With BFCM quickly approaching, here’s the 2025 BFCM App Marketing Guide to equip you with our tried-and-true best practices to have a successful holiday season. In this guide, we’ll dive into why a mobile app, how to stay competitive, optimize design, and create a winning marketing strategy to maximize revenue. 

This is a packed guide with tons of tips and trends, so let’s dive in!

Why Mobile Apps Drive Higher Sales During BFCM

As the DTC space becomes increasingly competitive, curating a shopping experience that caters to your entire customer base, while placing a special emphasis on your brand enthusiasts—those loyal and engaged customers—becomes critical. This is where your mobile app can make a difference. 

A mobile app is fast, easy, and convenient—it’s a gateway for people to buy (and buy again) quickly, and also to engage with your brand on a new level. Having your own mobile app can drive higher average order value (AOV), order frequency, and conversion rates, consistently outperforming the mobile web.

And shoppers know it, too. This year, 80% of shoppers now have at least three shopping apps on their phones and ~75% of consumers purchase in-app weekly according to the 2025 BFCM Strategy Report. Brands like LSKD have seen a +51% lift in AOV compared to mobile web. Pair that with the fact that 40% of shoppers have purchased directly from a push notification, and the opportunity is clear.

While social media, SMS, and email are all critical parts of the BFCM strategy, an app gives you something they can’t: unlimited push notifications. These instant alerts are direct, cost $0 to send, and are 127% more likely to drive a purchase than paid ads.

As a result, the mobile app channel is naturally less saturated and far more efficient for reaching your community. Consumers want to shop on an app because it provides speed, convenience, and exclusivity. Now’s the time to tighten your mobile app strategy and grow your subscriber base—because every new app download is a higher-LTV customer waiting to happen.

How to Stay Competitive With Early BFCM Marketing Strategies

As you begin to craft your BFCM strategy, it’s crucial to think about staying competitive. We have two key strategies for staying ahead of the game.

The first is to be EARLY. To stay ahead of the competition, start promoting your BFCM deals as early as October! Recent data shows that 66% of shoppers start shopping by October, and 44% of BFCM shoppers plan purchases more than a week in advance. Make sure your promotions are on their radar before BFCM.

The second strategy is to avoid offering a blanket discount throughout the holiday season. To keep your customers excited and engaged, we recommend alternating your discount codes and promotions so that shoppers continue to check back in.

Mobile App Design Tips to Boost BFCM Sales

Now that we have our bases covered, let’s dive into how you can optimize your mobile app design for BFCM to drive revenue, traffic, and awareness. 

App Icon Design for BFCM Promotions

Your app icon holds valuable real estate on a user’s home screen, and it’s crucial to utilize this to communicate when your BFCM promotions have started! 

Here are some ways to customize your app icon to drive awareness: 

• Incorporate BFCM messaging: Consider adding text such as “Black Friday” onto your app icon. This can immediately inform users about your ongoing promotions 
• Use a stand-out color scheme: Select a color scheme for your app icon that aligns with your brand but also stands out to catch users’ attention. 

BFCM Launch Screen Best Practices

The launch screen is the first image your app users see when the app opens and before the homepage appears. This is another prime piece of real estate to take advantage of and highlight your latest promotions. 

• Use this space to tease upcoming products or discount drops. 
• While it's important to clearly communicate your sale, avoid overcrowding with excessive text or visuals, as this page will only flash briefly before ushering your shoppers into your app. Aim for concise yet impactful copy and design.

Homepage Optimization for Holiday Sales

Once the launch screen disappears, your app user will land on your homepage—arguably the most important space for your BFCM app design. This is where you’ll want to be strategic about drawing attention to your promotions and making it easy for customers to take action.

Here are some ways to optimize your homepage during BFCM:

• Use bold visuals like images, videos, or GIFs to spotlight promotions and encourage clicks.
• Keep your messaging clear and concise so customers instantly understand the offer.
• Place discount codes or promotions above or directly under the search bar for maximum visibility.
• Create a dedicated BFCM tab to centralize all offers and organize by category (“App Exclusives,” “Last Chance,” etc.).
• Refresh creatives throughout the week so customers always see something new.
• Add a Countdown Block to hype up upcoming promotions or highlight final hours—perfect for building urgency and FOMO.

PDP Editor Best Practices for BFCM Conversions

The product detail page (PDP) editor, is, without a doubt, one of the most critical sections within the Tapcart Dashboard. Use this page to clearly communicate promotions and educate the value of your products. 

