Black Friday’s coming in hot. 🔥
Every year, we see the same thing: sellers spend weeks on promos and pricing, then miss the silent killers hiding in their listings and setup.
These aren’t rookie mistakes either. Even seasoned brands lose thousands in potential sales because of a few small, fixable issues.
Here are the big ones to watch (and fix) before the rush hits.
1. Treating every marketplace the same
What works on Amazon won’t always work on Walmart or Target Plus. Each one has its own quirks, from SEO rules to required attributes, and if you just copy and paste listings, you’re leaving money (and visibility) on the table.
For example, Walmart’s V5 spec now powers product ranking and discoverability. Miss the required fields or keep using outdated attributes, and your listings might never surface when traffic peaks.
The fix: Tailor your listings for each channel. Optimize titles and keywords to match how shoppers search on that specific marketplace. Zentail’s automation helps translate your listings into channel-ready formats so you’re compliant and discoverable everywhere.
💁 Pro tip: Upgrade your listings to Walmart’s latest spec now. It’s one of the fastest ways to boost visibility and sales (we’re talking 10-15%) before peak traffic hits. Most sellers wait until it’s too late, and lose placement right when it matters most.
2. Relying too heavily on one marketplace
Putting all your eggs in one basket (usually Amazon) is risky during high-traffic events. If that channel experiences delays, suppression waves, or backend issues, your whole weekend can tank.
The fix: Diversify early. Get your listings live on Walmart or Target Plus now so you’re not scrambling when traffic hits. Zentail helps push your catalog live across multiple marketplaces in days, so you have more ways to capture demand if one channel slows down.
💁 Pro tip: Don’t wait until next year to diversify. Listing even a handful of top SKUs on a second marketplace before Black Friday gives you a safety net and lets you grab traffic your competitors miss when Amazon gets crowded. Check out how we helped one seller launch thousands of SKUs on Target Plus just weeks before Black Friday.
2. Letting automation run on autopilot
Automation’s awesome…until it isn’t. During BFCM, things move fast. Prices change hourly, stock moves in minutes, and automation can only work with the data it’s fed. If your feed or rules aren’t updated, you could oversell, lose Buy Box placement, or tank margins overnight.
The fix: Audit your automations before the storm hits.
• Check your pricing rules. Are your min/max thresholds current?
• Verify your inventory sync across every channel (especially if you’re using MCF or multiple warehouses).
• Make sure your repricer and order management tools are actually talking to each other.
Zentail’s real-time sync and Flashpricer’s dynamic rules help you stay competitive without losing control.
💁 Pro tip: Don’t assume your automation has your back. Run a “test sale” a week before Black Friday to stress-test your setup. It’s the easiest way to avoid ugly surprises during the rush.
3. Focusing only on discounts, not data
Everyone drops prices for Black Friday. That’s table stakes. But clean data like titles, images, and attributes is what gets shoppers to your listings in the first place.
If your data isn’t dialed in, discounts won’t matter. Incomplete or inconsistent data lead to suppressed listings, poor search placement, or failed approvals right when you need visibility the most.
The fix: Tighten your product data before you worry about promos.
• Fill every attribute.
• Use rich content and mobile-friendly images.
• Double-check category mapping and keywords for your top SKUs.
Your data is what powers visibility, and visibility drives sales. Zentail automatically validates and formats your listings for each channel, so you spend less time fixing and more time selling.
💁 Pro tip: Refresh your top listings before adjusting prices. Marketplace algorithms reward clean, complete data, not just lower prices. A great listing often beats a cheaper one.
4. Ignoring suppressed or stranded listings
This one hurts. Every year, sellers lose sales because their products aren’t even live. Suppressed or stranded listings fly under the radar, especially when you’re juggling multiple channels.
The fix: Run a quick audit now. Check your channel dashboards or use Zentail’s reports to find listings with errors, missing attributes, or image violations. Even a handful of suppressed listings can cost thousands in lost sales when traffic spikes.
💁 Pro tip: Set up automated alerts for suppressed or incomplete listings. Catching a single broken feed or missing attribute early can save you serious money when Black Friday traffic hits.
Ready or not, Black Friday’s coming
Black Friday doesn’t punish the unprepared. It buries them. 🪦
Avoid these mistakes and you’ll show up faster, sell cleaner, and scale smarter when traffic peaks.
If you want a sanity check before the rush, Zentail can help you catch and fix these issues now so you’re not learning the hard way on Black Friday weekend. Let’s talk!
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