Black Friday and Cyber Monday are one of the highest-pressure, highest-opportunity stretches of the year for Amazon sellers.

If you’re not laying groundwork by early September, you’re already playing catch-up. The brands that crush BFCM don’t guess, they prepare early, optimize every touchpoint, and make decisions based on data, not gut.

Prime Day 2025 was a clear indicator: shoppers are still ready to buy, but they’re more selective, more deal-driven, and more responsive to clean, targeted campaigns. The sellers who came prepared with strong inventory, sharp ads, and airtight listings saw real results. That’s the playbook heading into Q4, just at double the scale and speed.

Here’s what you should be doing each month to make sure you’re not leaving money (or visibility) on the table.

What to Expect Based on Prime Day 2025

Prime Day 2025 ran July 8–11, making it the first four-day version in the event’s ten-year history.

• Americans spent more than $24 billion online, ~30% higher YoY, and cumulatively more than on Black Friday 2024.
  
• That extra two days didn’t necessarily generate more overall volume; it just spread demand thinner and shifted consumer pacing.
  
• Consumers held off early, comparing prices, loading carts, and buying later in the week. Day 1 was strong, Days 2–3 slowed, and Day 4 surged across categories like tools and electronics.
  
• CPCs actually declined in key categories even with strong conversion and click-through rates, evidence of lower competition and smarter bidding opportunity.
  
• Shoppers prioritized everyday essentials and value-driven deals over luxury or impulse purchases, and price comparisons led many to leave Amazon for competitors later in the week.
  

What this reveals is that shoppers are evolving: they now use Prime Day as a research window, pacing through multiple retailers before pulling the trigger. That depth of consideration means your BFCM game plan must meet them with visibility, clarity, and timing.

What This Means for BFCM 2025

1. Shoppers are more deliberate
   Four-day pacing means they’re browsing earlier, comparing price across platforms, and waiting for deeper discounts later. BFCM needs to anticipate that same behavior with staged deals and stepped urgency.
   
2. Consumers demand transparency and value
   Social sentiment dropped sharply after Day 1, questioning some of the deal’s authenticity and transparency. That reinforces the need for honest discounting and clear inventory messaging at BFCM.
   
3. Cross‑retailer awareness is higher
   49% of Prime Day shoppers checked Walmart deals, nearly 35% checked Target’s Circle Week, this awareness translates into increased competition and expectation for better value at BFCM 

What It Means for BFCM Planning

• Expect pacing like Prime Day: Launch deals early, deepen discounts over multiple waves, and build urgency into each touchpoint.
  
• Target strategic categories: Products in essential, high-conversion verticals may offer better CPC and ROI windows during BFCM.
  
• Build for transparency: Work promo copy, deals, and shipping messaging into customer experience to reinforce value and trust.
  
• Plan for cross-journey shoppers: External traffic and comparison shoppers are here to stay, your external ads and promotions must speak clearly to those research-to-buy jumps.

September 2025: Strategic Planning

Audit Last Year’s Performance

You don’t guess your way into a successful BFCM; you use your own data. Reviewing 2024’s performance helps you identify what drove sales, where your margins broke, what ad types actually worked, and which SKUs didn’t deliver. You’re not looking for one magic metric; you’re looking for patterns that show you where to lean in and where to pull back.

• Review Past Reports: Dive into Business Reports, Brand Analytics, and ad performance dashboards to evaluate how each product, campaign, and promo performed.
  
• Identify Conversion Gaps: Look at low-performing SKUs and find out if it was traffic, pricing, or listing quality that held them back.
  
• Isolate Top Performers: Pull TACoS, conversion rate, and margin data on your best SKUs, these are your anchors for BFCM 2025.
  
• Evaluate Feedback: Read reviews and return data to understand what your customers liked, or didn’t.
  

Inventory Forecasting Starts Now

Stockouts kill your BFCM momentum and hurt your rankings well beyond the holiday. With longer lead times, stricter inbound limits, and warehouse bottlenecks, late inventory is the same as no inventory. Planning in September gives you enough runway to ship, replenish, and avoid any warehouse transfer delays once traffic spikes.

• Forecast Demand: Use last year’s BFCM velocity, 2025 trend shifts, and category seasonality to build accurate SKU-level forecasts.
  
• Build a Buffer: Add 20–30% over your forecasted units to cover unexpected traffic spikes and increased conversion rates.
  
