Black Friday is one of the biggest shopping holidays of the year. It’s a prime time to get fresh eyeballs on your products, attract new customers and enjoy a healthy revenue boost. 🤑
This year (2025), the Black Friday weekend lands on the 28th November—and ecommerce brands are already getting their Black Friday sales campaigns ready.
In this guide, you’ll get 17 proven Black Friday marketing strategies, with examples from fashion and homeware brands—plus tips on planning and post-sale retention.
Why bother with Black Friday?
Black Friday isn’t just a consumer free-for-all—it’s a golden opportunity for ecommerce brands to get in front of new audiences, drive a surge in revenue, and build long-term customer loyalty.
Whether you’re a fast-growing DTC brand or a smaller shop with a niche product, getting involved can help you:
- Attract high-intent shoppers who are actively looking to buy
- Clear end-of-season inventory or promote new launches
- Reward loyal customers with exclusive offers
- Boost visibility across paid, organic, and email channels
And yes, it’s true—big retailers dominate the conversation. But many shoppers are actively looking for alternatives to Amazon and want to support independent brands. With the right approach, you can turn that Black Friday buzz into serious momentum for your store.
Not sure about doing discounts? If you (or your boss) are wary of fuelling overconsumption or undercutting your margins, you’re not alone. The good news is: you don’t have to run deep discounts to participate. There are loads of creative ways to approach Black Friday—like offering product bundles, limited drops, exclusive gifts, or even campaigns focused on purpose and values. We’ll show you how in the sections below.
When is the best time to start promoting Black Friday deals?
If you want to make the most of Black Friday, timing is key. Here’s some tips on planning your promo schedule:
- Start planning in July and August: We work closely with ecommerce brands year-round, and we've seen firsthand that the most successful Black Friday campaigns often start taking shape in the summer. July and August are ideal for laying the groundwork—before the pace picks up in autumn. It’s a quieter period for many teams, making it the perfect time to map out your strategy, prep your assets, and get ahead of the holiday season rush.
- Get on their radar early: Begin hinting at your upcoming deals in early November. A subtle approach, like posting teasers on social media or sending out ‘something exciting is coming’ emails for your upcoming sale can spark curiosity. This ensures your brand stays top of mind as online shoppers start planning their purchases.
- Warm up your VIP customers: Consider giving your loyal customers a head start with early access to your Black Friday deals. Offering an exclusive preview of your deals can make them feel valued and help you secure some holiday sales before the big rush.
- Build hype a week before: It’s time to go all out in the week leading up to Black Friday. Use targeted email campaigns, social media campaigns, and SMS reminders to drum up excitement. Highlight the value of your deals, and don't forget to create a sense of urgency—let your customers know these offers won't last forever!
By starting early and keeping a steady drumbeat of excitement, you can maximise your impact and make this Black Friday your best yet. ✨
17 Black Friday strategies from ecommerce brands
Your Black Friday marketing campaigns don’t just have to involve slapping big discount codes on your products. Here are some creative Black Friday promotion ideas from ecommerce brands you can use to attract potential customers. (You can also use some of these promotion ideas for the entire holiday shopping season including Cyber Monday and Christmas).
1. Make a stand (without losing out on sales)
In recent years, companies have been taking a stand on Black Friday. They push against ‘fast fashion’ and other consumer trends to bring sustainable initiatives to their customers. Think Patagonia and its ‘Don't Buy This Jacket’ campaign, or Everlane, who used the buzz around Black Friday to draw attention to polluting ocean plastic.
Together, we can turn this tide. You order. We donate. This Black Friday Fund, let's raise $300,000 to support @oceana in their fight to put an end to single-use plastic. https://t.co/lbKod8waey pic.twitter.com/8reNmR2e78— Everlane (@Everlane) November 29, 2019
The brand still promoted its deals but also pledged $10 per Black Friday purchase to environmental charity Oceana. With Black Friday shoppers choosing to buy from brands with aligned values, this is a clever way to highlight your mission while making sales.
2. Create a pre-Black Friday Buzz
Black Friday doesn’t have to be a one-day frenzy. These days, smart ecommerce brands are kicking things off early, and getting customers excited well before the main event.
Just take a look Back Country, who offered 10 days of deals in the lead up to the event. Their emails encouraged shoppers to come back every day to check back on new offers.
3. Run a PR drive
Getting placements in relevant publications is a great way to get more eyeballs on your store during Black Friday. This is exactly what boot brand Dear Frances did during one Black Friday event. The theme of the content was ‘top 5 boots’ from their Black Friday Sale. It managed to secure placements in top online fashion mags, including The Zoe Report and Marie Claire.
