Website performance overtakes inventory management as top Black Friday strategy, Woo survey finds

Survey shows a growing “preparation gap” with larger merchants 3x more likely to use sophisticated strategies, but smaller businesses have the opportunity to catch up

A comprehensive new survey from Woo reveals a stark “preparation gap” emerging in Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) readiness, with million-dollar merchants investing significant time and resources into getting ready for the holiday season, and preparing earlier than ever. The research shows that stores generating over $1M annually are 3–4 times more likely to offer the latest payment options and 20% more likely to begin preparations months in advance.

The survey of 249 merchants and 12 certified WooCommerce agencies reveals two distinct realities when it comes to BFCM preparation, where business size increasingly determines holiday success. More than 30% of merchants are introducing subscription offerings, and 67% of all merchants report that BFCM and the holiday season account for up to 50% of their annual sales volume. However, the strategies and tools deployed vary dramatically based on revenue.

“We’re seeing a tale of two Black Fridays emerge,” said Tamara Niesen, Chief Marketing Officer at Woo. “Larger merchants are investing in performance optimization, sophisticated payment options, and long-term preparation strategies, while smaller businesses often focus on traditional approaches like inventory stocking. This gap isn’t just about resources — it’s about awareness and access to the right strategies. Our goal is to democratize these insights so every merchant can compete effectively during their most critical sales period.“

The disparity is most evident in payment options, where stores making above $1M are 3–4 times more likely to offer buy now, pay later (BNPL) services. Among the highest revenue tier ($10-50M), 66.7% offer BNPL options compared to just 14.8% of stores under $250K. Similarly, express checkout options like Apple Pay and Google Pay are offered by 75% of million-dollar stores versus 40% of smaller merchants.

This payment sophistication gap has real business implications, as BNPL usage continues its upward trajectory with 79% of purchases made on mobile devices in 2024.

The survey reveals a fundamental shift in BFCM preparation strategies, with website performance optimization (33.4%) overtaking inventory management (32.6%) as the top priority — a reversal from 2024 when inventory was the #1 priority at 26%. This change reflects the growing sophistication among merchants who understand that site performance can make or break their biggest sales period.

However, this evolution is unevenly distributed. Larger merchants lead the charge toward performance-first strategies, while smaller businesses often remain focused on traditional inventory-centric approaches.

The preparation gap extends to timing, with 40% of stores making over $250K preparing 1-3 months ahead of BFCM, compared to more reactive approaches among smaller merchants. This extended preparation window allows larger businesses to implement comprehensive strategies across multiple areas: site optimization, payment integration, security hardening, and marketing campaigns.

The research highlights another area where strategic sophistication matters: mobile optimization. While mobile devices drove 54.5% of holiday spending in 2024, desktop shopping maintained higher conversion rates throughout the season. This “two-device dilemma” requires nuanced strategies that many smaller merchants lack the resources to address effectively.

Perhaps most telling, 30% of surveyed merchants are pivoting to subscription models specifically for BFCM 2025, moving beyond traditional discount strategies toward recurring revenue approaches. These innovations predominantly come from larger, more established businesses with resources to experiment with new models.

For merchants seeking to bridge the preparation gap, WooCommerce has published comprehensive guidance in the blog post, 2025 Black Friday trends: Top strategies for peak selling season. The guide provides actionable strategies for performance optimization, payment integration, security hardening, and advanced preparation techniques previously available mainly to larger merchants.

The 2025 merchant survey was distributed to WooCommerce merchants via email, social media, and targeted outreach, receiving 249 responses and providing a 95% confidence level with a margin of error of ±6.07%. A separate qualitative survey was conducted with 12 certified WooCommerce agencies to gather in-depth insights on industry trends and best practices. 

About Woo
Woo is the company behind WooCommerce, the open-source ecommerce platform powering more than 4 million online stores. Built on WordPress, WooCommerce offers unlimited extensibility and flexibility for store owners and builders.

Woo is a fully distributed company with employees all over the world, dedicated to empowering success for merchants, developers, and anyone else making a living through ecommerce. woocommerce.com

About

Jay Walsh

Jay is the Director of Communications at Woo. He has 20+ years of experience working at highly visible brands and organizations across the media, government, open-source, and technology sectors.