• Leverage Amazon Tools: Use the FBA Restock Tool to guide quantity and timelines, and stay within capacity limits.
  
• Prioritize High-Movers: Focus inventory allocation on SKUs with consistent year-round performance and proven Q4 lift.

Listing Optimization Is Not Optional

Your listing is your closer. During BFCM, you’re getting traffic from ads, storefronts, deals pages, and external channels, so every detail matters. If your bullets are outdated, your images are weak, or your A+ content is half-built, you’re not converting the traffic you worked (and paid) to get.

• Refresh Titles and Bullets: Make them more relevant for seasonal buyers. Lead with benefits, not just specs.
  
• Rework Backend Keywords: Add gifting terms, seasonal phrases, and competitor-relevant queries.
  
• Upgrade A+ Content: Add comparison charts, lifestyle imagery, and rich visuals that help users buy faster.
  
• Check for Mobile Optimization: Ensure your content flows properly and displays clearly on mobile devices.

Secure Your Promotions Now

Every seller wants deal placement during BFCM, but Amazon only approves so many. If you’re not submitting Lightning Deals and Coupons in September, you’ll miss the window. Locking in promos early also helps you sync your inventory, margin, and ad strategy so nothing breaks under pressure.

• Submit Lightning Deals & Best Deals: These fill up fast, get yours in via Seller Central before the calendar disappears.
  
• Plan Discounts Strategically: Map out discounts that make sense financially but still stand out in the sea of deals.
  
• Align With Inventory: Make sure you’re only discounting SKUs you can keep in stock through Cyber Monday.
  
• Coordinate Across Ads: Sync promo timing with your ad campaigns so messaging and delivery line up across channels.

October 2025: Prep + Ads Launch

Build & Launch Ad Creative

This is the month to finalize all creative and keyword prep, because waiting until November is too late. Traffic ramps fast, and your assets need to be approved and ready. Gifting intent starts earlier every year, and if your ads don’t speak to it, you’ll miss early buyers who are ready to convert now.

• Develop Sponsored Brand Video Ads: Build high-quality video creatives that are product-focused with seasonal, gifting-friendly messaging.
  
• Write Strong Headlines: Use copy that highlights limited-time deals, gift use cases, or urgency-based CTAs.
  
• Expand Keyword Lists: Use keyword research tools to uncover trending seasonal queries, gifting keywords, and competitor terms.
  
• Get Creative Approved Early: Don’t wait until November, build now so you can go live the moment deals hit.

Optimize Your Amazon Storefront

Your storefront is your brand’s home base during BFCM. Whether from Sponsored Brand Ads, Lightning Deals, or external traffic, customers will explore your full catalog. If your Storefront isn’t seasonal, organized, and built for conversions, you’ll lose them.

• Update the Homepage: Lead with BFCM messaging, gift-focused creative, and top sellers.
  
• Add Seasonal Gift Guides: Organize collections by price point, recipient, or category (e.g. “Gifts Under $50”).
  
• Build a BFCM Deals Page: Create a sub-page just for active promos and discounts, link to this from your ads.
  
• Optimize Navigation: Make it easy for shoppers to find deals, bestsellers, and new releases with as few clicks as possible.

Finalize Your Promotions Calendar

Amazon’s deal approval windows are strict, and once they close, they’re closed. You should be locking in final deal timing, checking that promo SKUs are in stock, and ensuring your discount strategy doesn’t break your margins.

• Double-Check Deal Approvals: Confirm that all Lightning Deals, Best Deals, and Coupons are live and scheduled for Thanksgiving week through Cyber Monday.
  
• Cross-Check Inventory: Make sure every promo SKU has enough inventory available to support the full deal period.
  
• Time Your Promotions: Space deals across BFCM to maximize exposure, don’t front-load everything on Black Friday.
  
• Submit Early for Edits: If Amazon has follow-ups or questions, you want time to resolve them before the clock runs out.

Build Your External Traffic Plan

Amazon rewards external traffic, and the Brand Referral Bonus (10% back) is a no-brainer if you’re brand registered. October is when you should build your landing pages, email flows, and paid social campaign plans. Waiting until November leaves no room for QA or optimization.

• Set Up Landing Pages: Use Amazon Attribution links to track performance from Meta, Google, and email.
  
• Map Out Email Sends: Schedule teaser, launch, and urgency-driven emails to push your BFCM promotions.
  