Tons of shoppers turn to their favourite publishers and bloggers for Black Friday inspo. If you've got a sought-after product or you've got a good relationship with a publication in your niche, try pitching some Black Friday content to them. If you've not built up those PR relationships yet, there are plenty of writers looking for awesome products to add to their holiday gift guides. Sign up for PR opps with sites like Connectively to increase your chance of getting featured.
Top tip: Use a tool like Dash (that’s us!) to get your product shots and brand assets organised and ready to share with journalists. You can create curated collections or portals to give your PR team or agency instant access to everything they need. That way, when someone bites on your pitch, you’re ready to go in seconds.
4. Promote a buy-back campaign
IKEA isn't a small DTC brand, but we're a big fan of how they do Black Friday. As well as promoting hot deals on its furniture, the brand also hosts #BuybackFriday, where it buys back pre-owned furniture that has life left in it. IKEA pays shoppers to give back their goods, increasing trust levels and turning one-time buyers into long-term loyal fans.
Think about how you can give back during Black Friday. Your customers have served you well, and now it's your turn to serve them. Consider buy-back initiatives or invite shoppers to send you their old products for repair instead of encouraging new purchases.
5. Offer free shipping
Short-form video is a brilliant way to show off your Black Friday deals in a fun, fast-paced format. UK-based fashion brand Calla Shoes nails this with light-hearted, on-brand videos that engage their 215k+ Instagram followers. Their content is playful and personality-packed—perfect for stopping the scroll and spotlighting products.
Use your own short-form clips to show off styling tips, share quick how-tos, or hype up exclusive deals. It’s low-lift, high-reward content that gets people excited to shop.
6. Reward your loyal customers with VIP perks
Black Friday isn’t just about bringing in fresh faces—it’s a golden opportunity to show some love to your ride-or-die fans. 🖤
UK fashion brand The Couture Club nailed this with a VIP-first approach. They gave loyal customers password-protected early access to their Black Friday sale—plus exclusive deals like 25% off sitewide, double loyalty points, and free UK delivery. It felt like a proper members-only moment.
You could do the same with a secret sale page, a subscriber-only code, or exclusive perks for your best customers. Give your loyal fans the star treatment and they’ll keep coming back long after Black Friday wraps.
👉 See The Couture Club’s Black Friday campaign for inspiration.
7. Don’t forget existing customers
While Black Friday is prime time for attracting new shoppers, it's also the perfect opportunity to reward loyal customers and say thanks for their loyalty. Victoria Emerson offers existing customers a VIP deal which gives them access to exclusive discounts.
Don't just think about how you'll get new customers–reward your long-term loyal fans too! Offer additional discounts, exclusive access, special deals just for them, or freebies with every Black Friday purchase they make. This should positively impact your customer retention, too.
8. Send a free gift
Who doesn't love a freebie? Bed sheet brand Brooklinen sends every shopper a free gift on orders above a certain amount—and it's not just any old free gift, it's a valuable, high-ticket gift at that. This strengthens relationships with new customers and gives shoppers the chance to explore different products in the store catalogue. Brooklinen did this as part of their Cyber Monday campaign (which takes place the Monday after Black Friday), but you could easily slot this into your Black Friday campaigns.
Pick out a small but valuable item and give it away as a free gift with every Black Friday purchase (or put a spending threshold on it if you want to increase AOV). Choose something that's relevant to your audience but also gives a sneak peek at other products in your inventory.
9. Increase your discounts throughout the day
Big-ticket items, like furniture, are harder to sell on Black Friday because the shopping event notoriously promotes impulse purchases (and it's much harder to justify an impulse purchase on, say, a new sofa or car). Burrow sweetens the deal by offering a sliding scale on its Black Friday discounts. The more a shopper spends, the more money they save. Simple!
If you sell big-ticket items, consider offering a sliding scale for a limited time to encourage new shoppers to invest more.
10. Create product bundles to tempt bigger baskets
Black Friday isn’t just about attracting new customers—it’s also your chance to get shoppers exploring more of your range.
Take Mysa Homeware. In their 2024 Black Friday campaign, they offered discounted bundles alongside other promotions like 15% off sitewide and a ‘buy more, save more’ tiered deal. While gift boxes and bundles were excluded from those wider discounts, they were already priced to offer great value on scent-focused sets—like their wax melt bundles. (You can see the details on their Instagram post.)
This strategy let Mysa highlight their bestsellers in curated combos, helping customers discover more of their range while feeling like they’re getting a bargain.
