Black Friday, the biggest shopping weekend of the year, has gone digital.

Our latest Black Friday Ecommerce in Europe report confirms it: in 2023, on the holiday weekend and even on Black Friday itself—the biggest in-person shopping day of the year—most consumers bought online.

51% of European shoppers went online to take advantage of sweeping discounts compared to just 26% who only shopped in person. 

Lines outside brick-and-mortar stores on Black Friday are increasingly rare. In 2023, even though a record number of people planned to shop, people didn’t line up outside big box retailers at 6 a.m. like they used to.

What does this shift mean for marketers?

It means that even for omnichannel brands, digital holiday strategy matters. A lot. In this guide, we break down how to get it right, sharing best practices and buzzy Black Friday tactics recommended by in-house marketers, consultants, and agency pros.

1. Providing early access (or an extra discount) to VIPs

It’s not uncommon for brands to reward their most loyal customers with early discounts and special offers during Black Friday—but The Couture Club went one step further. They sent out an early bird email to their best customers giving them access to a password-protected Black Friday discount.

It worked as a natural extension of the club’s loyalty programme, which promotes exclusive experiences. Loyal shoppers could access the store for three hours before the password protection was removed for the general public. 

Time-bound access like this makes customers feel appreciated and creates a sense of urgency. It also led to a 325% increase in email revenue for The Couture Club during BF season—not too shabby. 

“This early access creates urgency,” says Scott Shashua, Managing Director of The Couture Club. “People know on Black Friday that the stock isn’t going to be there forever, and if they don’t sign up, they won’t get early access to it.” 

Another way to reward loyal customers during the holidays: a VIP discount. With Klaviyo, it’s easy to create a segment of your most engaged customers and reward them during Black Friday.

It shows that you appreciate your existing customers, even in a season where you’re acquiring a lot of new ones.

2. Launching new products on the eve of Black Friday

Brands have a lot to think about in the lead-up to BF, so it seems like total madness that they’d consider dropping a brand-new product line during the busiest shopping season of the year. But that’s exactly what Represent did. 

“To keep our customers coming back for something fresh, we regularly launch new products,” says Ricky Jennings, Ecommerce Development Manager at Represent. “But we save the best for the night of Black Friday. Our Black Friday Collection includes the products we know people will want, and it drives a lot of revenue.” 

It works a bit like this: Represent sends a teaser email to customers to ramp up BF excitement. The email includes a countdown timer to add to the hype. When the new product is live, customers receive another email reminding them they can use their loyalty points to purchase. These emails drove a click rate 3x industry standards and a huge £188,000 in revenue. 

3. Creating customer-focused landing pages based on intent

Shoppers still want to feel special, even in the midst of a worldwide shopping frenzy. Philip Kingsley addressed this by creating variations of its Black Friday landing pages that aligned with different customer intents. 

The Black Friday page launched early in November with three different stages of messaging. 

“Going into Black Friday, we were expecting it to be a tough one,” says Lauren Duncan, Digital Marketing Manager at Philip Kingsley. “We had a plan to utilse our existing landing page for each phase of our approach. We optimised the landing page with key messaging to match the customers’ intentions at that time.”

4. Incentivising customers to build bundles

Skincare brand BYOMA encouraged shoppers to build their own product bundles based on their unique skin types. In a TikTok post from last Black Friday, the brand told consumers to “shop slowly this week to choose skincare that’s right for your skin”. 

To reiterate this point, the brand offered to personally suggest products to shoppers who commented on the TikTok post, giving them 25% off if they bought a bundle of four or more products.

5. Personalising messaging to customer segments

BF season is a great time to show existing customers you appreciate them, but also to market fresh products to newly acquired customers. 

This was a challenge one of Gareth Boyd’s clients faced at Forte Analytica. “Like many brands in the luxury goods industry, our client faced the colossal task of making a mark in the crowded Black Friday landscape,” he said. 

He worked closely with the brand to implement a series of Klaviyo campaigns and flows to send to various customer segments. “We designed personalised content to enhance engagement and automated key communications to ensure timely and effective outreach.” 

And the segmentation worked. Total revenue for the client hit £1,953,116.74 with £607,276.58 of that directly attributed to email. “This marked an impressive 116% surge in total revenue compared to the previous period.” 

