The Countdown to Retail’s Biggest Day
The countdown to Black Friday is on: The aisles are getting busier, the discounts deeper, and the competition fiercer. Are your Black Friday retail display ideas ready?
The five days spanning Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday represent some of the busiest shopping days of the year as consumers make purchases both online and in-store. According to the National Retail Federation, while consumers spread their 2025 holiday spending over the months leading up to the holidays, nearly two-thirds (63%) of consumers plan to do most of their holiday shopping on Thanksgiving weekend, up from 59% last year.
With consumers beginning their holiday shopping earlier each year, by Black Friday they are no longer browsing, but strategically shopping for the best deals. That makes your visual merchandising and choice of retail displays even more important—they need to draw customers in and increase the likelihood of a purchase. Here’s how retail displays can help maximize traffic and sales this Black Friday.
Black Friday Retail Display Ideas: Key Takeaways
- Black Friday shoppers arrive ready to buy—not browse. Your displays must clearly highlight deals, guide traffic, and encourage fast decision-making.
- Preparation is crucial. Stock up on versatile, quick-to-set-up displays like nesting pedestals, modular risers, and adjustable sign holders to streamline busy holiday-floor changes.
- Storefront impact drives foot traffic. Digital signage, bold banners, and custom-printed backdrops help promote doorbusters, flash sales, and limited-time offers from afar.
- Use elevated, illuminated, and mirrored displays to spotlight featured merchandise and create a festive, high-impact holiday aesthetic.
- Smart floor and countertop organization boosts conversions. Use pedestals, acrylic boxes, modular displays, and strategic signage to guide shoppers and highlight high-margin items.
- Checkout zones are prime for impulse buys. Stocking stuffers, small gifts, and gift cards shine when displayed in tidy dump bins, rotating displays, and tiered organizers.
- Flexibility matters across the whole weekend. Modular and reconfigurable displays help you adapt as inventory changes.
- Products should transition seamlessly from Black Friday to holiday merchandising. Reusable displays—like digital signage and adjustable risers—make updates fast and efficient.
Plan Ahead: Setting the Stage for Success
Consumers aren’t the only ones who get a jump on the holidays. By now, you’ve already ordered your inventory and need to implement your Black Friday retail display ideas. If you find yourself short of displays as you head into the holiday, shopPOPdisplays has you covered with fast turnaround and ready-to-ship stock. We also have a variety of displays that can be easily set up and adjusted or restocked as the day goes on.
Nesting pedestals
Pedestals can be easily transported to the retail floor or store window to showcase featured items. A trio of Nesting Display Pedestals can quickly set-up to create visual interest and increase sales. Place a hero item on the tallest pedestal and complementing items on the shorter pedestals for cross-selling opportunities.
Modular Risers
Similarly, modular risers, such shopPOPdisplays’ Woodland Park collection, help make your products more visible. What’s more, they are flat-packed for delivery, collapsible for storage, can be set up quickly (without any tools) and are available for same-day shipping! A Wooden 4 Tier Narrow Countertop Step Display can help elevate items on counters or tables to make them visible to holiday shoppers. A Portable Wooden Floor Standing Display with Configurable Hooks can help arrange smaller, hanging items in a jiffy.
Sign Holders
Signs that can be swapped out with new promotions as the day or weekend advances are a boon to Black Friday retail display ideas. While digital signage can be updated with just a few strokes of a keyboard, don’t discount old-school signage for easy updates. An 8.5 x 11 Adjustable Height Floor Sign Stand provides an effortless way to announce deals to customers. Chalkboard Signs and Sign Holders and Picture Frames can be used on merchandise display tables to advertise holiday specials.
Draw Them In: Eye-Catching Storefront and Window Displays
Window displays shine this time of year. Lean into it and create an even more eye-catching display by utilizing digital signage and printed banners to announce Black Friday promotions, holiday hours, and more.
These Black Friday retail display ideas effortlessly feature doorbusters and limited-time offers:
Storefront Signage
Digital signage and banners are easy and efficient ways to get shoppers’ attention during the busy season. Bold, big, and easy-to-read language announcing your best offers, such as “BOGO” “50% OFF STOREWIDE!” “LIMITED TIME!” and “DOORBUSTERS EVERY HOUR!” are made visible from a distance to draw customers in. Digital signage can promote flash sales throughout the day. Flash sales create a sense of urgency for the customer to grab the deal while they can.
