Welcome to The Jungle: How to Prepare for Black Friday without getting eaten ALIVE.

How to Outlast Algorithms, Rising Ad Costs & Shoppers Who Ghost You

You know. I know it…BUT how do you survive the impeding sales season without landing in a giant pool of sorrow the day after cyber-Monday? Black Friday isn’t JUST a discount day; it’s a survival test. Stores that scramble at the last minute, or forget their strategy at all, get eaten alive. The ones that prepare, sharpen their tools, warm their audiences, test their offers and build their lists walk away with more than just revenue: they gain customers for life. Pack your kit, set your compass, and don’t enter the jungle without it.

Welcome to the Battlefield

Every November, the eCommerce world goes feral. Ads skyrocket, inboxes overflow, websites crash, and brands slash prices until there’s nothing left but scraps. Most stores get eaten alive.

But the smart ones? They come out stronger, more sales, more subscribers and loyal engaged customers, ready and lined up for Christmas.

The difference isn’t luck. It’s strategic (and survival).

If you want your store to not just survive but dominate Black Friday in the US or Australia, you need a survival kit. Here’s what to pack:

The Compass = Your Email List (Your True North)

When the ad platforms are in chaos, your email list is the one tool you can rely on. It’s your compass.

• Email = highest ROI channel (about $40 return for every $1 spent).
• It’s immune to ad auctions, algorithms, and last-minute budget blowouts.
• If you’re not building and warming your list before Black Friday, you’re wandering blind in the jungle.

💡 Pro Tip: Start your VIP Early Access list now. Tease “exclusive Black Friday deals” only for VIP subscribers. People love to feel like insiders (and part of your brand) and they’ll reward you with open wallets.

👉 Don’t just read this guide, pack your tool kit. [Download the Black Friday Survival Kit Checklist here].

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The Firestarter = Pre-Black Friday Hype

You can’t spark a fire once the rain’s pouring. The same goes for Black Friday.

Your customers are bombarded. If you show up cold on November 29th with a “20% off” subject line, you’ll be ignored.

• Warm them in October: segmenting campaigns, sneak peeks, countdown timers, teaser campaigns.
• Give VIP subscribers early shopping rights.
• Use SMS for last-minute sparks (especially effective in AU where inboxes are less crowded).

Get the spark going early, and your audience will already be paying attention when the flood hits.

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The Shelter = Smart Offer Strategy

Shelter keeps you safe from storms. And on Black Friday, the storm is brutal, waves of competitors slashing prices until they drown their own margins. If you rely on flat discounts alone, you’ll be washed away with them.

The smartest brands? They build a shelter strong enough to protect profits and keep customers coming back.

Here’s how to build yours:

Stackable perks (build layers of shelter)
Instead of a single discount, stack smaller perks: free shipping + bundle savings + a freebie for orders over $200. It feels like a fortress of value without tearing down your margin walls.

Bundles (the survival kit approach)
Don’t sell one product, sell the kit. Pair items that make sense together — a jacket with gloves, a candle with matches, a skincare set instead of single bottles. Bundles increase average order value and feel like a deal even without massive markdowns.

Tiers (reward deeper commitment)
Tiered offers push shoppers to spend more. Example:

Spend $100 → get 20% off

Spend $200 → get 30% off

Spend $300 → get 40% off

It feels generous, but it guides them to higher baskets and protects your margins.

Free gifts (psychological win)
A free product feels like a treat, not a transaction. It also costs you less than a deep discount, while delivering more perceived value. Pro tip: use slow-moving stock as the gift. Clears inventory while delighting your customers.

Daily deals (drip-feed excitement)
Instead of blowing everything on one day, stretch out your campaign. Launch a “Deal of the Day” across the week leading into Cyber Monday. It keeps shoppers coming back, watching your emails, and checking your site like clockwork.

Exclusive VIP offers (make it feel like shelter-in-place access)
Give your VIP email/SMS subscribers early access to the best deals. The exclusivity makes them feel protected from the chaos, they’ll see you as their safe space.

