Below are the brands doing Black Friday differently, big ones and small ones, grouped by the kind of thing a small store could run. Each one has what they did, the year and where you can read about it, and the first few come with a small-brand version. Most of these can sit right next to an offer you're already planning.
Run your numbers first
Every idea in this guide costs you something per order, the same way a discount does. So ask the same question as in my Black Friday plan: what do you keep on each order, and how many more orders does it need to bring in?
Here's the quick math, with made-up numbers. Say a product sells for $100 and costs you $60 to land, so you make $40 on every sale.
| What you run | What it costs you per order | What you keep | Orders needed to match a normal week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nothing (a normal week) | $0 | $40 | 1x |
| 20% off | $20 | $20 | 2x |
| 5% of the sale donated | $5 | $35 | about 1.15x |
| A $6 gift or giving item | $6 | $34 | about 1.2x |
| Add $1 to the price and donate it | $0 | $40 | 1x |
And the same example as a picture: how much of that $40 you keep on each order.
So a giving day can be a LOT kinder to your margin than a sitewide code. It still has to be profitable though, so put your own numbers in. The calculator in How to Run a Discount Without Losing Money does the sums for you. 💸
The famous ones
These are three of my favorites to talk about! They're big brands with big audiences, so read them for the idea, then keep going for the brands closer to your size.
Patagonia
Gave away 100% of its Black Friday sales to grassroots environmental groups. It expected to sell about $2 million that day and did about $10 million.
Fortune →Patagonia
Ran a full-page ad in The New York Times on Black Friday with a photo of one of its own jackets and the headline "Don't Buy This Jacket".
Patagonia →REI
Closes its stores on Black Friday and pays its 16,000+ employees to spend the day outside. It made that permanent in October 2022.
Retail Dive →Cards Against Humanity
Put the price of the game UP from $25 to $30 for the day. Sales rose slightly on the year before.
NBC News →Cards Against Humanity
Took its store offline and asked people to pay $5 for nothing. 11,248 people did, and the total came to $71,145.
TechCrunch →A small-brand version: you don't need a New York Times ad or a $10 million day! Each of these brands did something its customers would talk about, and it fit who the brand already was: Patagonia gave to the environment, REI sent people outside, and Cards Against Humanity made a joke. The sections below are the same ideas at a size a small store can run.
Give something with every order
Adventurist Backpack Co.
Already donates 25 meals for every backpack sold. Over Black Friday it added a backpack donated to a local school for every bag sold. Its co-founder told Shopify, "There's always a burst of sales."
Shopify →Varusteleka
No price cuts. It gave 5% of the day's sales to a charity that tackles loneliness, and published the numbers: €74,545.90 in sales and a €3,727.30 donation.
Varusteleka →Dedicated
"Plant Friday", from November 27 to 30. One fruit tree in India paid for with every order, through One Tree Planted.
Dedicated →MiiR
The drinkware brand donated 100% of its online and in-store Black Friday sales to charity: water.
Green Matters →Allbirds
Added $1 to every price on Black Friday, matched it with $1 of its own, and gave it all to Fridays For Future.
FashionUnited →A small-brand version
This can run on its own or right next to your main offer.
Launch something new at full price
Air & Grace
This UK shoe brand brought out two limited-edition colors of its bestselling heel with no discount, and planted a tree for every pair sold. It was the brand's fourth Black Friday done this way.
The Industry →Set Active
Six days of new product drops in the run-up to Black Friday. The founder said they change what they drop and the theme every year.
Glossy →A small-brand version: this is the "Drop" from Step 3 of my Black Friday plan: something new or limited that only exists over the sale or the holidays. A new color of your hero, a limited run, a collab, a gift set. You often don't need a discount on these at all.
More ways brands have done it
Made Trade
This marketplace ran two codes from November 26 to 29. GET10 took 10% off the order. GIVE10 donated that 10% instead.
Green Matters →Deciem (The Ordinary)
"Slowvember". 23% off everything for the whole of November, and no orders taken on Black Friday itself. It was their fourth year running it.
Deciem →Allies of Skin
Started its holiday offer on November 1, ran it through the month and skipped a separate Black Friday sale.
Glossy →Citizen Wolf
This Sydney clothing brand runs "Black Fri-dye". Send in any piece of clothing, from any brand, and they'll re-dye it black for $24 to $44. It started as a single email to their customer list, and more than 1,315 people have used it.
SmartCompany →Closing your store for the day
Freitag
Closed its online store on Black Friday and sent visitors to its bag swap.
Glossy →MUD Jeans
For years this denim brand shut its own site on Black Friday and sold vintage denim through a partner. In 2024 it changed course and joined in with a discount, to reach shoppers beyond its core audience. Its head of marketing told Shopify, "If we sell a thousand pairs extra, we will make more impact."
Shopify →A small-brand version: this is the hardest one to copy. REI and Freitag can close for a day because people already know them. For a small store, Black Friday through Christmas can be 20, 30, even 40% of the year, and going dark on the busiest day is a BIG thing to give up. MUD Jeans is in here on purpose: a brand that believed in closing still decided it could do more good by showing up.
Love the idea anyway? The Deciem version above gets you most of the way there: a calm offer all month, and a quiet Friday.
So which one's right for YOUR brand? That's your call! You know your customers and your margins. Run your numbers first, then plan it like any other offer: my Black Friday plan walks you through that step by step.