What is Black Friday? Just the busiest shopping day of the year and the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season. Brace the traffic and the crowds for deals you won’t see anywhere else, on any other day of the year, like 70% off or unbeatable bundles at your favorite stores.
When you’re a retailer, Black Friday is one of the most important sales days of the year for your business, so developing your Black Friday strategy early is key to getting the most out of this annual shopping event.
- Black Friday is the biggest in-store shopping day of the year, so capitalize on it by offering in-store exclusives, like product bundles and immersive experiences.
- Retailers can prepare for Black Friday by ordering more packaging and labels, marketing Black Friday exclusives on social media and developing crowd-control plans.
- Tips for maximizing sales during Black Friday include building hype in the run up, creating immersive in-store experiences and offering exclusive items and bundles.
- Boost Black Friday sales by embracing omnichannel sales strategies, like e-commerce giveaways, teasing product drops on social media and offering the option to buy online and pick up in store.
- An enjoyable Black Friday shopping experience can cement your brand in buyers’ minds. Take this opportunity to increase brand loyalty and brand awareness.
What is Black Friday?
Black Friday is widely regarded as the biggest shopping day of the year. In 2024, in the United States, 81.7 million people shopped at brick-and-mortar stores on Black Friday and 87.3 million shopped online, spending a total of $74.4 billion, marking a 5% increase compared to the previous year.
The origins of Black Friday
Black Friday is considered the first official day of the holiday shopping season, which accounts for an average of 20% or more of many retailers’ yearly revenue. Although Black Friday now happens globally, its roots are in the US, as it’s the day after American Thanksgiving.
The phrase “Black Friday” was first used in a 1951 edition of Factory Management and Maintenance journal to describe the common practice of workers calling in sick on the Friday after Thanksgiving to have a four-day weekend. The first instance of the term “Black Friday” referring to that same Friday as a busy shopping day appeared in the following years, and by the 1980s, it had stuck.
When is Black Friday 2025?
In 2025, Black Friday will be on Friday, November 28th.
Black Friday vs Cyber Monday
Black Friday is the first day of Cyber Week: a week of seasonal online deals that includes Cyber Monday. Black Friday predates Cyber Monday by decades and is the busiest shopping day in Cyber Week. Like Cyber Monday, Black Friday is now a global event, with retailers offering steep discounts and deals to bring in the holiday season.
Black Friday is the first official day of the holiday shopping season
Black Friday occurs before Cyber Monday. And while Cyber Monday is on the Monday that follows Thanksgiving, some shoppers and retailers begin Black Friday festivities on Thursday evening (Thanksgiving Day for Americans).
The main difference between Black Friday and Cyber Monday is where the sales take place. As its name implies, Cyber Monday is the biggest e-commerce shopping day of the year. If you run an Etsy shop or another type of e-commerce website, Cyber Monday is a big day for business. Whereas Black Friday traditionally takes place at brick-and-mortar retailers. Although shoppers can find plenty of Black Friday deals online, the holiday has its roots in the in-store shopping experience, with many retailers offering in-store-only discounts and making Black Friday shopping an immersive in-store event.
How retail businesses can prepare for Black Friday
Order more packaging
Order more packaging well in advance for Black Friday. If you’re anticipating higher-than-average sales numbers, make sure every one of those purchases goes home in branded packaging. Order custom bags, product boxes, packing paper, labels and any other types of packaging your store uses.
Product boxes with custom labels
Make your Black Friday event more special and memorable for customers with limited-edition packaging, even if it’s as simple as packing purchases inside a custom paper bag instead of your regular one.
Develop a crowd control plan
Crowd control is crucial for Black Friday. If your store can normally accommodate 50 people at a time and 200 show up on Black Friday, you need a plan. Determine a realistic projection for the number of people you expect to visit your store using previous years’ data and other useful information, like data from your store’s location.
Holiday sale A-frame sign
Then, develop a strategy for managing a larger-than-average crowd, like creating a queue outside the shop’s front door, adding additional checkout lanes and making it possible for in-store shoppers to check out via your app so you can increase the number of salespeople on the floor.
Market your Black Friday plans
Ordering more packaging and creating a crowd control plan will be for nothing if people don’t make your store a Black Friday stop. Start marketing your Black Friday sales early, such as just after Halloween. Make them known on your website, in-store, on social media and in your emails. Tell existing and potential customers early and often, through traditional marketing methods and modern strategies like push notifications and social media exclusives.