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The Knife = Conversion Optimisation (Cut Through the Noise)

Here’s how to sharpen it:

• Speed kills (or saves) conversions
  Every extra second of load time on Black Friday is a lost sale. Test page speed with tools like GTmetrix or Google PageSpeed, and strip away anything slowing you down (heavy images, too many apps, clunky plugins).
• Mobile-first (always)
  In both AU and US, mobile dominates BFCM traffic. Your store should look and feel flawless on a phone: fast, easy to scroll, and thumb-friendly buttons. Pretend you’re buying something on the bus — if it feels hard, fix it.
• Frictionless checkout
  Think of checkout like a machete through the jungle — it needs to cut through obstacles. Add:
  • One-click checkout options (Shop Pay, PayPal, Apple Pay).
  • Guest checkout (don’t force account creation).
  • Clear CTAs (“Buy Now” > “Continue”).
  • Auto-fill for shipping and payment.
• Stress test under fire
  Black Friday isn’t the day to find out your site crashes at 500 visitors. Run a load test (Shopify, WooCommerce, or via tools like LoadNinja) and make sure your hosting can handle the surge.
• Trust signals on display
  Make sure reviews, testimonials, secure payment icons, and returns policies are visible. Customers are buying fast — they need instant reassurance.
• Simplify the path to purchase
  Strip away pop-ups, unnecessary fields, or distractions on Black Friday weekend. Every click you remove = more money in the bank.

👉 If your site’s blunt, you’ll bleed sales to someone sharper. Sharpen it now — before the madness begins.

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The Water Bottle = Automations (Keep Sales Flowing)

You can’t survive long without water. And you can’t survive Black Friday without automations.

• Abandoned cart flows: absolutely critical! BFCM abandonment rates are brutal.
• Browse abandonment flows: capture the “just looking” shoppers.
• Post-purchase flows: keep new customers hydrated with upsells and Christmas offers.

Set these up now, or you’ll be crawling across the desert with nothing to drink.

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The Signal Flare = Paid Ads (Get Seen, But Don’t Rely on Them)

Paid ads are like a flare in the night sky! They’ll grab attention fast, but they burn out quickly and cost you dearly. They’re powerful, but they’re not a survival plan.

On Black Friday, CPMs in both the US and AU skyrocket. Every brand is competing for the same eyeballs, and the platforms know it. If you walk into the weekend leaning only on ads, you’ll blow through your budget before you even get a chance to fight.

Here’s how to use your flare smartly:

• Use ads to fuel your list, not just sales
  Drive cold traffic to VIP sign-up pages, not directly to discounted products. Build the list now, then hit those subscribers with email + SMS campaigns when BFCM lands. It’s cheaper, smarter, and sets you up for repeat sales.
• Retarget, don’t spray
  Your warm audiences (email subscribers, past customers, site visitors) are where your ad dollars stretch furthest. Retarget them with urgency messaging; “Doors closing,” “Only for VIPs,” “Your Black Friday access ends tonight.”
• Test early, scale late
  Test creative, headlines, and hooks in October when CPMs are normal. Kill underperformers, and go into November knowing exactly what works. That way you scale only the winners when costs spike.
• Play with channels
  Don’t just live on Meta or Google. TikTok, YouTube pre-roll, Pinterest, even Spotify or podcast ads can break through when the usual platforms are overcrowded. Think of them as firing flares in different directions.
• Cap your spend wisely
  Decide beforehand what percentage of your budget will go into ads vs owned channels (email/SMS). Treat ads as the attention-grabber, not the whole campaign.

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Only the Prepared Survive

Black Friday isn’t just a sale. It’s a survival test.

Stores that scramble at the last minute? They’ll be trampled in the stampede.
Stores that prepare with a sharpened site, smart offers, hype campaigns, and most of all, a powerful email list, will not only survive, but thrive all the way into Christmas.

So, pack your kit. Set your compass. And whatever you do, don’t go into the jungle unprepared.

👉 Download the Black Friday Survival Kit Checklist (US + AU Edition) here your store’s lifeline for the biggest sales weekend of the year.

Frequently Asked Questions