Black Friday isn’t everything! How food & drink brands can win in November & December

Black Friday is nearly here, and I can almost guarantee what’s happening inside food and drink businesses right now. Someone’s suggesting 20% off, someone else wants 30% off, Meta budgets are being reviewed, and everyone’s talking about how much revenue they’re hoping to generate.

But there’s a question I think more brands should be asking before they sign off their Black Friday campaigns. How much of that revenue are they actually going to keep?

Record-breaking sales might look fantastic on a report, but if you’ve heavily discounted your products, increased your advertising spend and paid more to acquire customers, the commercial picture can look very different.

We’re having more conversations than ever with food and drink founders about whether Black Friday is actually right for their business. Not just what discount they should run, but whether they should discount at all, which products make commercial sense to promote and how their Black Friday activity fits into the wider November and December trading period.

Because while Black Friday is an important opportunity, it’s only one part of Q4. For food and drink brands, Christmas gifting, festive entertaining and repeat purchasing can be just as valuable, if not more so.

So, as we head towards Black Friday on 27th November 2026, here’s where we’d recommend food and drink brands focus their attention.

Black Friday revenue isn’t the same as profitable growth

One of the biggest mistakes we see during Black Friday is brands focusing almost entirely on revenue without properly considering the impact of their promotions on profitability.

It’s understandable. When competitors are offering 20%, 25% or even 30% off, there’s enormous pressure to follow suit. Nobody wants to feel they’re missing out on one of the busiest shopping periods of the year.

But discounting needs to make commercial sense, particularly in food and drink, where product costs, packaging, fulfilment and delivery can already put pressure on margins.

We discussed this on a recent episode of the Fuelling Foodies Podcast, and Holly, our Client Services Director, raised a particularly important point about the relationship between discounting and gross profit.

Imagine you’re selling a product for £100 with a 40% gross margin. That gives you £40 in gross profit before any additional marketing or operating costs. Introduce a 20% discount and your selling price drops to £80, while your product costs remain the same. Suddenly, your gross profit is just £20.

That’s not to say discounting is always the wrong decision. For some brands, a well-planned Black Friday promotion can be an effective way to acquire customers, increase order volumes or move stock. But those decisions should be based on your numbers rather than what competitors happen to be doing.

Before committing to an offer, understand your margins, customer acquisition costs, stock availability and the additional sales volume required to make the promotion worthwhile. A successful Black Friday campaign should contribute to the profitability of your business, not simply create an impressive revenue figure.

You don’t have to discount to give customers a reason to buy

One of the most interesting discussions we had on the podcast was whether every food and drink brand should participate in Black Friday. And the answer was that it depends entirely on the business.

For a premium brand that rarely discounts, suddenly introducing a sitewide 30% reduction and filling its website with promotional banners might undermine the positioning it’s spent years building. Equally, for a brand with strong margins, sufficient stock and a customer base that responds well to promotional activity, a carefully planned discount could be a sensible commercial decision.

The important thing is understanding what your customers actually value and finding ways to create an incentive that works for your business.

That might mean offering a gift with purchase, introducing free delivery above a certain order value or giving loyal customers early access to a Christmas collection. Limited-edition products and exclusive seasonal ranges can also create interest without relying entirely on price reductions.

Christmas bundles are another opportunity, particularly for food and drink brands where gifting plays such an important role. But as Laura pointed out during our discussion, there’s a difference between creating a genuinely useful Christmas gift set and putting together a random collection of products simply because it’s Black Friday.

A well-considered bundle makes shopping easier, introduces customers to complementary products and can increase average order value. A bundle that doesn’t reflect what customers actually want is unlikely to become appealing just because it’s labelled as a special offer.

The same applies to your creative and messaging. If you’re a premium brand, your Black Friday campaign should still look and sound like your brand. You don’t need to abandon your tone of voice or visual identity to communicate an offer.

Ultimately, the best promotion isn’t necessarily the one with the biggest discount. It’s the one that gives customers a compelling reason to purchase while protecting the commercial interests of your business.

Your existing customers should be your biggest priority

If there’s one area I think food and drink brands consistently underestimate, it’s the value of the customers they’ve already acquired.

Brands can spend significant amounts of money attracting new audiences through Meta and Google Ads, yet overlook the people who’ve already purchased, subscribed or engaged with their business. Those customers already know something about your products, and in many cases, you’ve already invested in acquiring them.

Black Friday presents a fantastic opportunity to strengthen those relationships, particularly through email marketing.