Consider bundling complementary products that naturally go together—like a cushion and throw, or a jumper and beanie. You’ll make shopping simpler for customers, raise your average order value, and introduce them to more of what you offer—all in one go.
11. Help shoppers plan ahead with a wishlist guide
Black Friday can be a whirlwind. With so many deals flying around, shoppers are often overwhelmed by choice. Make life easier for them by offering a wishlist feature—so they can save their favourites, plan ahead, and avoid the panic scroll when the sale goes live.
That’s exactly what jewellery brand Edge of Ember did during their Black Friday campaign. In the run-up to the big day, they encouraged customers to create a wishlist of the pieces they loved most. They also nudged people to sign up for email updates and even add the Black Friday sale to their calendars—making sure no one missed out.
It’s a smart move. Giving shoppers time and tools to prep means they’re more likely to follow through and buy—plus they’ll have a better experience on your site.
Want to try this for your own brand?
- Highlight your hero deals ahead of time
- Categorise products so people can browse with purpose
- Let customers save items to a wishlist and remind them when the sale kicks off
This simple touch turns frantic browsers into confident buyers—and helps you stand out during the busiest shopping weekend of the year.
12. Ask customers to slow down — like ASKET
Black Friday is a magnet for impulse buys. With constant flash sales and countdowns, shoppers are often pushed to purchase without much thought. But not every brand follows the crowd.
Swedish fashion label ASKET has become known for its anti-Black Friday stance. Since 2018, the brand has opted out of the shopping event altogether—going so far as to shut down its website and physical store during the weekend. Instead of promoting discounts, ASKET redirects customers to resources that help them extend the life of their clothing, like their Garment Care Portal.
Their message? Buy less, but better.
This bold move encourages customers to reflect on their habits and resist the pressure to buy for the sake of it. In doing so, ASKET reinforces its commitment to mindful consumption, garment longevity, and sustainable fashion practices.
👉 Read more about ASKET and other brands saying no to Black Friday
If your brand promotes quality, sustainability, or slow fashion, taking a leaf out of ASKET’s book could help you stand out for all the right reasons. You don’t have to shout the loudest to be remembered.
13. Collect user-generated content
Let your customers do the selling for you on Black Friday—no one's a more convincing brand advocate than your existing customers. Monsoon is well aware of this. It uses user-generated photos and videos to promote its Black Friday products on its social media platforms while giving a hat tip to its customers, affiliates, and influencers.
Ramp up your user-generated content (UGC) collection in the lead-up to Black Friday so you have a library fit to burst with great customer shots. You can even use Dash (that’s us) to collect UGC and seamlessly send them out to your campaigns (scoot down this article to find out how).
14. Create limited edition products and send profits to charity
If you don’t want to run loads of discounts or create urgency-based offers, why not take a more meaningful approach? Launch a limited edition product line and donate the profits to a cause that aligns with your brand values.
That’s exactly what Lucy & Yak did during Black Friday. Instead of slashing prices, the sustainable fashion brand created a special edition pair of dungarees featuring designs inspired by girls supported by the Fior Di Loto Foundation in India. All profits from that launch were donated to the charity—but they didn’t stop there. They also pledged 50% of all Black Friday profits to support the same cause.
Not only did this campaign raise funds and awareness, but it also resonated deeply with their values-led community and helped them stand out during a weekend filled with noise and endless discounts.
15. Give new life to your sold products
If your brand values sustainability, but you’re not keen on jumping into the chaos of Black Friday promotions, here’s an alternative focus on extending the life of what your customers already own.
Instead of pushing a big sale, Veja d launched Repair Friday—a full-day event at their Paris HQ offering free repairs not just on Veja shoes, but on clothes, furniture, and even electronics. They teamed up with other brands like Vitra and Cyclocare to make it happen.
The goal? To challenge overconsumption and encourage people to fix what they have, rather than impulse-buy something new. It positioned Veja as a brand that walks the talk on sustainability, while still engaging their community around a key retail moment.
16. Create a dedicated Black Friday landing page
A great Black Friday campaign deserves a great landing page. Instead of sending shoppers to a generic homepage or scattering your offers across multiple product pages, create a dedicated space that brings everything together. It makes your sale easier to find, promotes better conversions, and helps you keep your messaging clear and consistent across channels.Your landing page doesn’t need to be fancy, but it does need to:
- Highlight your main offer (ideally above the fold)Use clear, action-led CTAs (like 'Shop the Sale' or 'Get Early Access')
- Include featured products or bundles
- Reflect your brand’s tone and valuesCreate urgency with timers or 'last chance' copy
Furniture brand Sundays nails the aesthetic with their minimalist Black Friday landing page. It’s clean, calm, and 100% on-brand—showcasing their focus on timeless design, multifunctionality and durability.