Here are a few of our key tips to optimize your PDP to drive AOV: 

• Add promotional banners to highlight your discounts directly on your PDP like… 
  
  • Discount codes  APP20
  • Discounted products - BOGO
  • Bestsellers
  • Low Inventory
  • App exclusive deals 
• Include product badges to instantly flag discounts or exclusives. 
• Add a countdown timer directly on your PDP to create a sense of urgency for your flash sale. 

Pro-Tip: Leverage conditional tags to customize the experience and display relevant content for specific products. 

Cart Banner Strategies to Drive Last-Minute Sales

The cart is the final stop before customers check out. At the top of this page, consider adding a cart banner to spotlight your sales one last time. This can motivate app users to toss in one more item, prompt a quicker checkout, or reinforce the value they're getting. 

Utilize this area to highlight promotional offers such as:

• Automated discounts that apply at checkout
• Free shipping
• Final sale
• Discount codes
• Buy Online Pick-Up In-Store instructions
• Sustainability impact
• A reminder of preferred payment methods such as Apple Pay, Afterpay, Shop Pay, etc. 

BFCM Discounts, App Exclusives, & Retention Strategies

When it comes to BFCM, most shoppers are hunting for deals ranging anywhere from 20–70% off. But success isn’t just about slashing prices—it’s about keeping your offers fresh and building long-term loyalty at the same time.

In this section, we’ll walk through our best strategies for discounts, app exclusives, and retention-driving plays that keep customers coming back. From exclusive drops and gamification to wishlists, giveaways, and loyalty rewards, these tactics will help you capture new shoppers and strengthen relationships with your most loyal ones—setting you up for a season that’s both profitable and memorable.

App Exclusive Discount Strategies to Increase Installs

This core strategy is all about offering exclusive discounts just for app users. It’s one of the most effective ways to boost app downloads, grow your push subscriber list, and increase the LTV of your customers over time.

Simply put, prioritizing app downloads is essential for your BFCM strategy—and offering app-exclusive discounts is a proven method to get shoppers into your app and coming back for more.

Here’s how to set up an exclusive discount:

• Use Tapcart’s app-exclusive discount code script to power an app-exclusive promotion 
  
  • Important Note: You must have a Shopify Plus account  
• Create a discount code in Shopify to enable the promotion 
• Enter the discount code value in line 199 in the Script.rtf file
• Paste the script into the script editor and only publish it to the online store 
• Market the promotion in advance on your website, social media, email, and app design
• Announce the start of the promotion through email, push notifications, social, and SMS
• Once the promotion is over, delete the script from the script editor

App Exclusive Product & Collection Drops to Build Urgency

Nothing builds urgency quite like exclusivity. Launching a new product or collection in your mobile app first not only drives downloads but also rewards your most loyal customers with early access.

Here’s how to make it work:

• Make the app the destination: Clone products in Shopify and assign them only to Tapcart so the app is the only place to shop key releases.
• Build hype before launch: Design banners for your homepage, layer in countdown timers, and market the drop across channels to grow downloads and push subscribers ahead of time.
• Drive everyone to the app: Announce the release through email, push, social, and SMS—every channel should point back to your app as the first place to buy.

Pro-Tip: Position your app as the channel for first access to new collections, limited editions, and collabs. If you’re running an early access drop, keep a portion of inventory reserved for web so you can serve both audiences without overselling.

Gift with Purchase Campaigns for Higher AOV

Gift with Purchase (GWP) is a great way to incentivize higher cart values and increase your conversion rate. You can set up various gift thresholds to attract customers with various budgets, incentivizing users to add more items to their cart. 

Here are some tactics we suggest: 

• Change your gifts throughout the holiday promotion. That way, you incentivize customers to shop again and again
• Provide various gift thresholds to attract customers that have a range of budgets
• Be sure to use push notifications to communicate any new or existing GWP promos
• *Note: This feature is only available for Shopify Plus merchants

‍Pro-Tip: Keep your promotions fresh, shuffle between a flash sale then leverage a GWP promo. 

Gamification to Increase Holiday Shopping Engagement

To “gamify” is to make a game out of your promotion. Puzzle, code worlds, trivia—you name it, customers love it! By adding a layer of fun and excitement to “unlocking” your sale, you can increase the likelihood of your promotion being redeemed. 

