Quick answer: A BFCM loyalty program has three phases. Before the sale, build your member list with sign-up incentives, not discount codes. During the sale, run double points and VIP-only early access. After the sale, move within 48 hours on a welcome flow that turns a first-time BFCM buyer into a second purchase before the momentum fades.
Most Shopify merchants plan Black Friday like it's the whole season. Ad calendars get built. Site speed gets tested. Support gets staffed up. Then Cyber Monday ends, the dashboards quiet down, and most of that new traffic never comes back.
A loyalty program is the piece that changes that. Deloitte's 2025 Consumer Loyalty Program Survey, based on 5,564 US adults, found that 72% of shoppers say a loyalty program makes them more likely to stick with a brand, and 56% say it actually increases how much they spend. That's not a soft preference. It's a structural reason to come back.
This guide walks through building that program the way the data says it should be built: before, during, and after.
Why loyalty matters more for BFCM 2026
Two things are pushing in the same direction this year.
- Acquisition is getting more expensive. Ad costs keep climbing, and AI search is starting to reshape how shoppers find brands in the first place, which means the traffic patterns merchants have relied on for years are shifting. A loyalty program is a hedge against that, not just a nice-to-have.
- Shoppers are also actively looking for loyalty value this season. Deloitte's 2026 Holiday Retail Survey found 26% of holiday shoppers plan to use loyalty points to stretch their budget, up from 20% the year before.
One more loyalty statistic worth sitting with: the average consumer is enrolled in about eight loyalty programs but actively uses only five, as per the report by worldmetrics.org. Just over half engage with a single one. Most programs get ignored. Building one good enough to be someone's "one" is a real edge, not a checkbox.
Build A Successful Loyalty Program for BFCM 2026
Every shopper who lands on a store during BFCM is moving through the same customer decision-making process they'd use for any purchase, just compressed into a shorter, louder window. Loyalty lives at the very end of that process, in the post-purchase stage, which is exactly why it gets the least budget and the most long-term payoff. A shopper doesn't decide to become a repeat customer during checkout. They decide it in the weeks after, based on whether anything gave them a reason to.
Phase 1: Weeks before BFCM, build the list
A loyalty program built the week of BFCM has no members to reward. List-building has to start early, and it has to be framed around what a shopper gains, not around a markdown. The mechanics that consistently work:
1. Lead with a bonus-points welcome, not a discount code.
A starting points balance feels like a head start. A promo code feels like something anyone gets, member or not. With Flits VIP Tiers, a new sign-up sees a branded account showing their tier and starting balance immediately, so the payoff is visible before they've bought anything.
2. Run a real internal test before going live.
Have someone on the team sign up, earn points, and redeem a reward end to end. Bugs are cheap to catch in October. They're expensive to catch during peak traffic in November.
3. Soft-launch to your most engaged segment first.
Rolling out to existing customers before your full list surfaces friction while the stakes are still low.
4. Turn the wishlist into a planning tool.
Shoppers building wishlists before BFCM are telling you exactly what to feature, restock, and push to VIP tiers first. Flits surfaces that wishlist data directly, so list-building season doubles as demand-planning season.
Before locking in tier thresholds and reward costs, run the numbers against your average order value. A points program that gives away more in redeemed rewards than it earns back in repeat purchases isn't a loyalty program. It's a slow leak. The goal: the second and third purchase should more than cover what the first-purchase reward cost you.
Phase 2: BFCM weekend, reward presence over price
This is where the Deloitte numbers above actually pay off: more spending, more perceived value, more brand loyalty, concentrated into the highest-traffic weekend of the year.
1. Run a double-points window and publicize it to non-members.
A limited-time points multiplier rewards members for showing up and gives non-members a reason to enroll before it closes. It converts urgency into sign-ups instead of just another markdown.
2. Give VIP tiers real early access, not a badge.
Even a few hours of early access gives status something concrete to mean. Flits lets you gate early access by tier without building a separate system for it, so "VIP" actually carries a benefit a shopper can point to.
3. Show earning potential on product pages.
A shopper choosing between two similar products is more likely to pick the one where "earn 300 points" sits next to the price. It reframes the purchase as an investment, not a one-off.
4. Don't lean on price cuts alone.
Deloitte's broader research found up to 40% of a brand's perceived value comes from factors other than price: service, checkout ease, loyalty programs. Free shipping thresholds, gift-with-tier, and points multipliers all add value without touching your margin.
A tier structure gives this phase something concrete to sell. It doesn't need to be complicated. Three tiers, each unlocking a slightly better earn rate, a longer early-access window, and one standout perk, give shoppers a reason to keep engaging past the first purchase instead of a flat program with nothing left to offer after sign-up.
Phase 3: Weeks after BFCM, lock in the return
This is the phase most merchants under-invest in, and it's where the case for building the program in the first place actually gets proven. 80% of consumers say they get more value from a brand because of its loyalty program. Neither that number nor the 72% above pays off automatically. Someone has to act on it while the purchase is still fresh.
1. Move fast on the welcome flow.
A new member who joined during BFCM should hear from you within 48 hours, not whenever the next scheduled campaign happens to fire. Momentum decays fast once the sale ends.
2. Win back guest checkouts too.
Not every BFCM buyer joins at checkout. A post-purchase email showing a guest exactly how many points they would have earned, with an invite to claim that value retroactively, is a low-friction way to convert them after the fact.
3. Set points expiry with intent.
Points earned before BFCM shouldn't expire right as the event starts. Points earned during BFCM are worth expiring on a date that nudges a second purchase, often around a January sale window, since that's exactly when repeat purchase rates dip. Deloitte found 40% of loyalty members admit to sometimes forgetting to redeem rewards, which makes a well-timed reminder before expiry one of the easiest wins on this list.
4. Treat returns as a loyalty touchpoint, not just a support ticket.
Post-BFCM returns are inevitable. Routing a refund to Flits store credit instead of a cash return keeps the relationship, and the revenue, inside the program instead of walking out the door.
The bottom line
A BFCM loyalty program isn't a single campaign. It's a three-part system, built and followed through on across the whole season. Build the list before the rush. Reward presence during it. Follow through after it ends. That's the framework, and it's the difference between a BFCM that spikes once and a program that keeps paying off into 2027.
Frequently asked questions
1. When should a BFCM loyalty program launch?
Several weeks out, with time for internal testing and a soft launch to a smaller segment. A program launched right before BFCM still captures some uplift, but it misses the enrollment head start a program teased in October gets.
2. Do BFCM loyalty rewards have to include a price cut?
No. Deloitte's research found non-price factors, loyalty programs included, can account for up to 40% of a brand's perceived value. Points, early access, and status all give shoppers real value with nothing to do with price.
3. How many tiers should a BFCM loyalty program have?
Three is a common starting point: enough for visible progression without overcomplicating a first build. Each tier should unlock a meaningfully better perk, not a marginally better one.
4. What's the biggest mistake merchants make with BFCM loyalty programs?
Going quiet after the sale ends. The behavior shift is real, but it only turns into revenue if the follow-up happens within days, not whenever the next campaign is scheduled to go out.
