5 Ways to prepare for Black Friday (before it’s too late)

The brands that crush it over Q4 aren’t the loudest , they’re the most prepared.

Whether you’re running a Shopify store, an Amazon FBA side-hustle-turned-empire, or managing a high street retail brand, the Black Friday sales season is no longer one chaotic day; it’s a multi-week, high-stakes sprint to keep up with demand, stock, and customer expectations.

So, here’s a friendly (but firm) reminder from one business to another: Make sure you’ve thought about these 5 things before it’s too late.

1. Forecast demand, and stock up early

Too many businesses wait until other brands are shouting about sales before they act. But by then, it’s already too late; your competitors have secured early supplier discounts and are passing them on to customers.

You’re then stuck deciding:

• Do I cut my margin to compete?
  
• Or sit back and watch sales go elsewhere?
  

Instead, take control:

• Use your previous peak season sales as a benchmark.
  
• Compare year-to-date trends against last year.
  
• Use common sense ratios to forecast: If my monthly sales are up 50%, my Black Friday expectations should shift accordingly.
  

Just don’t forget to factor in variables like ad spend, market trends, or changes to your product line.

2. Invest in marketing (properly)

You don’t need a massive budget. But you do need to be seen. That means leaning into what’s worked already. You likely already know where your conversions come from; email, ads, TikTok, whatever. Now’s the time to double or triple down on those channels.

Marketing moves fast. Something that worked 12 months ago might flop today (we’ve seen it firsthand; Google’s AI overviews tanked some of our own traffic almost overnight 😅)

So don’t just spend for the sake of it.

Spend with purpose. Use your own customer data to identify which products actually convert and build your campaigns around those.

3. Use AI + your own data

You’ve got data. You’ve got years of email content, product trends, and customer behaviour. Now use it.

This very post? It started with a 5-minute deep research prompt into what retail business owners need to hear before Black Friday. Then our team turned it into something useful. That’s the model.

Let AI help you:

• Summarise key insights from sales reports
• Analyse customer journeys
• Generate personalised copy for emails or SMS flows.

But apply common sense too. Don’t ask AI to make the decision, ask it to support yours.

4. Discount wisely

Everyone loves a deal. But if you’re slashing prices just to compete, you’re putting your margin, and sanity, on the line.

Instead:

• Secure supplier discounts early so you can afford to be competitive.
• Bundle or upsell so customers spend the same amount, but get more value.
• Use psychological pricing: free shipping, “save £15 when you spend £60,” etc.

The goal isn’t just to make sales. It’s to stay profitable while making sales.

5. Don’t go silent after Black Friday

This is probably the most overlooked tip. The sale might end, but the customer relationship shouldn’t.

Think of Black Friday as the start of something.
If someone buys from you once, they’re much more likely to buy again for Christmas, birthdays, or just because they now trust you.

Set up your email campaigns strategically:

• Post-purchase thank-yous
• VIP Christmas offers
• Gentle nudges in January when sales dip.

The smartest brands don’t just push on Black Friday, they have months of nurturing mapped out, turning their messaging and customer data into a revenue printing machine that runs through December and into the new year.

So… what’s next?

Let me ask you this: If a flood of orders came in next week – could you actually deliver?

If not, it’s worth checking what kind of working capital you can access. Whether it’s for stock, marketing, temp staff, or just breathing room; it’s better to have the funds ready than scramble at the last minute; because trust us, scrambling for accessible cash at the last minute is not what lenders are comfortable with. They like businesses that plan their capital needs just like their sales seasons.

Ready to apply? See your matches in under two minutes (without impacting your credit score).