The layout uses negative space to draw attention to key elements, like a bold yellow 'Shop Sale' button and a prominent 'Last Chance Black Friday' banner offering 30% off. It’s elegant and doesn’t feel like a departure from the rest of their customer experience.
17. Keep the momentum going with SMS and email campaigns
The Black Friday hangover is real. With such an intense lead-up, and then the frenzy of the actual event, it can be easy to breathe a sigh of relief and forget about the day once it's over—but you could be missing out on a chunk of sales if you do this.
Instead, be like Blenders Eyewear and remind Black Friday shoppers that they can still claim a discount on their products. You could do this with SMS and email marketing campaigns.
Plan how you'll keep engagement levels high after Black Friday and what your exit strategy will be. You might land an influx of new customers and once the event is over, you need to nurture your relationship with them if you want them to come back. Send personalised product recommendations and offer discounts on items already in their cart via SMS and promotional emails.
How to get your online store ready for Black Friday
Now you’ve got loads of creative Black Friday marketing ideas, you’ll want to make sure your online store is ready. Hopefully, you’ll get a huge influx of new customers, but if your website isn’t prepared you risk losing out on sales. Here are some tips to help you out:
- Prepare your marketing strategies: Make sure you get your campaigns ready in advance. Do you need to set up email workflows for new customers? Do you need graphics created for your different marketing channels? Preparing will mean there’s no mad rush when the end of November comes around (or at least, the rush will be a little less stressful). Take a read of our post about getting your website ready for Black Friday.
- Collect all of your visual content: As an online brand, no doubt you rely heavily on visual content like product photos and videos to help market your products. So make sure you’ve got all your visuals organised before Black Friday using Dash. 😇
Dash is a digital asset management (DAM) tool that lets you search, find, share and deploy your visuals. You can organise all of your content and create collections that you can save, ready for the big day. You can also get content creators to upload images for your approval, and create public portals to share with agencies and PR teams (perfect if you’re doing affiliate marketing).
🤓 Read how Dash helps ecommerce brands grow.
If you’d like to try Dash out, you can sign up free for 14 days, no strings attached. ✨
Black Friday FAQs
What is Black Friday in ecommerce?
Black Friday in ecommerce refers to one of the biggest online shopping days of the year, where retailers offer limited-time deals and promotions to boost traffic, sales, and customer acquisition. For ecommerce brands, it’s a key opportunity to attract new shoppers, increase average order value, and move seasonal or high-inventory stock ahead of the holidays.
Does Black Friday apply to online purchases?
Yes. While Black Friday started as an in-store shopping event, it’s now just as big (if not bigger) online. Ecommerce brands of all sizes—from DTC startups to major retailers—run exclusive online offers, early-access sales, and email-only discounts across the Black Friday weekend and beyond.
What are the top 3 most sold categories on Black Friday?
The top-selling product categories on Black Friday typically include:
- Electronics – Think TVs, headphones, smartwatches, and gaming consoles.
- Fashion & Apparel – Clothing, shoes, and accessories—especially winter lines and giftable items.
- Home & Kitchen – Furniture, home decor, cookware, and bedding all perform well, especially if bundled or discounted.
Note: Beauty, fitness, and toys also trend upward depending on the year and target audience.
Who has the best Black Friday deals online?
Big-box retailers like Amazon, Walmart, and Target are known for massive Black Friday promotions. But increasingly, independent ecommerce brands are offering compelling deals with better quality, customer experience, and brand alignment. The 'best' deals often come from brands you already love—especially those offering VIP early access, exclusive bundles, or limited-edition drops.
What’s the difference between Black Friday and Cyber Monday?
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are both major retail events that kick off the holiday shopping season—but they differ slightly in origin and focus:
- Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) began as an in-store shopping frenzy, but now includes both online and offline deals across all product categories. It’s known for big discounts, early access sales, and doorbuster-style promotions.
- Cyber Monday (the Monday after) was originally created to encourage people to shop online—especially for electronics, tech, and digital products. Today, it’s often used by ecommerce brands to extend their weekend offers or launch online-only deals and flash sales.
TL;DR: Black Friday is where the shopping surge begins, but Cyber Monday keeps the momentum going—especially in the online world. Smart brands often run promos across both days (and beyond!) as part of a bigger Cyber Week strategy.
Amy Burchill is the SEO and Content Manager for Dash. She works with ecommerce experts to create articles for DTC brands wanting to improve their campaigns.