Find awesome cyber campaign inspiration for Black Friday this year!
5 Black Friday tips to maximize sales
1. Create an immersive shopping experience
No website can recreate the feeling of being in an actual shop. Although there are plenty of online Black Friday sales to be found (and if they make sense for your brand, absolutely lean into them!), Black Friday is traditionally an in-store shopping day. Think of the well-known images of Black Friday: long lines of shoppers camping out in store parking lots in the early hours of the morning as they wait for stores to open their doors.
Deck the halls for Black Friday with custom signs or banners and in-store signage.
Make it worth shoppers’ while to visit your store instead of shopping online (or going somewhere else). If you attract early-morning shoppers, offer refreshments to fuel them for a day of deals. If you sell consumables, offer in-store sampling. Take this a step further with demonstrations and fun activities, like suggested pairings.
Other ideas include in-store entertainment, such as a DJ or tarot card reader. Whichever unique in-store experience you choose, the goal is to make it worthwhile for shoppers to travel to your location and deal with the stresses of Black Friday, like traffic and parking challenges, and spend time and money in your store.
2. Offer exclusive items and bundles
Black Friday is a great day to unveil new products. If new product drops are part of your Black Friday sales strategy this year, tease at the reveals in the weeks leading up to it on social media.
You can also offer Black Friday-exclusive product bundles and gifts for specific purchases. For example, if you sell cookware, offer a Black Friday bundle, like a free spatula with every set purchased. Offer a gift with each minimum purchase, like a free garlic press with every purchase over $100. No matter what Black Friday deals you offer, make your brand enticing and turn Black Friday into an event, rather than just another shopping day.
3. Offer deals on more than products
Who said Black Friday deals can only be for physical products? If you offer memberships, subscriptions or any other type of service, make them part of your Black Friday strategy. For example, a yearly membership for 50% off or 2-for-1 deals on the services you provide. A customer who gets a great deal on a membership or service is likely to continue buying from your brand.
4. Embrace omnichannel shopping
Limited quantities of steeply discounted big-ticket items are a hallmark of Black Friday. In the past, this meant hordes of shoppers crowding these items and fighting it out to get one of these few prizes.
Shopper with a branded die-cut bag
Today, there’s a better way to handle hot-ticket items: letting buyers stake their claims on your website or app. By offering the opportunity for buyers to make Black Friday-exclusive purchases online and then pick them up in-store, you can build hype in the days leading up to Black Friday and get more people in the door.
5. Build hype
Everybody knows when Black Friday is. It’s the fourth Friday of November. Your brand can build on this anticipation with countdown clocks, product and deal reveals throughout the month, and user-generated and influencer content to get people hyped for the big day. Current marketing trends and strategies like these keep your brand at the top of buyers’ minds, increasing sales on Black Friday and beyond.
Make social media your main channel for building hype. Organic posts to advertise sales and unveil exclusive items are free and can draw in a ton of engagement!
Get the most out of Black Friday this year
Black Friday is just the beginning of the holiday shopping season. Ride the retail wave through the end of the calendar year by building your best marketing strategy now. To help you out with that, we’re offering Black Friday deals on all your print needs.
Black Friday FAQs
What is Black Friday and why is it important for small businesses?
Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving in the US and marks the start of the holiday shopping season. It’s a major retail event where consumers expect big discounts, and it offers small businesses a prime opportunity to boost sales and attract new customers.
When is Black Friday this year?
Black Friday always falls on the Friday after Thanksgiving, which is the fourth Thursday in November. In 2025, Black Friday will take place on 28th November.
How can small businesses compete with big retailers on Black Friday?
Small businesses can compete by offering custom packaging, bundling products, creating exclusive deals and marketing early to loyal customers. Leveraging social media and email marketing also helps maximize visibility.
What are some creative Black Friday promotion ideas for small businesses?
Ideas include limited-time flash sales, buy-one-get-one-free offers, gift card bonuses, free shipping and loyalty rewards. Highlighting unique or handmade products can also set your small business apart.
Should I extend my Black Friday sale through the weekend or Cyber Monday?
Yes! Many small businesses see increased success by turning Black Friday into a weekend-long event, or through Cyber Week, ending on Cyber Monday. This gives more time for customers to shop, increasing overall sales opportunities.