• Use app design and social media to promote
• Require customers to solve an easy crossword puzzle to unlock a discount code 
• Use IG stories to communicate a partially complete discount code with the remaining values found in the app design or a push notification they must be subscribed to receive

Bundles & Upsells to Maximize Cart Value During BFCM

‍Bundles and upsells are a smart way to increase cart size without relying on deeper discounts. By packaging products together or surfacing the right add-ons at checkout, you can lift AOV and keep shoppers engaged through BFCM.

Here are some ways to make it work:

• Create BFCM-specific bundles positioned as limited-time offers.
• Highlight best-sellers or exclusives in the cart for easy one-tap add-ons.
• Use dynamic progress bars in the cart to incentivize higher spend (e.g. “Add $20 more to unlock free shipping”).

Note: Bundling is powered by Tapcart Custom Blocks. Work with your team to configure these ahead of BFCM so they’re ready to go live.

Gift Guides & Wishlists to Capture Early Shoppers

Gift guides and wishlists simplify holiday shopping for your customers and make it easier for them to find (and save) the perfect present. They also give your brand more chances to re-engage shoppers throughout BFCM.

Here are some ways to put them to work: 

• Create a multipage holiday gift guide with curated categories like “For Him,” “For Her,” or “Under $50.”
• Encourage shoppers to build wishlists ahead of time—over half of consumers use them to save items and plan purchases.
• Use segmented push notifications to remind shoppers when saved items go on sale.

Pro-Tip: Run a flash promotion tied to wishlists (“WISH20”) to drive urgency and turn saved items into sales.

Giveaways to Boost Engagement During Seasonal Sales

Giveaways add surprise and delight to your BFCM strategy while creating extra buzz around your app. They’re also a great way to drive repeat visits and build momentum across the weekend.

Here are some ways to run them effectively:

• Launch a “Win Your Wishlist” campaign to drive both wishlist creation and sales.
• Promote the giveaway across push, email, and social with a clear call-to-action.
• Announce winners via push notifications to maximize visibility and excitement.

Pro-Tip: Use giveaways to sustain momentum—daily winners or smaller prizes can keep your app top of mind during the BFCM frenzy.  

Free Shipping Bars to Drive Higher Conversions

The cart page is one of the most important screens in your app—it’s the final chance to encourage upsells and increase cart value. A free shipping bar makes the most of this moment by updating in real time as customers add items, showing exactly how much more they need to spend to unlock free shipping.

This simple addition creates a sense of progress and motivates customers to add just one more item before checking out.

Note: The Free Shipping Bar is powered by Tapcart Custom Blocks. Configure it ahead of BFCM so it’s ready to go live when traffic peaks.

App Shutdown Strategy for Exclusive BFCM Drops

Temporarily locking down your app is a bold way to build anticipation for a major drop or promotion. By closing your app and reopening it at a set time, you turn the launch into an event that feels exclusive.

Here are some ways to do it:

• Close your app in the days/hours leading up to a big drop to build hype.
• Reopen at a scheduled time to mimic a grand opening moment.
• Pair the reopening with bold banners, countdowns, and push notifications to announce the sale is live.

Pro-Tip: App shutdowns work best for exclusive promotions—position the reopening as the only place to shop the sale and build anticipation across all channels to drive downloads and push subscribers.

Cross-Channel Marketing Strategies to Promote Your Mobile App During BFCM 

It’s important to leverage your full marketing channel mix to drive mobile app downloads and efficiently grow revenue. In this section, we will break down the tried-and-true best practices by channel and recommend a few fresh tactics as well. Let’s dive in. 

Email Marketing Strategies

Despite being a highly saturated and competitive channel, email remains a core part of your BFCM promotions—especially when it’s used alongside SMS and push. According to our 2025 BFCM Consumer Shopping Trends Report, 58% of consumers are more likely to purchase when they receive the same promotion across both SMS and email. The takeaway? Consistency across channels matters more than frequency.

Here are some tips for leveraging email to promote your mobile app during BFCM:

• Start announcing your app’s BFCM promotion schedule a few days in advance to allow your customers to plan ahead.
• Announce the start of any app-exclusive promotion through email.
• Use clear CTAs in subject lines to highlight app-exclusive offers.
• Display the App Store/Google Play buttons within the email footer to drive downloads.

Organic Social Media Content to Promote App-Exclusive BFCM Deals

Even with shifting algorithms, organic social is still a powerful way to generate buzz and promote your BFCM sales—especially when paired with your app-exclusive campaigns. The key is to focus on content formats that reach further and drive action.

