Beyond Discounts: 7 Leading Brands Share Their Black Friday ...

With the holiday shopping season representing up to 40% of annual retail sales for some brands, companies are fine-tuning their Black Friday-Cyber Monday (BFCM) strategies to maximize this crucial period.

While discounting plays a critical role, its not the only way to stand out online. Here's how seven leading brands are positioning themselves for success in 2024.

1 - Early Access and Loyalty Programs Drive Early Sales

Brands are increasingly using early access and loyalty incentives to drive pre-Black Friday sales while maintaining customer satisfaction. Pet food brand Bully Max has developed a sophisticated approach to this challenge, offering "early access" discounts to subscribers several days before Black Friday. "We've learned that it's important to manage this expectation," explains Maris Laatre, Chief Marketing Officer at Bully Max, noting that they provide exclusive loyalty rewards to make early purchases feel more valuable.

Plant-based meal brand Daily Harvest is similarly leveraging its subscriber base, offering new gift cards ranging from $75-$200 for last-minute shoppers and allowing early access to their holiday bundles. The brand is also adding social impact to their loyalty approach, donating five meals for every gift bundle sold to those in need.

Meal brand Daily Harvest will bundle their best selling SKUs as a holiday promotion.

Daily Harvest Sequenced Discounting Over Deep Price Cuts

Rather than racing to the bottom with aggressive discounts, brands are taking a measured approach to promotional strategy. BRUNT Workwear, for instance, limits discounting to the BFCM only. "If you train your customers to expect a sale at every turn, you ultimately devalue your brand and create friction up and down the sales funnel," explains Eric Girouard, founder and CEO of BRUNT Workwear.

Other brands are implementing carefully structured discount tiers throughout the season:

Daily Harvest is phasing their promotions, offering 20% off all bundles on November 21-22, shifting to 10% off during November 23-28, then returning to 20% off for November 29-December 2 Baby brand Jool Baby is taking a mixed approach, offering 20% off most products across their catalog, while select items like their Nova Nature baby swing receive deeper 30% discounts Outdoor blanket brand Rumpl is combining limited editions with aggressive site-wide savings, offering 25% off special drops while running 40% off site-wide promotions

The impact of discounting is clear - during Amazon’s 2024 Prime Day event, Salesforce research found that retailers who meaningfully increased discount rates saw a 3% increase in U.S. sales and positive order volume growth. (Read more about the industry outlook in my recent Forbes post, Why The 2024 Holiday Shopping Season Will Be A Mixed Bag For Retailers And Brands)

Omnichannel Integration Takes Center Stage

Brands are working to create seamless experiences across marketplaces and direct-to-consumer channels. Daily Harvest, previously a direct to consumer (DTC) brand that’s new to Amazon this year, is coordinating its DTC gifting program with Amazon holiday offers, including personalization capabilities and delivery scheduling options. "We want to make sure they can benefit from our holiday offers in the channel that is best suited to their needs, which required thoughtful promotional planning on our end to make sure the financials worked across the channel," says a Daily Harvest spokesperson.

This omnichannel approach extends to fulfillment capabilities. Daily Harvest has "re-worked all internal carrier set-up to ensure we can get Amazon packages to customers as fast as possible this holiday season," particularly crucial for perishable goods.

Storytelling Over Pure Promotion

Brands are moving beyond simple discount messaging to create more engaging narratives. "Storytelling is the heart of our campaigns this year," says Alfred Christ, Sales Manager at Robotime, maker of puzzle brand ROKR. Their approach includes stop-motion videos of puzzles coming to life and content highlighting product craftsmanship, with discounts up to 30% off.

A video advertisement embedded in Amazon search results is a striking way of promoting the intricacy ... [+] of 3D wooden puzzle brand ROKR's products.

Amazon.com

This creative approach stems from data-driven insights. "We noticed that campaigns with more creatively visual ads receive higher engagement rates than your typical product shots," Christ explains, noting that customer feedback consistently emphasizes appreciation for product uniqueness and craftsmanship.

Limited Edition Releases Drive Urgency

Some brands are using exclusive products to generate excitement beyond discounts. Rumpl is launching a "Cyber 5 Holiday Drop" with one limited-edition blanket released each day from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, including fan favorites like the NASA Space Blanket. This strategy follows their successful track record with limited releases, having previously sold out all SKUs on the first day of a similar promotion.

BRUNT Workwear takes a similarly strategic approach to their only sale event of the year. "We start working on BFCM a year in advance to make sure we are surprising our customers with limited edition drops and deals they'll be excited about," says Eric Girouard, founder and CEO of BRUNT Workwear. Their comprehensive strategy includes "content partnerships with celebrities and influencers, social creator seeding to drive intrigue and demand, and email/SMS touch points that create urgency."

BRUNT partners with celebrities like stuntman Travis Pastrana to drive brand awareness on Instagram. ... [+]

BRUNT Workwear on Instagram Social Commerce Evolution and Influencer Impact

The rise of TikTok Shop is reshaping how brands approach social commerce. During TikTok's October Fall Deals event, the platform's Baby category alone generated $412 million in GMV, with Jool Baby ranking among the top three brands. "This experience underscored the power of user-generated content in driving both sales and brand awareness during a promotional event," notes Judah Bergman, founder and president of Jool Baby.

Building on this momentum, Jool Baby is expanding their promotional approach for BFCM 2024. The brand recently joined affiliate network ShareASale to drive sales to their website from both industry reviewers and influencer product reviews. The strategy represents a significant expansion from last year particularly in their approach to TikTok Shop, which has proven to be a powerful channel for reaching young, tech-savvy parents with authentic, relatable content.

BRUNT Workwear has similarly embraced social commerce, developing a multi-channel marketing approach that includes content partnerships with celebrities and influencers, social creator seeding to drive intrigue and demand during their exclusive annual sale period.

Rising Ad Costs Drive Strategy Shifts

Increased competition on marketplaces is forcing brands to adjust their advertising approaches. MANSCAPED has observed significant changes in the Amazon landscape. "This year, we have seen a sizable increase in direct-from-factory Chinese 3P sellers," says Jimmy Liao, VP of Marketplaces at MANSCAPED. "This ultimately results in increased competition, and in turn, higher ad costs due to limited ad inventory."

While the company reports ad spending up by at least 25% compared to last year's Prime Day, they're taking decisive action. "We're implementing earlier and deeper strategic discounting. The lead-up period to major tentpole events is important as it helps effectively position our products right before these key days," Liao explains. The brand is also diversifying their promotional strategy, leveraging Amazon Affiliates and social media for off-Amazon deal promotion.

Meeting customers where they are

As brands navigate this complex landscape, success appears to hinge on striking the right balance between promotional offers and brand value, while creating seamless experiences across channels. The most effective strategies combine careful discount planning with engaging content and strategic use of limited-time offers to drive urgency without sacrificing brand equity.