Can your small business take part in Black Friday?

Hear the words 'Black Friday', and the chances are your thoughts will go straight to Amazon and other major retailers.

Once a purely US phenomenon, and driven largely by big firms, Black Friday – which this year falls on 28 November – has recently taken off in a big way in the UK. According to KPMG, three quarters of consumers are planning, or at least tempted, to buy goods or services during the Black Friday period this year; mostly on clothes, health and beauty products,  as well as laptops or computers.

And it's now more than just a day or weekend, with research from credit rating agency Experian showing that it's become a season-long shopping event lasting from now until the January sales, described by the firm as the 'golden quarter'.

It's hard enough at the best of times for small retailers to compete with the big boys – and when those big boys are offering massive discounts and marketing like there's no tomorrow, it can seem like an impossible task.

But it can be done.

Your first step, advises DHL, should be to tease your Black Friday sale a few weeks in advance through social media posts, email newsletters, and your website. You could encourage your social media followers to share your posts by offering incentives such as additional discounts or giveaways, while popular hashtags like #BlackFriday can increase your visibility.

Create a Black Friday landing page on your website, and make sure that it's optimised for mobile, as this is how most people now do their shopping – and create a sense of urgency if you can, which can be done through a countdown timer.

Email your customers with details of your event, and perhaps offer personalised deals, or even a discount code for loyal customers.

And, says the firm, don't forget future prospects; you can retain many of these customers longer-term with a thank-you email to customers who made a purchase, along with a discount code for their next buy. While you're at it, encourage them to leave reviews or share their purchase on social media with a specific hashtag.

It's easy to forget that Black Friday can be a big deal in-store, as well as online. But according to research from Square, last year's Black Friday saw a 26 per cent year-over-year increase in the number of omnichannel businesses giving Black Friday offers both online and in-store.

“Black Friday generates a lot more footfall in-store and online, so it’s key for us to spend time preparing in advance for this uplift in visitors and spend," Stephen Anderson, co-founder of homeware store Papillon Living, told Square.

"We see the benefit of having a strong e-commerce offering to support us during busy periods, such as Black Friday and the festive period, and this helps us to ensure we can continue providing our customers with a consistent experience, no matter how busy we are.”

However, most customers, says KPMG, find their Black Friday purchases through retailer websites, emails from retailers, money-saving websites, or in-store.

A quarter are attracted through social media platforms, and 15 per cent through AI chatbots such as ChatGPT or Gemini – a trend that's likely to accelerate this year and in future.

"This Black Friday period will see more related AI use than last. Whether via AI chatbots, clicking through links provided by AI summaries on search engines, or visiting via social media content, the nature of how consumers search for and find promotional offers or gifts is evolving," says Linda Ellett, KPMG's Head of Consumer, Retail and Leisure.

“While visiting a retailer’s website or receiving direct email remain the most common ways consumers will discover Black Friday deals, the growth of AI-enabled searching is evident, and almost double amongst younger age groups.”

Once you've pulled potential customers in, KPMG's research shows, the best way to convert interest into sales is by offering free delivery, cited by 47 per cent, free return options at 27 per cent, and a free gift when purchasing at 26 per cent.

Daily deals, online only offers, offers via email and offers exclusively for members or loyalty card holders also worked well, while offers for those referred by a friend and livestream shopping events were the least successful tactics, at just eight per cent and six per cent, respectively.

You shouldn't, though, feel pressured to offer Black Friday deals if you're not convinced it will help in the long term. Recent research from small business platform Xero found that 30 per cent of small businesses in the US don't believe they can afford to offer discounts. More than a third were worried about managing increased customer traffic and a similar number were unsure they could carry out effective marketing and advertising or maintain inventory control.

Says Andrew Kanzer, Managing Director, North America at Xero, "The real advantage isn't winning a one-day price war; it's having the financial clarity to build a profitable, year-round business – even if that means strategically choosing to focus on value, not volume."

The Howden HR and H&S Client Services team are also celebrating Black Friday with exclusive offers to help you get even more value from your partnership with us. These deals are available for a limited time only, so don’t miss out!

Here’s what we’re offering:

• 10 per cent off all HR training courses
• 10 per cent off one-year HR or H&S retainer contracts
• 15 per cent off three-year HR or H&S retainer contracts

These offers are valid from 3 November to 5 December 2025, so get in touch soon to take advantage. Full terms and conditions can be found here.

This could be a very busy period of the year for your business. Any business interruption could cost you a lot, which is why now is the best time to check your insurance coverage. Speak to our team via the button below to check.