A Mid-Sized Fashion Retailer's Guide // How to Approach Black Friday and Cyber Monday

What Are Black Friday and Cyber Monday?

Black Friday is celebrated the day after Thanksgiving and is regarded as the biggest shopping day of the year. It’s famous for its dramatic discounts and doorbuster deals, initially happening in physical stores but now largely taking place online. Cyber Monday, held the following Monday, continues the frenzy but with a stronger focus on online shopping. Together, these events give retailers an incredible opportunity to shift stock, increase brand visibility, and win over new customers.

For fashion retailers, the potential is enormous. Whether you’re selling stylish outerwear, formal wear, or even niche items like accessories or lingerie, having a solid game plan can mean the difference between a good sales day and an exceptional one.

Key Sales Strategies for Black Friday and Cyber Monday

There are a few tried-and-tested tactics that work especially well during these sales events:

Discounts
Whether it’s a flat 25% off or a tiered discount structure, offering significant price reductions is an easy way to entice customers. But remember to balance deep discounts with profitability, especially if you have multiple sales channels.

Dynamic Pricing
This is an exciting option that allows prices to fluctuate in real-time, based on demand. It’s not just for giants like Amazon anymore - many fashion brands use this strategy to stay competitive across platforms. The dynamic pricing technique can make all the difference in an increasingly competitive landscape.

Flash Sales
Creating a sense of urgency is powerful, and a well-timed flash sale can give your customers that extra push they need to buy. A strong flash sale strategy can be especially effective when focused on must-have items or trending pieces in your collection.

Loss Leaders
Offering a high-demand item at a steep discount to lure customers in is a great way to increase foot traffic, both online and in-store. Once they’re browsing, they’ll often add higher-margin items to their cart as well.

Exclusive Online Sales
Whether for lingerie and nightwear or office supplies, online-only offers can help boost website traffic and capture the attention of customers who may otherwise browse on bigger marketplaces.

How to Prepare for Black Friday and Cyber Monday

Plan Your Discounts Early
The discounts you offer will play a key role in the success of your Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaigns. Start by deciding which products to discount. Do you want to move old stock, highlight bestsellers, or introduce new collections at a promotional price? It’s important to plan a mix of all three to keep customers engaged and your inventory balanced.

A cost-plus pricing strategy can help ensure that discounts remain profitable. Be mindful of how deep discounts might impact your margins, and try to limit them on items with tight profitability.

Choose the Right Sales Channels
In today’s retail world, most brands sell across various platforms: their own website, marketplaces like Amazon, social media (e.g., TikTok Shop), and physical stores. How can you maintain a consistent discount strategy across these diverse channels?

It’s crucial to tailor your approach to the strengths of each platform. For example, customers on Amazon or TikTok may expect lower prices or fast shipping, while those visiting your own website may be looking for exclusive items or higher-end experiences. Flash sales and exclusive online offers can be a great way to cater to online customers.

A unified discount strategy - offering the same deals across platforms - can help build trust. However, it’s also wise to consider channel-specific promotions, such as exclusive bundles on your website or loss leaders at your physical store.

Focus on the Right Product Collections
Take time to choose the right products for your sales. Fashion retailers often rely on carefully curated collections to build excitement and align with current trends. For example, if you specialise in formal wear, you should plan for discounts on both seasonal and timeless pieces.

Retailers specialising in beauty products can also use the implementation of a BXGY (Buy X, Get Y) offer to reduce excess stock and increase engagement. This type of offer is especially popular during holiday sales and can lead to higher average order values.

Enhance the Customer Shopping Experience
During Black Friday and Cyber Monday, competition is fierce. Offering a standout shopping experience can be the deciding factor for many customers when choosing where to spend their money.

Risks to Consider When Planning for Black Friday

Black Friday and Cyber Monday can be incredible opportunities to boost sales and get your brand noticed, but they’re not without their pitfalls. As a mid-sized fashion retailer, it’s essential to think about whether jumping on the Black Friday bandwagon aligns with your brand identity, long-term goals, capabilities, and the values of your customers.

Going Against Your Brand & Business Positioning
Some brands have decided to sit out Black Friday because they feel it clashes with their ethos. Take REI, for example. They kicked off the #OptOutside campaign, closing their stores on Black Friday to encourage folks to get outdoors instead of shopping. This move resonated with their audience and solidified their identity as an outdoor brand that values experiences over consumerism.

Then there’s Asket, a fashion brand that champions sustainability and essentials. They’ve made a clear choice to skip Black Friday, believing that heavy discounting promotes overconsumption and undermines their commitment to longevity and responsible purchasing.

If you’re among brands that prioritise sustainability, quality, or exclusivity, diving into the Black Friday chaos can water down your messaging. If your business is built on principles like minimalism or ethical production, participating in a sale centred around deep discounts could risk alienating your loyal customers.

Risks of Overconsumption and Environmental Concerns
There’s a lot of chatter about how Black Friday fuels a culture of overconsumption, and the environmental impact isn’t pretty. The race to offer the lowest prices can ramp up demand for fast fashion, which often comes at the cost of ethical labour practices and leads to excessive waste.

Organisations like Greenpeace highlight that Black Friday promotes a “buy more, buy faster” mentality. This mindset runs counter to the growing trend toward sustainable fashion and conscious consumerism. If you’re a mid-sized retailer trying to build a reputation for eco-friendliness, participating in Black Friday could backfire and alienate environmentally conscious shoppers.

As #underconsumptioncore is up on TikTok with influencers offering solutions on how to push back against consumerism, we are yet to see which brands will leverage this trend this year’s Black Friday.

Brand Fatigue and Erosion of Brand Equity
Focusing too much on Black Friday discounts can also set a tricky precedent. If customers come to expect steep discounts, they might hold off on buying at full price throughout the year. This can seriously affect your margins and lead to long-term profitability issues.

For premium or luxury brands, slashing prices can be a slippery slope. Offering significant discounts might lead to brand fatigue and devalue your products in the eyes of consumers. High-end fashion brands often steer clear of Black Friday to maintain that coveted exclusivity. Remember, once you start lowering prices, you risk diminishing your perceived value and eroding the trust that customers have in the craftsmanship and uniqueness of your items.

Operational and Logistical Challenges
A surge in sales on Black Friday can create a whirlwind of stress on your supply chain, customer service, and shipping operations. If you’re not prepared, you could run into stock shortages, delivery delays, and overwhelmed customer service teams, all leading to negative customer experiences. Be cautious about overextending yourself with discounts - this could leave you facing unmanageable profit losses, especially if your margins are already tight.

At the end of the day, ask yourself:

• Do you have the capabilities and resources to heavily discount?
• How much do you need to invest in preparation to take the most out of it?
• Which channels are you planning to engage for discounts?
• Does it align with your brand’s DNA?
• Does it fit the cultural context of your consumers – or can it come across as tone-deaf?