6. Sending daily (or more-than-daily) marketing emails

It might feel like overkill to send multiple daily emails during Black Friday, but remember that shoppers are busy and there’s a good chance they aren’t hanging out in their inbox 24/7. 

Beyond Yoga took note of this and doubled down on its regular monthly product launches to create daily product drops during Black Friday season. The brand sent out multiple emails a day to promote each drop—each of which featured new products. 

Including an element of personalisation with this tactic can go a long way—if a subscriber clicks on yoga sets in the first email, for example, send them similar recommendations in the follow-up.

7. Offering free shipping and returns

As well as promising to “donate” rather than “discount”, FatFace also offered Black Friday customers free shipping and free returns. If customers aren’t getting a discount, they can at least get a respite on shipping fees and can return any goods that aren’t a good fit for free. 

This gives shoppers three solid reasons to take the plunge and buy from FatFace. 

8. Running hybrid abandonment flows, plural

“A common mistake we see is not including Black Friday messaging within key automations like browse and cart abandonment flows,” says Lauren Barrett, Email Marketing Specialist at Eastside Co. 

Black Friday is the perfect time to go all in on abandoned cart flows because people will be adding lots of items to their carts. 

You can also use abandoned cart flows to continue to attract new customers after Black Friday has ended. Take Spotlight Oral Care, for example. The brand sent an email to customers who didn’t purchase the Black Friday sale offering them a final chance to snap up a deal. 

You can switch between channels here too. CJ Palmer, implementation consultant at Klaviyo, says SMS is a great way to re-engage shoppers.

“If someone clicks and then abandons earlier in the day, send them an SMS later as part of the abandonment flow to drive more conversions,” Palmer suggests. “We sometimes view SMS with kid gloves, but it’s important to remember that these people subscribed, so we should feel empowered to text them.”

9. Offering something extra with each purchase

Offering a freebie with each purchase can sweeten the deal, but some brands are keen to use Black Friday to do even more good. 

For the entirety of November, the London Sock Co. offered a 10% discount alongside their charity donation. For each purchase, they donated two pairs of socks to a homeless charity—something that aligns with the brand’s overall values and mission. 

London Sock Co. made it extra special and exclusive by launching to email subscribers at the beginning of November—weeks before Black Friday. 

“Our products are high quality, so we want to avoid simply discounting them,” says Jack Richards, Head of Campaigns and Partnerships and London Sock Co. “To add value and stand out from the Black Friday noise for customers instead, we give two pairs of socks to homeless charity, Crisis, for every purchase during this period.” 

The campaign was hugely successful—the brand drove 34% of revenue with email during this time and donated a ton of socks to charity. It obviously resonated with customers, who purchased 4.5 products on average during Black Friday, which is over double industry standards. This ultimately led to a 180% increase in average order value (AOV) during the season. 

10. Keeping the momentum going after Black Friday 

Black Friday isn’t just about slashing prices and boosting revenue, it’s also about attracting new customers who otherwise might not have found you (or bought from you). Many brands solely focus on the lead-up to BF and the event itself, without giving much thought to what happens next.

But here’s the thing: once someone’s bought from you, there’s a good chance they’ll buy from you again. These one-time impulse shoppers can go on to become your most loyal fans. This is exactly the premise that Represent plays into. 

The brand’s BF strategy gives customers exciting new products and personalised email experiences to keep people coming back. 

“After the Black Friday sale, we educate our customers on the benefits of our loyalty programme,” says Jennings. “This keeps them engaged and more likely to return to our brand to shop again, which is the most valuable thing that can come from Black Friday.” 

Get ready for the holiday rush where it happens—online

The whole Black Friday weekend is now digital-first.

You can’t surprise and delight customers with epic in-store holiday displays or bargain basement doorbuster deals. Today, doorbuster deals are most likely discount codes sent out via email, anyway.

But online Black Friday is winnable. You just need to start planning early, build on what’s already performing well for your brand, and take a few big, creative swings—like a free gift, or an all-new custom email design.

If you’re a marketer, ’tis the season to hit your goals and sharpen your competitive edge.