How to Maximise Your Black Friday Results

Your Black Friday Playbook for 2025

It's that time of year again.

The ads are ramping up, the discounts are starting to creep in, and the "silly season" is officially underway. But for most ecommerce brands, Black Friday isn't just another sales event - it's a high-stakes, strategic play that can make or break your year.

But what worked last year won’t necessarily work this year.

To maximise your Black Friday results, you need to understand the minds of today's shoppers. We've compiled the latest insights from 2024 and 2023 to give you a definitive playbook for the season ahead - as well as some tips and advice from our team on how to make the most from every click.

A Quick Reality Check

While Black Friday has become an absolute juggernaut of a sales day (or weekend, if you offers discounts through to Cyber Monday; or a whole week, if you start the savings early), a challenging economic environment means shoppers are still cautious and value-driven.

This is the reality of the current market.

Last year, Australian retail turnover rose a modest 0.8% in November, while in New Zealand, core retail spending was down 0.4% compared to the previous year.

The data tells a clear story: consumers are making their dollars go further by shopping more often but spending less per transaction. This is not a market to be trifled with; it is a market to be understood.

Here’s a snapshot of the trends that will define the upcoming Black Friday season:

The Savvy Shopper

Shoppers are taking a more strategic approach to spending. In 2024, nearly one-third of Australians were willing to switch brands for a better deal, while in New Zealand, many shoppers were waiting for the sales to get underway before starting their Christmas shopping.

The Christmas Countdown

Shoppers are using Black Friday to get a head start on Christmas gift buying. In fact, in 2024, 51% of New Zealanders planned to rely on the sales for Christmas gifts.

This shifts the importance of the sales from a single event to a critical starting point for the holiday season.

What Shoppers Are Buying

The most popular product categories on Black Friday in 2024 were technology and electronics.

In New Zealand, this was followed by fashion and clothing, and household appliances. In Australia, clothing was the most popular product category, followed closely by household goods like furniture and appliances.

For brands operating in these sectors and niches, the opportunity is clear:

• Tech & Electronics are a massive draw, with categories like laptops and personal audio seeing huge discounts.
• Clothing & Footwear remain a top priority, with a 30% month-on-month increase in spending in Australian fashion stores in November 2024.
• Household Goods & Appliances also saw strong spending, reflecting a desire to save on bigger-ticket items.

Where Shoppers Are Looking

The path to purchase is more complex than ever before, especially when you consider how AI factors into it all. Over BFCM (Black Friday, Cyber Monday), however, it comes down to two primary channels: online and offline.

This in itself can shape and influence how shoppers purchase, how much and when.

In 2024, 74% of BFCM sales in Australia were made on mobile devices. A survey also showed that a significant number of consumers were actively (still!) using price comparison sites and services to find discounts.

60% of consumers used a hybrid approach of shopping both online and in-store.

Preparing for the Black Friday Sales 2025

In both New Zealand and Australia, the past few years have seen the traditional "Black Friday" weekend give way to a month-long sales event. Savvy shoppers are primed and ready, holding off on purchases in the weeks leading up to the sales in anticipation of a big deal.

While the biggest rush happens in November, a successful Black Friday strategy starts now. In fact, early Black Friday campaigns have been shown to generate 40% more revenue than last-minute promotions.

Brands that wait for the first day of the sale are already a step behind.

Here’s what you should be focused on now to get a head:

Build the Anticipation

You need to create a pre-sale buzz that gets your audience excited.

Launch your teaser campaign 6-8 weeks before Black Friday using email, SMS, and website banners (or a combination of all three) to offer sneak peeks of discounts without revealing exact percentages.

The goal is to build a sense of mystery and exclusivity around your biggest deals.

Audit Your Tech Stack

When sales go live, your site needs to handle the rush - and, depending what you sell and how sought-out your brand is, this could be a very busyperiod for your website.

This is the time to audit your technical infrastructure and make sure it can handle major traffic spikes.

You need to be sure your website is fast and secure, your checkout is seamless, and your payment gateways are ready for the influx of transactions.

Prep Your Products & Team

Success relies on good planning. Ensure your inventory and supply chain are ready for increased demand, and that your team is prepared for a surge in customer service inquiries and order fulfilment.

Returns are unavoidable and inevitable - make sure you've got a process and plan in mind for making this as pain-free (for everyone involved) as possible.

A Content Strategy for the 'Silly Season'

Don't forget to prepare some marketing content!

There is a LOT that goes into Black Friday advertising, from landing pages and promotional banners to social media campaigns and personalised emails.