• Plan Paid Social Creative: Build Meta ad sets focused on bestsellers, bundles, and holiday deals, optimized for mobile traffic.
  
• Segment Your Audiences: Target prior buyers, recent engagers, and high-likelihood purchasers with tailored creative.

Lock Down Inventory & Shipping

This is your last real window to get inventory into Amazon’s fulfillment network. If you miss these shipping cutoffs, you’ll be stuck with limited availability, or worse, nothing to sell at all.

• Check the FBA Shipping Queue: Ensure you’re within Amazon’s capacity limits and forecasted shipping deadlines.
  
• Split Shipments Strategically: Send inventory to multiple fulfillment centers to avoid transfer delays.
  
• Avoid FC Overload: Don’t bottleneck by sending everything to one FC, spread it out and ship early.
  
• Verify Labeling & Prep: Avoid delays by ensuring shipments are properly labeled and packaged to FBA standards.

November 2025: Execution

Ramp Up Advertising Budgets & Bids

This is where the volume hits. Shoppers are active, ready to buy, and searching with intent. If your budgets are too tight or bids too low, you’ll lose visibility fast, especially as CPCs surge across categories. This isn’t the month to play it safe with ad spend.

• Scale Daily Budgets: Increase budgets by 2–4x on top-performing campaigns.
  
• Prioritize Bestsellers: Focus spend on your proven high-converting SKUs.
  
• Adjust Bids Frequently: Monitor CPC trends and bid adjustments daily, sometimes hourly, on your key terms.
  
• Use Dayparting If Needed: If budgets are tight, shift spend to peak shopping windows instead of spreading it evenly.

Monitor Inventory Health Daily

You can’t sell what’s not in stock, and Amazon won’t wait for you to catch up. A product running out of stock mid-campaign can wreck ad efficiency, ranking, and customer trust. Stay on top of inventory at the SKU level and have backup plans in place.

• Set Up Inventory Alerts: Use tools or internal systems to flag low-stock SKUs early.
  
• Prepare FBM Backup Offers: For high-velocity SKUs, have FBM listings ready to go live if FBA inventory dries up.
  
• Scale Down Ads on Low Stock: Don’t keep spending on listings that can’t fulfill, pause campaigns as needed.
  
• Coordinate With Ops Teams: Make sure you’re aligned on incoming shipments, delays, or FC hold-ups.

Launch Retargeting Campaigns

Not everyone converts on first click, especially with comparison shopping ramping up. Retargeting is key in November to bring back warm shoppers before your competitors get them. You need to stay visible throughout their decision journey.

• Run Sponsored Display Retargeting: Target recent product viewers, detail page visitors, and shoppers who added to cart but didn’t buy.
  
• Layer In DSP If You Have Access: Expand reach with custom audiences across Amazon’s extended network.
  
• Use Gifting-Based Creative: Remind shoppers of urgency with copy that speaks to gifting deadlines and deal expiration.
  
• Segment Audiences by Behavior: Treat a recent cart abandoner differently than a detail page viewer from 10 days ago.

Black Friday – Cyber Monday: Peak Period Execution

Manage Budgets & Bids Hourly

This is the biggest window of the year. Budget caps can ruin your day if you’re not watching closely. Campaigns need constant oversight to avoid capping early or overspending on underperformers. This is where real-time control turns into real ROI.

• Monitor Campaign Pacing Hourly: Watch for sudden spikes in spend and open up budgets on high-performing, budget-capped campaigns to capitalize on the incoming traffic during the event.

• Push Winners Immediately: If a campaign is performing well by 10am, increase budget and expand bids by midday.
  
• Use Bulk Sheets or Automation: Speed matters. Use your tools to make fast, high-volume changes across campaigns.
  

Double-Check Live Promotions

Deals going down? Coupons not showing? You won’t know unless you check, and customers won’t wait around to figure it out. This is the moment to be obsessive about your live experience.

• Visit Your Own Listings: Check desktop and mobile views to confirm coupons, Lightning Deals, and Prime badges are displaying correctly.
  
• Test Storefront Navigation: Make sure your BFCM page is accessible, live, and properly linked.
  
• Confirm Deal Timelines: Validate that your scheduled promos actually triggered on time.
  
• React to Issues Immediately: If a promo fails or isn’t showing, pull it, fix it, or route traffic to a backup listing.
  