Custom-Printed Backdrops
Whether you’re sharing a narrative or utilizing bold graphics, custom-printed backgrounds help create a show-stopping window display that attracts shoppers and separates you from the competition.
Merry and Bright Retail Displays
Incorporate mirrored pedestals, acrylic risers, and lighted displays to reflect the excitement and energy of the season. Place featured items on the pedestals and risers at eye level (approx. 60” from the ground) to best capture attention. Mirrored pedestals are also available in colors to reflect your holiday or brand theme (red, green, silver, gold, blue, etc.). LED displays demand attention to your seasonal offerings. Combined, these displays create a modern, festive, welcoming storefront.
Keep the Flow: Smart Floor and Countertop Displays
On Black Friday, consumers are no longer browsing — they’re hunting for deals and eager to check items off their list. Smart floor and countertop display organization will lead customers to the products they want as well as the sales you want to highlight. Well-placed signage, such as poster stands and countertop signs, will direct them to deals. Use poster stands throughout the store for navigation to select merchandise and countertop signs at stations to promote smaller, or more hFile Editorigh-end products, like jewelry and luxe accessories that are in locked cabinets.
To further enhance and showcase high-margin merchandise, place them on acrylic boxes, pedestals, or wooden risers. Not only will this improve visibility, but it provide a premium look. Consider a Round Display Pedestal with Locking Door, 1 Shelf and Acrylic Cover that protects expensive merchandise while displaying to customers. Or, place an acrylic box on a counter, table, or even an end cap that captivates shoppers and sells at the same time.
A full display case is crucial to sales—modular displays provide flexibility across the entire weekend to reconfigure as inventory dwindles down. Our Wooden Floor Display with Configurable Hooks allows you to first set up additional slatwall displays throughout your space to present merchandise and then rearrange the hooks and baskets as inventory changes during the weekend.
Boost Impulse Buys: Checkout and Grab-and-Go Zones
Hence, while it’s true that shoppers may have a list, there is still a chance to sell them what they didn’t know they needed—impulse buys. Labeled as “last-minute gifts” or “add-ons” to catch a customer’s interest, products such as travel sizes, seasonal supplies, stocking stuffers, and gift cards get the undivided attention of shoppers in the checkout line. One caveat: Smaller displays, such as wire racks and dump bins, can clutter fast. Make sure to restock and reorganize as the day goes on so these mini deals are not overlooked.
Gift Card Holders
Additionally, gift cards are the number one gift among the population, according to the NRF. Place them prominently in a gift card display on the countertop near the checkout. A gift card display with 2 pockets & 11.5 x 8 slide in sign holder provides visibility in a crowded store so customers find gift cards with ease. Or, check out our Rotating Gift Card Display with Sign Clip and 9 Pockets that holds up to 100 gift cards for the busy gift-giving season.
Dump bins
Smaller, less expensive items in acrylic dump bins create the look of abundance due to the quantity. Non-clear dump bins, such as Wooden Nesting Crates, satisfy the bargain hunter who’s waiting in line.
Countertop Displays
A tiered countertop display can hold stocking stuffers such as trial-size beauty products, tech chargers, and chocolate treats. A 12-Pocket Rotating Display can hold greeting cards for last-minute shoppers.
Chalkboard Signs
A handwritten message on a chalkboard sign that calls attention to a product lends a personal touch and holiday cheer when marketing impulse buys.
Don’t Forget the Aftermath: Black Friday Retail Display Ideas
Our ready-to-ship and customizable displays help you prep for your most successful Black Friday yet!
But you can keep the momentum going by transitioning your Black Friday retail display ideas to holiday displays. The durability and reusability of shopPOPdisplay products allow for a fast transition to highlighting holiday merchandise. From easy-to-update digital signage to easy-to-reconfigure modular displays to easy to setup pedestals and risers. At shopPOPdisplays we have everything you need for Black Friday retail display ideas—and beyond! Take a look at our Retail Displays and Fixtures and contact us today for last-minute displays that will complete your list.