Our advice? Don't launch or run campaigns in silos, make sure your messaging and media assets are consistent across all channels, and - perhaps most importantly - get people talking.

The more awareness there is about your brand's specific Black Friday offering, the more likely you are to generate interest and see that interest pull through come sale time.

Sure, customers may "window shop" and hop around before making their purchase, but if you've got something they want, you improve the chances that they'll come back to your site when they're ready to click "checkout."

The Channel Strategy: Where to Show Up

The prep work is done, the discounts are locked in, and the tech stack is ready.

So, where do you actually show up to connect with your customers during this chaotic season?

The answer is simple: everywhere you need to. A siloed approach won't cut it. You need to meet your audience where they are - and with the right message.

Search & SEO

This is your foundation.

While paid ads are essential for capturing immediate traffic, a strong Black Friday SEO strategy is how you stay visible and relevant throughout the entire season.

Focus on a primary strategy that targets long-tail keywords and answers searcher intent. This ensures that when shoppers are actively looking for a specific deal or product, your brand gets some space in the mix.

A Note on AI: Your Brand Footprint Matters

As AI becomes more integrated into search, shoppers are increasingly using tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and AI Mode to find highly relevant deals. Brands need to be aware of and prepare for this new kind of "word-of-mouth".

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

Content for Awareness & Conversion

AI tools are trained on information from across the web. To get in front of this, your brand and sale awareness content needs to be clear, your category pages need to be solid, and your product pages must have all the information a customer needs to make a decision.

This ensures that the AI has the right information to answer a user's questions before they hit 'add to cart'.

Reputation for Citations

Your online reputation is now a crucial part of your SEO and Organic success.

SEO, social media, and other third-party sites are critical for AI citation. Shoppers are looking for social proof, and AI tools are looking for trustworthy content. Make sure you've tackled any nasty reviews or replied to threads and comments where your brand is mentioned - it all feeds into the AI's understanding of your brand's authority!

Social & Community

Social media is no longer just for brand building; it's a critical channel for driving conversions and engagement.

Use authentic, behind-the-scenes content to build trust and connect with your audience. Consider running influencer campaigns or leveraging user-generated content to create buzz and social proof around your products.

Email, SMS & AI

Your first-party data is your most valuable asset during Black Friday. Use email and SMS campaigns to build anticipation and offer exclusive VIP access to your best deals.

You can also leverage AI to provide personalised product recommendations and send segmented abandoned cart recovery emails, helping you recapture lost sales with the right message at the right time.

After the Sale: Turning Shoppers into Fans

The lights are off, the deals are done, and the dust has settled on another Black Friday. But for a strategic brand, the work is just beginning.

The real prize of the "silly season" isn't a single sale - it's the long-term relationship you build with a new customer.

This is the retention game. And the data is clear: retaining a customer is far more cost-effective than acquiring a new one.

So, how do you turn a one-time shopper into a lifelong fan?

• Master the Post-Purchase Journey: The moment a customer clicks "buy" is your first opportunity to win their loyalty. Use personalised product recommendations in "thank you" emails, offer early access to upcoming deals, and highlight the benefits of your loyalty program, if you have one. You secured one purchase - the goal now is to keep them coming back for more!
• Reclaim Lost Sales: Don't let abandoned carts go cold. Automated, multi-step abandoned cart recovery campaigns can generate a higher conversion rate than regular recovery emails. Consider a sequence that includes a reminder email, an incentive with a small discount, and a final urgency email with low-stock warnings.
• Build a Community: Don't just sell to your audience; connect with them. Encourage user-generated content and authentic, behind-the-scenes content that builds trust and reinforces your brand's personality. This connection fuels success long after the campaign has ended.

Zendesk

Sound Like a Lot? We Can Help!

You’re right, it does.

Navigating a full Black Friday sales season is no small feat - and to do it well requires hands-on experience, data-driven insights, and a future-ready strategy that looks beyond a single sales day.

We've been helping brands in New Zealand and Australia prepare for and dominate the silly season since the very first time Black Friday hit our shores. We don't just provide a one-size-fits-all solution; we provide a partnership. With hands-on insights from a variety of retailers, we can help your brand prepare for the chaos and emerge stronger.

And we don’t just stop there. Our in-house digital marketing and integration partners ensure that your customer relationships are nurtured long after the sales have ended - because the real prize isn’t a single sale, but the loyalty you earn long after the purchase has been made.

Ready to build a strategy that makes your brand impossible to ignore?

Let's talk.