Post-BFCM: Momentum + Retention

Via Tyla

Retarget Your New Buyers

You just acquired a wave of new customers, don’t let them go cold. Many will be open to buying again during the holiday window if you stay in front of them with timely messaging. This is one of the most efficient periods to drive follow-up purchases at a low cost.

• Launch Sponsored Display Retargeting: Target BFCM purchasers with relevant upsells or seasonal products.
  
• Segment Audiences by Purchase Behavior: Separate one-time buyers from repeat customers and tailor your ads accordingly.
  
• Use Holiday Language: Position messaging around “last-minute gifts” or “still time to shop” to create urgency.
  
• Push Giftable SKUs: Focus retargeting on products that align with seasonal demand and remaining inventory.

Capitalize on “Arrives Before Christmas”

December is dominated by shipping timelines. Shoppers are still buying, but only if they know it’ll arrive in time. You can extend the holiday sales wave if you lean into that urgency and promote guaranteed delivery windows.

• Create a Storefront Section: Build a “Arrives Before Christmas” page featuring fast-moving, ready-to-ship SKUs.
  
• Highlight in Ads: Use Sponsored Brand headlines that call out fast delivery and gift messaging.
  
• Use Brand Story Modules: Link to your Christmas delivery section directly from your product pages.
  
• Push External Traffic Here: Once DTC conversion drops, drive Google and Meta traffic to this landing page.

Request Reviews While Volume Is High

The post-BFCM window is prime time for review generation. You’ve just moved a high volume of products, now turn that momentum into long-term credibility. Social proof from Q4 can help boost rankings and conversion well into 2026.

• Use the “Request a Review” Button: Schedule review requests through Amazon for all recent orders.
  
• Add Inserts with QR Codes: Include TOS-compliant inserts that direct buyers to leave a review.
  
• Automate Where You Can: Use review automation tools to scale requests across all products.
  
• Prioritize High-Potential SKUs: Focus review-building efforts on newer or evergreen products that will stay in focus beyond Q4.

Replenish Inventory Based on Velocity

BFCM volume is a preview of what’s coming in late December and even January. If you’re not restocking based on how fast things sold, you’re opening the door to missed sales and low Buy Box coverage.

• Reforecast Based on Actuals: Look at daily BFCM sales and revise your Q4 forecast accordingly.
  
• Send FBA Restocks Immediately: Prioritize high-velocity SKUs that are still in demand.
  
• Prep FBM Backup Plans: Have alternate fulfillment ready for SKUs you can’t get into FBA fast enough.
  
• Track FC Capacity: Make sure your replenishment plan aligns with Amazon’s current fulfillment limits.

Get Ahead of January Returns

Returns can crush your margin if you’re not ready. Proactive return management improves customer experience and protects your seller health going into Q1.

• Analyze Return Reasons: Look for trends that suggest unclear listings, sizing confusion, or product issues.
  
• Update Product Pages: Use what you learn to make immediate listing edits that reduce future confusion.
  
• Proactively Message Customers: Reach out to buyers with known product pain points or common return reasons.
  
• Set Clear Return Expectations: Make sure your policies and messaging are clear to reduce chargebacks and negative reviews.

Document Everything for 2026

Don’t just move on once Q4 ends. The decisions you made, the campaigns you ran, and the data you collected will be gold next year, if you save and organize it properly.

• Export All Performance Data: Pull ad performance, keyword trends, promo success, and inventory movement.
  
• Create a BFCM Recap Doc: Record what worked, what didn’t, and what you’d do differently next year.
  
• Organize Creative Assets: Save all ad creatives, headlines, and email templates in a shared folder for easy reuse.
  
• Tag Key Learnings: Call out missed deadlines, shipping issues, or unexpected wins so you don’t repeat mistakes.

If there’s one constant in Q4, it’s this: the brands that plan early win.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday aren’t about showing up, they’re about showing up ready. You need clean listings, smart inventory buffers, locked-in promos, and ad campaigns built for volume, not guesses. By the time most sellers start thinking about strategy, the best placements, budgets, and opportunities are already gone.

This guide gives you the roadmap. If you follow it, you’ll not only survive BFCM, you’ll grow, scale, and carry momentum straight into 2026.

Need help building your strategy, forecasting inventory, or optimizing your Amazon ads before it’s too late? Let’s connect. Book a call with our team and we’ll map out a Q4 execution plan that’s built to win.