Rather than sending the same promotional message to your entire database, think about how different customer groups might respond to different approaches. Your most loyal customers could receive early access to an offer, previous Christmas shoppers might be interested in this year’s gifting range, and customers who haven’t purchased for several months may need a different reason to return.

This is where segmentation becomes so valuable. A customer who’s purchased five times shouldn’t necessarily receive the same communication as someone who’s only just joined your mailing list.

And importantly, your email strategy shouldn’t begin and end with a Black Friday campaign.

Your automated flows should be working alongside your promotional activity, particularly when you’re investing in additional website traffic. Welcome emails introduce new subscribers to your brand, Browse Abandonment emails can re-engage customers who’ve shown interest in particular products, and Abandoned Checkout emails help recover potential purchases that haven’t been completed.

It’s also worth reviewing how those automations interact with your wider campaign calendar. We’ve seen situations where customers enter multiple flows while also receiving regular newsletters, resulting in far more communication than intended. That can quickly become frustrating for the recipient and undermine the relationship you’re trying to build.

The goal isn’t simply to send more emails. It’s to make sure the right people receive relevant messages at the right time.

Make your marketing channels work together

Another mistake we see is brands treating Black Friday as a series of disconnected marketing activities. There’s a discount on the website, a few promotional emails, some Meta Ads and perhaps a Google Ads campaign, but very little thought about how those channels support one another.

The strongest campaigns have a clear role for each channel and a customer journey that connects them.

Meta Ads can help build awareness and introduce products to new audiences in the lead-up to Black Friday. Rather than launching everything on the day itself, brands should consider how they can generate interest beforehand, particularly when advertising costs and competition may increase during the busiest trading period.

Google Ads can then help capture customers who are actively searching for relevant products or returning to a brand they’ve already discovered. Someone might first encounter your Christmas collection on Instagram, then search for your business a few days later when they’re ready to purchase.

Email provides another opportunity to convert that interest, whether through early-access campaigns, relevant product recommendations or automated follow-ups.

But all of that activity relies on one thing: your website being able to turn interest into sales.

During the podcast, we talked about something incredibly simple that every eCommerce founder should do before Black Friday. Go onto your website on your phone and try to buy something.

Actually complete the journey as though you’re a customer. Look for a product, add it to your basket, apply a promotional code and go through checkout. Is the delivery information clear? Does everything work as expected? Are pop-ups interrupting the process? Is anything making it harder than it needs to be?

Tools such as Lucky Orange can help identify where visitors experience friction, but sometimes going through your own checkout process is enough to uncover issues you’ve simply stopped noticing.

And when customers have plenty of other places to shop, those small frustrations can make a real difference.

Don’t let Black Friday steal your Christmas sales

This is where food and drink brands need to think differently from some other retail categories.

Black Friday might be a major trading opportunity, but December brings its own demand. Customers are buying Christmas presents, ordering food and drink for entertaining, purchasing hampers and looking for thoughtful gifts that can be delivered in time for the holidays.

One of the questions we discussed on the podcast was whether a particularly strong Black Friday promotion could pull demand forward from December. And the reality is that it can, particularly if you’re encouraging customers to purchase products they would otherwise have bought closer to Christmas.

That’s why we’d recommend treating Black Friday and Christmas as two connected but distinct campaigns.

Black Friday might focus on rewarding existing customers, introducing new shoppers to your brand or promoting selected products. December could then focus on gifting, seasonal bundles, entertaining and last-order dates.

For example, someone might purchase their favourite coffee during Black Friday and return in December for a gift set. A customer who discovers a chocolate brand through a promotional offer might come back to purchase Christmas presents. And someone ordering a festive hamper could become a repeat customer for birthdays or other occasions throughout the following year.

But those additional purchases shouldn’t be left to chance.

Think about how your email marketing, product recommendations and post-purchase communications can introduce customers to relevant products at the right time.

You also need to consider the practical realities of December trading. Delivery deadlines, stock availability, fulfilment capacity and product freshness can all influence when customers are willing or able to purchase.

Your marketing should reflect those changing priorities rather than repeating the same Black Friday messaging throughout the entire festive period.

Measure what actually matters

We love seeing brilliant results across our food and drink clients. But we’re equally interested in understanding what’s behind those results and whether the activity is contributing to sustainable growth.

A record-breaking Black Friday revenue figure is exciting, but it doesn’t tell the whole story.

