The Best Black Friday Promotions to Entice Holiday Shoppers

This year’s holiday shopping season is going to be a short one. The traditional holiday shopping season usually starts the week of or the day after Thanksgiving, which this year, falls on November 29. That takes almost a full week of shopping time away from customers — and a full week of sales away from brands. 

What can you do to gain back some of that precious spending time? Start promoting the biggest shopping day of the year, Black Friday, as soon as possible. 

In 2023, 130.7 million people in the US alone said that they shopped on Black Friday. That’s almost one-third of the entire US population shopping in-store or online. And 2024 promises to be even bigger. 

So how can your brand cut through the myriad of Black Friday deals and discounts to start the busiest shopping season of the year off on the right foot? Let’s take a look at some of the best deals and promotions your brand can run, plus some great examples of Black Friday campaigns done right. 

Free shipping

Customers live for free shipping. In fact, BigCommerce research found that 81% of customers say free shipping is the most appealing promotion when shopping online. 

Not only do they live for it, they shop for it, too. 93% of customers will actually shop for more items in order to qualify for free shipping. 

How can your brand capitalize on this consumerist need for free shipping? First, you could offer free shipping as a deal across your entire site. No minimum spend, just free shipping for everyone. 

On the other hand, you could set a minimum purchase amount to receive free shipping. You’ve probably seen this before or are running a similar deal already: orders over $50 get free shipping, or something to that effect. Either way, your customers will either be satisfied with their flat-rate free shipping, or be driven to spend just a little bit more in order to get that sweet perk.

Who did it best? 

Black Friday used to just be only on Friday. (Get it? It’s in the name.) Now Black Friday deals often span all weekend long, and have even started rolling into the following week (now dubbed “Cyber Week”). As brands began expanding their Black Friday deals, so too did customers’ desire for free or expedited shipping. 

In recent years, Sephora has taken advantage of that fact and offered free shipping on their entire line of products all weekend long, giving shoppers an opportunity to come back and maybe pick up that last little gift that they weren’t sure about until the final day of the sale.  

Free returns

Free shipping is great, but when it comes to gifts (especially for something you’re buying online), returns are just as — if not more — important. Offering free returns on your products can be a huge selling point, but offering free returns even after the holidays are over can be an even bigger sales driver. Consider offering free returns on holiday purchases, and pushing out the end date on free holiday returns into mid- to late-January. This will give your customers’ giftees an easy way to get something they really want. 

Who did it best? 

Buying a gift from Cartier is no small purchase. That’s why it was such a big deal for them in 2020 to extend their offer of free returns on holiday purchases. If customers purchased a product from November 1 through December 31, they would get free return shipping until January 15. This small gesture is the kind of thing that not only gives customers confidence in their purchase, but confidence that the company is going to do right by them if their purchase ends up not being the perfect gift they were expecting. 

Steep discounts

Everybody loves a deal. That’s why this timeless classic advertising trick is often a go-to for brands on Black Friday. Anybody can offer 10% off their products — some brands even offer 10% off for just signing up for a newsletter.

You know what really motivates people to buy? How about 50%, 60%, or 70% off? That’s going to seriously move products off the e-shelves. 

This doesn’t have to be on every item in your inventory, and it definitely doesn’t have to be as steep as 70%, but adding a level of FOMO to your sale could have your holiday books looking a bit brighter. 

Who did it worst? 

I’m not going to pick on anyone in particular here, but I do want to call out a practice that has seen some popularity in recent years from some of the major online marketplaces and retailers. Some brands, rather than actually discounting products, are playing a bit of a trick on customers leading up to the biggest sales days of the year. 

These tricky retailers will have a TV priced normally at, say, $500. Then, on the day of the deal, the price will get ramped up to $600, they’ll put a 15% discount on it, and voila, the price comes back down to $500. This looks great if you’re seeing it for the first time, but looks really bad for customers who have been shopping around, keeping track of prices and deals. 

Tech savvy consumers are even using browser plugins to find past pricing history on products, which lets them see if brands are using this kind of trick pricing online. 

What I’m trying to say is…just don’t. Either make it a real deal or don’t deal with it at all and find some other way to get people to buy. A lot of your customers are too smart for this, and if they find out about it, could have a bad taste left in their mouth afterward.

In-store pickup

We’ve already said how much weight your customers place on free shipping. For brands who may not be able to offer it, or for brands who may want to give customers another way to receive their products, buy online, pickup in store (BOPIS) can be a great way to attract a customer’s attention — and offer the potential for up- or cross-selling products once a body gets in the door.

BOPIS works great for brands with larger networks or retail locations, but even smaller businesses can offer this to their local customers as an alternative to free shipping. This allows customers to ensure order accuracy, and the ability to pick up their order on their terms. It also gives retailers the opportunity to get existing customers to spend a few more dollars inside a retail store once they come in to get their online purchase. In fact, more than 80% of customers who went in-store to pick up an item made another purchase once inside.

Who did it best?  

BigCommerce customer QE Home, a Canadian linen retailer, implemented a simplified BOPIS feature early on in their ecommerce journey. Using BigCommerce’s multi-location inventory integration, QE Home was able to add a “My Preferred Store” feature to their site, which allowed customers to set their preferred store location, synching with the preferred store’s inventory. This allowed customers to access inventory, make a purchase, and pick up products quickly and efficiently. 

“The ease at which we're able to manage the multi-location inventory within the BigCommerce dashboard is incredible. I know that our stores love the program and the fact that their customers are now getting access to their actual inventory. Our stores feel they're really a part of the whole ecommerce initiative because it extends down to them. They feel that they can serve their customers a lot more efficiently,” said Ryan MacLeod, Ecommerce Project Manager at QE Home.

Promote your brand

Sometimes, the best campaigns are the ones that don’t sell anything at all. Instead of pushing a deal, Black Friday could be a time for you to make a statement. In a world where we’re so constantly bombarded by advertising, the campaigns that say the least about deals are often the most impactful when it comes to long-term sales. 

Who did it best? 

In 2015, REI began their #OptOutside campaign, which has gone down in the annals of marketing history as one of the most iconic ad campaigns of all time. To advertise their store on the busiest shopping day of the year, REI didn’t slash prices on their merchandise. Instead, they closed their doors and pushed employees and customers to go outside and highlight their trips using the hashtag #OptOutside. 

This was an amazing brand play, spotlighting REI’s focus on the outdoors and overall customer health. It also put them in stark contrast with other outdoor retailers that were shilling their wares in an attempt to capitalize on Black Friday hysteria. 

Nix promotions altogether

Sometimes, humor is the best way to cut through the seriousness of modern advertising. By the time Black Friday rolls around in the US, we’ll be just be coming off a heated election cycle — and Thanksgiving with THAT uncle — so your customers or prospects might appreciate a bit of lighthearted humor in your Black Friday deals. 

Who did it best? 

In 2015, Cards Against Humanity, which has a reputation for ridiculing Black Friday deals, asked their customers for $5. No, they didn’t get anything in return. No, it wasn’t part of a product. This was literally just a brand asking its customers to spend money — and customers jumped at the opportunity. By the end of the campaign, customers “spent” a total of $71,145, which Cards Against Humanity ended up donating to a variety of charities. 

The final word

The busiest shopping season of the year is fast approaching. Since this holiday shopping season is considerably shorter than recent years, your brand is going to want to make the most out of its advertising and promotional materials. Hopefully these Black Friday promotion ideas can spark some creativity in your department, and you can see some steep returns on your holiday marketing investment. 

Looking for more holiday success strategies? Get some tips from our partners here.