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Executive Summary
Twenty-two years of Black Friday seasons, and the pattern hasn’t changed. Brands that win don’t necessarily have the biggest discount on November 27th. Usually, they just started planning back in June.
- Most teams are still scrambling in late October to throw together homepages and email campaigns. The brands actually winning Black Friday locked in inventory, paid ads, and customer service scripts months earlier.
- A sitewide blowout sale will move product for a weekend. It will also train your customers to wait for the next markdown rather than buy because they actually value what you sell.
- When support keeps fielding the same shipping and promo questions over and over, that’s your website telling you something. Fix it in July and you won’t be firefighting it in November.
Black Friday Stategy Starts Now
Hard to believe, but 2026 will be year 22 of our team helping ecommerce brands with Black Friday strategies. Some have been record-breaking successes. Others have been painful lessons. In all this time, I’ve noticed something that repeats itself every single year:
Around late October, the panic starts.
“We need a Black Friday homepage.” “Can we get an email campaign together?” “We should probably decide on a promotion.”
The problem isn’t that these are bad ideas. It’s that by the time you’re asking those questions, you’re already playing catch-up. Meanwhile, your competitors aren’t just thinking about Black Friday strategy. They’re building toward it.
Their inventory has been reviewed, last-minute surprises are factored in, and landing pages are in development. On the marketing side, their paid ads are scheduled, the email calendar is approved, and content has already begun. Their customer service team knows what promotions are coming, and their shipping policies are finalized.
While jitters happen no matter how much you plan, merchants, as I described above, are calm. Success doesn’t come because they’re lucky; they just started earlier.
Black Friday Strategy Doesn’t Start on Black Friday
We know this already, because we see countless reminders. Yet, how does that impact our preparedness?
Customers don’t wake up on Black Friday and suddenly decide they need a new rifle scope, stereo receiver, golf club, train set, knife, or pair of boots. Many of them have been researching for weeks. They’re watching YouTube reviews, comparing products, reading buying guides. They’re signing up for emails and building wish lists.
They’re doing what I call “orbiting the brand.” They’re close enough to buy, but they’re waiting for the right reason, the right price, or simply the right moment. By the time Thanksgiving rolls around, many shoppers have already decided what they want. Black Friday just determines where they buy it.
That’s why your preparation matters so much.
Bad Discount Strategy Can Damage Your Brand
One of the biggest misconceptions I see is that Black Friday strategy success comes down to having the biggest promotion. Every year, I see the same meeting happen: “Let’s just throw a site-wide discount on everything and call it a day.”
The problem with this is that it isn’t really a Black Friday strategy. You have nothing to follow it up with for a season-long promotion once you go that big. Meanwhile, you may be training customers to associate your brand with waiting for discounts instead of buying because they value what you sell. If you rinse and repeat this process, why would your customers ever shop with you beforehand?
Proper discounting for Black Friday comes down to execution. Picking the right categories or specific items to put on sale is critical to making the promotion work while preserving your brand integrity.
Your Website Should Answer Questions Before Customers Ask Them
Yes, of course, you need to fix glaring holes in your store’s shopping experience well before Black Friday begins. However, one of the biggest deficiencies involves messaging.
A fantastic, planned-in-advance strategy can still fail if customers can’t figure out key elements of your promotion. When does it start and end? Is there anything coming up after this that they should be aware of? When are the key shipping deadlines?
If your customer service team is answering the same questions over and over during Black Friday, your website probably isn’t.
Just as you are (hopefully) establishing landing pages for your promotions, you should also create intuitive pages to address key details. While quick blurbs work on homepages, as well as category, product, and checkout pages, they might link to other layouts that go into greater detail.
Okay, okay, here’s my pep talk:
If you’re reading this in the summer, congratulations! You’re not behind. You’re early. That’s exactly where you want to be.
Don’t wait until November to discover your website is slow. Don’t wait until Thanksgiving week to build your gift guides. Don’t wait until your competitors fill inboxes before you’ve decided what you’re going to say.
Use this time wisely, review your analytics, and address key messaging that will work alongside your promos. Talk with your team about the plan and improve it. By the time November rolls around, you’re not trying to figure anything out. You’re executing.
EYStudios Can is Here for Your Black Friday Strategy
After more than two decades helping ecommerce brands prepare for the holiday season, I’ve learned one simple truth: Black Friday doesn’t reward the fastest teams. It rewards the teams that started first.
You can do it!
FAQ’s
- When Should We Actually Start Planning for Black Friday?
You should start planning in June and July. If you’re waiting until your competitors start asking about homepages and email campaigns, you’ve already missed the window, because by then they’ve got inventory reviewed, ads scheduled, and landing pages live.
- Is a Sitewide Discount the Best Black Friday Promotion Strategy?
No, and it might even hurt you long-term. A blanket discount moves product for a weekend, sure, but it teaches customers to wait around for the next markdown instead of buying because they actually like what you sell. And once you’ve gone that big, where do you go from there for the rest of the season?
- What Should our Website be Doing That it Might Not be Doing Already?
Answering questions before customers have to ask them. When does the promotion start and end? What are the shipping deadlines? Is something else coming after this? If your support team is fielding the same three questions on repeat, your website isn’t doing its job yet.