Black Friday Offers That Sell (Without Giving Your Profit Away)
Here's a Black Friday truth nobody likes to say out loud: it's easy to have your busiest week ever and make less money than a normal one.
We've seen it happen. A big sitewide discount, a flood of orders, a very tired team, and a disappointing bank balance in January. So before you shout "40% off everything", let's plan something smarter.
Start with your numbers, not your competitors
Work out your margin on your top 10 products. Include shipping, packaging and payment fees. That tells you how much you can really afford to give away, and on which products.
Pick the right type of offer
Not every deal has to be a percentage off. Some options that protect your margin:
- Spend and save: "£10 off when you spend £60" lifts your average order value.
- Gift with purchase: a free extra that costs you little but feels generous.
- Bundles: pair a best-seller with a slower product at a small saving.
- Free delivery over a threshold: often more tempting than a small discount.
- Early access: give your email list the offer a day before everyone else.
Keep it simple
If a customer needs to read your offer twice, it's too complicated. One clear offer, one clear end date. "20% off everything until midnight Monday" beats a three-tier matrix every time.
Don't discount everything
Your best-sellers might sell anyway. Consider focusing your discount on the products you want to move, and leave your hero products at full price or with a smaller saving.
Set it up early and test it
Shopify lets you create automatic discounts and codes in advance, with start and end dates. Set them up now, schedule them, and test every one with a real order. A discount code that doesn't work on Black Friday morning is a customer service nightmare.
Plan the whole weekend
Think about what happens on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Cyber Monday. Will the offer change? Will you send a "last chance" email? Deciding now saves panicked decisions on the day.
Want a sense check on your offer? Book a free health check and we'll talk through your Black Friday plans, including what's worked for other stores we look after.