Black Friday Email & SMS: Tactics for DTC Brands on Shopify
Black Friday: The High-Stakes Game of Owned Channels
Black Friday isn't just another sale—it's the Super Bowl of e-commerce for Shopify-powered DTC brands. In 2023, Shopify merchants hit a staggering $3.36 billion in sales on Black Friday alone, marking a 21% increase from the previous year (Modern Retail). But with that gold rush comes fierce competition: inboxes and lock screens are flooded as brands double down on owned channels.
Anna Hensel
Email and SMS volumes surged 22% year-over-year in the 2024 holiday season (Sinch), making it more crucial than ever to cut through the noise.
The truth is, email and SMS are your high-ROI powerhouses for Black Friday. You own the data, the access, and the conversation—no Meta tax, no algorithm games. As The Commerce Factory emphasizes,
“Your email and SMS lists are your cheapest, highest-ROI assets during Black Friday.”
Jasmine Khachatryan
With paid ads increasingly expensive and less effective, brands like Huron have shifted focus to retention channels, doubling Cyber Week sales with an 11% conversion rate even after halving their ad spend (Modern Retail).
The winning strategy? Don’t choose between email and SMS—use them together. Over 52% of shoppers prefer brands that engage through multiple channels (Sinch). Email builds loyalty and tells your story; SMS creates urgency and drives action (The Commerce Factory). Below, you’ll find a founder-to-founder playbook to navigate the chaos and triumph during BFCM with owned channels.
Warm Up Early: Start Before the Gold Rush
Launching on Black Friday morning? You’re late. Shoppers scout deals weeks ahead: 37% expect BFCM promos by October 28, and another 18.6% want them even earlier (Sinch). Translation: half your audience is in buying mode before Thanksgiving.
Pre-sale Warmups (30–60 days out): Use October and early November to re-engage your list. Send content-driven emails—holiday guides, VIP spotlights, educational content—to boost open rates and strengthen your sender reputation. This primes your domain for inbox placement and “trains” your audience to anticipate your big BFCM drops.
Teasers & VIP Early Access: Reward your loyalists with early shopping. Offering “VIPs 24-hour early access” not only flatters but spreads out demand and provides insights for your main launch. Many Shopify DTCs offer a private link or special code to their most engaged segments.
Be transparent about your timeline. Lock in your dates:
“Mark your calendar—our Black Friday starts Nov 21 for subscribers!”
Set expectations so customers plan their shopping around your brand, not the competition (Trend.io).
WRITTEN BYTrend Team
Segment Ruthlessly, Personalize Intelligently
Spray-and-pray is dead. Use your customer data to segment: VIPs, recent buyers, lapsed customers, first-timers. Tailor each touchpoint—exclusive bundles for VIPs, cross-sells for recent purchasers, category-specific win-backs for lapsed customers, and welcome deals for newcomers.
The payoff is real. POPFLEX ran a holiday wishlist contest to gather preference data, then segmented BFCM SMS accordingly, resulting in a 172% YoY increase in SMS-driven BFCM sales (Klaviyo). Their VP of Marketing said,
“The first day of our Black Friday sale last year was our best day in the history of the company...” (Klaviyo).
But don’t overdo it. 72.7% value personalized deals, but 16.9% say “overly personalized” is “invasive”—and that number’s climbing (Sinch). Personalize based on declared preferences or broad patterns, not hyper-granular history. “We picked these deals for fans of [category]” is smart; “Hey John, here’s a refill for your 3-months-ago purchase” is overkill.
Frequency matters. If a segment hasn’t opened your last five emails, exclude them from your next two BFCM sends. Over-communication is a dealbreaker: 26% of shoppers are less likely to buy if you email/text too much; 25% tune out irrelevant content (Sinch). Quality over quantity, even during Q4.
SMS: Urgency Engine—But Use It Wisely
SMS is your instant attention-grabber—95%+ open rates, typically within minutes. During BFCM, use SMS for high-impact moments: early access drops, low-stock alerts, flash sale reminders, and cart recovery nudges while intent is highest.
But don’t overdo it. Shoppers want valuable texts—72% expect at least one weekly SMS, and 72% have purchased after a marketing text (Klaviyo). During BFCM, concise, timely, exclusive is the play: “🔥 VIP Early Access—30% Off for the next 4 hours. Shop now: [link].”
Pair SMS & Email: For big moments, send an email with full details and a text to capture attention: “VIP Black Friday offer in your inbox—go!” Or use SMS as a backup: if an email is unopened, text your SMS subscribers a quick reminder and link.