You need to understand what happened to your margins, how much you spent on advertising, what it cost to acquire new customers and whether your average order value increased. It’s also important to understand the balance between new and returning customers, and what opportunities you’ve created for those first-time buyers to purchase again.

These are the numbers that help you decide which activities to repeat, where to invest and what might need changing next year.

We’ve seen what a joined-up approach can achieve. Our work with Popcorn Kitchen helped deliver 289% Q4 revenue growth, while The Cornish Cheese Co achieved 52% online sales growth and a 10x return on ad spend.

Those are examples of wider Q4 performance rather than results attributable to Black Friday alone, and that’s an important distinction.

Successful Q4 marketing isn’t about one isolated campaign. It’s about understanding your customers, connecting your marketing channels and using performance data to make better commercial decisions.

For more on this, read our article Is your marketing actually driving sales?

What if you’ve left your Black Friday planning until the last minute?

If you’re only a couple of weeks away from Black Friday, the priority shouldn’t be trying to overhaul your entire marketing strategy.

Instead, focus on the areas that can make the biggest difference in the time available.

Start by reviewing your existing customer database. If you’ve got an engaged audience, email can be one of the quickest ways to communicate your plans and encourage relevant purchases. Make sure your key automated flows are working, review your segmentation and consider whether your subscribers need warming up before receiving promotional campaigns.

Next, review your website and checkout experience. Make sure offers are clear, delivery information is easy to find and customers can complete their purchase without unnecessary friction.

If you’re already running paid advertising, use the performance data you’ve got to decide where additional investment might make sense. But don’t assume increasing your budget will automatically generate better results, particularly if your website and email marketing aren’t supporting the traffic you’re attracting.

And finally, be realistic about what you can execute properly. A smaller, well-planned campaign is often a better option than trying to launch multiple complicated promotions at the last minute.

For more practical advice, read our guide to quick Q4 marketing wins for food and drink brands.

We’ve been talking about this on our Podcast

In Episode 28, Black Friday 2026: Don’t Discount Until You’ve Heard This, we discuss what we’re seeing across the food and drink industry, the offers we’d consider, the mistakes we’d avoid and whether every brand should participate in Black Friday.

We don’t agree on absolutely everything, which is what makes the conversation interesting. Between us, we’re looking at Black Friday from different perspectives, including commercial performance, customer relationships, paid advertising and creative.

If you’re currently planning your Black Friday activity, it’s worth a listen before you sign off your next promotion.

Listen to the Fuelling Foodies Podcast →

Black Friday isn’t everything. And that’s the point.

Black Friday can be a brilliant opportunity for food and drink brands, but it shouldn’t dictate your entire Q4 strategy.

The brands that perform well across November and December are the ones that understand their numbers, know their customers and make considered decisions about where to invest.

That means protecting your margins, using your existing customer relationships, making sure your marketing channels work together and planning for the opportunities that come after Black Friday.

Because ultimately, the goal isn’t necessarily to have your busiest sales day of the year.

It’s to build a more profitable business.

Frequently asked questions about Black Friday marketing

Should every food and drink brand offer a Black Friday discount?

No. Whether discounting makes sense depends on your margins, products, positioning and customer behaviour. Some brands may benefit from percentage discounts, while others may find gifts with purchase, free delivery or exclusive products more appropriate.

When is Black Friday 2026?

Black Friday falls on Friday 27 November 2026, followed by Cyber Monday on 30 November.

Which marketing channels should food and drink brands prioritise for Black Friday?

That depends on your existing marketing activity. Email can be particularly valuable for converting and retaining customers you already know. Meta Ads can help generate demand, while Google Ads can capture relevant searches. Your website and checkout experience need to support both.

How can food and drink brands increase sales without heavy discounting?

Consider Christmas gift sets, gifts with purchase, free delivery thresholds, VIP early access, limited-edition products and personalised email campaigns. The most effective approach will depend on what your customers value and what your business can deliver profitably.

What should food and drink brands do after Black Friday?

Shift your focus towards Christmas gifting, delivery deadlines, repeat purchases and customer retention. Use your email marketing to follow up with new customers and give them relevant reasons to purchase again.

Further reading

• Email marketing for food and drink brands: The complete guide
• Popcorn Kitchen Q4 case study: 289% revenue growth
• How The Cornish Cheese Co achieved 52% online sales growth and a 10x ROAS
• Quick Q4 marketing wins for food and drink brands
• Retention versus reach: Why more traffic will not fix your growth