews & Loyalty in Shopify.

Post-BFCM follow-ups not only show appreciation but also provide valuable insights. Use this time to analyze which rewards, campaigns, and channels performed best, and fine-tune your loyalty strategy for December and beyond.

5. How to Keep Your Black Friday Momentum Going with Holiday Loyalty Campaigns

You earned their attention during BFCM, now it’s time to keep it.

The post–Black Friday period is where long-term loyalty is built. Customers are still in a buying mindset, your brand is top of mind, and your loyalty program is fresh in their memory. This is your moment to shift from “discount-driven” to “relationship-driven.”

Instead of letting engagement drop off after Cyber Monday, show members that loyalty with your brand actually gets better after the big sale. Early access events, product drops, and exclusive experiences can turn short-term buyers into lifetime advocates. As you plan your next campaigns, it helps to think in terms of long-term value, not just post-sale engagement, something we explore deeply in Leveraging Customer Lifetime Value to Drive Sustainable Growth.

Here’s how to keep that energy alive:

“12 Days of Rewards.” Drop quick-hit perks—bonus points, mystery gifts, exclusive offers. Brands that gamify rewards see repeat engagement through the holidays.
Early access, round two. Let members shop a new drop or limited release before anyone else. It’s hype without discounts and can lift average order value.
Loyalty-only moments. Give members something money can’t buy. Think of private previews, livestreams, or behind-the-scenes looks. Exclusivity builds emotional stickiness.
Quick-win incentives. Flash double-point weekends or tiered rewards to spark urgency and keep carts moving.
Loud loyalty. Highlight perks everywhere, like emails, banners, product pages etc. Make joining feel like FOMO.

Keep the momentum alive, keep your members talking, and keep proving that loyalty is not a one-time offer, it’s your brand’s competitive edge.

Summary

Sustainable growth doesn’t come from one big weekend of sales. It comes from what happens after. Every loyalty sign-up, bonus point, and early access moment you create during BFCM is the start of a longer relationship that keeps customers coming back well beyond the holidays.

When you use your BFCM campaigns to capture and nurture loyal members, you build more than short-term revenue. You build predictable, repeatable growth powered by real customer connection.

Now is the time to turn that BFCM momentum into a cycle of engagement that never stops. Reward, re-engage, and reimagine how loyalty drives your next season of success. Because growth isn’t found in a sale. It’s built through loyalty.

See how ethos helps Shopify brands turn peak sales moments into year-round retention, higher lifetime value, and measurable growth.

Create the loyalty program you've always wanted.