Timing is everything: Early morning texts on Black Friday or Cyber Monday work—shoppers are up and ready. Avoid odd hours and reserve SMS for your highest-intent segments.
Grow your list pre-BFCM: As Three Ships’ Marketing Director explains, “SMS list building was a huge priority for us going into Black Friday.” Giving SMS subscribers early access generated as much revenue in the first few hours as the entire first day of last year’s sale, with an 18% conversion rate—and campaign revenue up 103% YoY (Modern Retail).
“If a customer is subscribing to us on SMS, they are clearly very engaged and want to be in contact with the brand.”
—Hemani Kamdar, Three Ships (Modern Retail)
Treat your SMS list like VIPs, not just another segment—they’ve given you privileged access to their most personal channel.
Human-Powered Cart Recovery: The Automation-Human Balance
Cart abandonment rates spike during BFCM, and automated flows are standard. But founders wanting to capture every possible sale should think beyond bots.
Enter LiveRecover: an SMS cart recovery platform powered by real human agents. When a customer abandons their cart, LiveRecover’s team personally texts the shopper, handles objections, and helps close the sale—right in the moment. This combination of automation and human touch consistently outperforms automated flows. Why? Customers recognize it’s a real person, not a script—so trust stays high, objections get resolved, and more revenue is recovered.
For operators, LiveRecover is a strategic tool in the BFCM stack. It compresses the decision cycle and salvages carts that would otherwise be lost to the noise—a perfect example of how DTC brands can blend automation with real human connection to maximize revenue and brand equity.
Email: Your Workhorse for Conversion
SMS is the sprinter; email is the marathoner. Black Friday email should be visually rich, direct, and designed for action—because customers are skimming, not reading.
Subject lines and preview text: Don’t get cute. “Black Friday Starts NOW—30% Off Sitewide 🔥” wins over vague teasers. Use clear offers, urgency, and well-placed emojis.
Design for mobile: Over 70% of Black Friday emails are opened on phones. Go single-column, big headlines, tappable buttons, and make your offer visible above the fold. Fluff kills conversion; clarity drives it.
Strategic send times: BFCM is a multiday sprint, not a single blast. Most brands send at least two emails on Black Friday (early AM and last-call PM), repeat for Cyber Monday, and drop reminders mid-week or over the weekend. Schedule by time zone for max relevance.
Scarcity and urgency: Use countdown timers, low-stock alerts, and clear deadlines. If your email tool supports live inventory feeds, leverage them for genuine scarcity. But don’t fake it—customers can smell manufactured urgency a mile away.
Post-Purchase & Service Messaging: Conversion’s Secret Weapon
First impressions matter, but so do last touches. During BFCM, 93% of consumers say order/shipping confirmations are crucial, and 75% expect confirmation within 5 minutes (Sinch). Ensure your Shopify notifications and third-party confirmations fire instantly, with tracking and relevant info.
A frictionless post-purchase flow can turn a first-time BFCM buyer into a repeat customer. Consider a “Thank You” email after purchase—maybe with a bounceback offer for January or a sneak peek at upcoming launches. The best DTCs measure success not just by BFCM revenue, but by repeat purchase rate in the following months (The Commerce Factory).
Jasmine Khachatryan
Operator’s Checklist: Stack, Segments, and Real-Time Iteration
Black Friday success is about founder-level execution. Warm up your audience, launch with precision, monitor results, and iterate in real time. If an email underperforms by midday, tweak your subject line or segment and try again. If SMS click-throughs lag, adjust your timing or exclusivity.
Remember: your customers are humans, not metrics. They’re scrolling on their phones, multitasking, and ruthless with their attention. Respect their time with concise, relevant, and actionable messages. Occasionally, break the promo rhythm: send a value-driven or educational email as a pattern interrupt—it can remind people why your brand stands out amid the discount noise.
Leverage your Shopify stack: Ensure your email/SMS tools (Klaviyo, Omnisend) are dialed in and synced with Shopify. Tag VIPs, automate flows for abandoned carts (tighten the trigger to 30 minutes during BFCM), and set up browse abandonment and post-purchase thank-yous tailored for the holiday surge.
Founder Final Word: Creative + Data = BFCM Wins
Running a Shopify DTC brand during Black Friday is intense. But with sharp strategy, data-driven execution, and a customer-first mindset, you can turn holiday chaos into record sales—and, more importantly, lasting brand equity. The brands that win are those that blend creative tactics with operational discipline and treat every customer like a VIP.
Now, go out there and make this BFCM your best yet. We’ll see you on the other side, armed with new insights and a healthy dose of post-Cyber Monday caffeine.
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