Here are some best practices to keep in mind:

• Use a mix of Stories, Reels, and feed posts across Instagram and TikTok. Short-form video continues to perform better in algorithms than static images.
• Tease app-exclusive promotions early to give customers time to download your app and opt into push notifications.
• Drive traffic to a dedicated landing page that hosts both iOS and Android app store links, making it easy for shoppers to download.
• Always include the app download link in your bio for quick access.

Paid Social Ads to Target VIPs, Loyalists, and Deal Hunters

Paid social remains one of the most effective ways to reach new shoppers during BFCM—but success comes down to segmentation and targeting. Rather than blasting the same promotion to everyone, tailor your campaigns by audience type to maximize ROAS.

Here are some tips for running smarter paid campaigns:

• Segment by audience: Differentiate messaging for VIPs, loyalists, and deal hunters so each group gets the most relevant offer.
• Highlight app exclusives: Use creative that positions the app as the only place to shop your best deals.
• Lean into urgency: Limited-time codes and countdown visuals help drive quicker conversions.
• Exclude current app users: Ensure your budget goes toward acquiring new downloads and subscribers, not retargeting those who already have the app.

App Store Ads to Capture High-Intent Holiday Shoppers

Don’t overlook the app stores themselves—many shoppers head there first during BFCM. With Apple App Store Ads and Google App Assets, you can surface your app directly to high-intent customers who are actively searching. Highlight app-exclusive promotions in your listings to capture installs and convert browsers into loyal app users.

Drive App Installs from Your Ecommerce Website

Maximizing your website’s real estate to spotlight your mobile app is one of the most effective ways to drive downloads—and another opportunity to convert existing customers into higher-LTV app customers.

Here are a few ways to do it:

• Use the native Mobile Install Banner or Desktop Widget to capture visitors in real time and drive installs seamlessly.
• Promote exclusive in-app drops with banners, countdown timers, or pop-ups across your highest-traffic pages.
• Highlight early access or VIP perks to position the app as the premium shopping destination.
• Create a dedicated app page that educates shoppers on the perks of downloading—call out exclusive features, loyalty rewards, or app-only discounts, and include direct links to the App Store and Google Play. If you can’t host a full page, use a header or footer banner on your homepage as an entry point.

Pro-Tip: Wherever possible, position the app as the home of your best BFCM deals—not just an alternative to your site.

Mobile Website Download Banner to Convert Visitors into App Users

With 70% of web traffic happening on mobile devices, the download banner is a simple way to turn mobile visitors into app users. This native Tapcart feature is free, customizable, and routes shoppers directly to the correct app store.

Tips for making it work:

• Use FOMO messaging like “Download the App for EXCLUSIVE Drops!”
• Highlight app-only perks, e.g. “Download & Get 15% Off.”
• Customize the banner copy and CTA in your dashboard to fit your BFCM promotions.

Push Notifications Strategies for BFCM Success

Keep your brand top of mind using a blend of transactional and non-transactional push notifications, to keep the content rich and engaging.

Transactional vs Non-Transactional Push Notifications

Transactional push notifications are centered around promoting your BFCM offers and instilling urgency, nudging users to seize these time-sensitive deals. On the other hand, non-transactional pushes are more about amplifying your brand's voice—whether it's sharing an inspiring message, highlighting your brand's ethos, or simply sending a friendly hey. 

Incorporate non-transactional messaging into your push strategy. Some examples can be…

• “Thankful for YOU! Without your loyalty, feedback, and support, we wouldn’t be where we are today.”
• “Happy Holidays! From your favorites.”
• “Recharge Your Soul! Release the day’s stress and unwind.”

Together, both types of pushes build trust while keeping your app top of mind throughout the holiday season.

New Push Notification Tactics for 2025 (AI, Deep Links, Inbox + Popovers):

• Use AI-powered push copy to quickly create on-brand messages without the manual lift.
• Apply advanced segmentation based on browsing behavior, purchase history, or customer tags.
• Add deep links and custom images to drive shoppers directly to collections or PDPs with visuals that stand out.
• Leverage time-sensitive pushes to announce the start and final hours of promotions with countdown-style urgency.
• Personalize messaging with attributes like first name, city, or product viewed for higher engagement.
• Use Inbox + Popovers as new tools to give your promos a permanent home in-app and surface tailored offers at the right time.
  

Want to dive deeper into the latest data and insights shaping BFCM? 

Check out our 2025 BFCM Strategy Report for a full breakdown of how shoppers are preparing this season. Inside, you’ll find actionable tips and key findings to help you refine your strategy and set your brand up for success through the holidays and into 2026.