Black Week: A 3-step action plan for fashion brands

Something you probably don’t need to be reminded of: Black Week is approaching. By now, most fashion brands are deep in campaign planning, lining up assets, and coordinating their Black Friday/Cyber Monday rollouts.

In this blog, we take a 3-step, goal-driven approach to Black Week: setting clear objectives, staying flexible to adapt along the way, and planning for what happens after you hit your targets (because we’re planning for success, here).

Step 1: Have a clear goal

While more fashion brands are skipping Black Week promotions or trying alternative campaigns, most remain fully committed. Last year, over 84% of fashion, lifestyle, and beauty brands ran dedicated Black Friday/Cyber Monday campaigns.

But without a clear strategy, peak week can quickly become a series of routine actions with little impact. That’s why having a clear goal is essential. Clear goals guide every decision, from budget allocation to messaging, and provide a benchmark for success.

Here are key considerations when setting your Black Friday/Cyber Monday targets:

• What metric matters most? Revenue, profit margin, inventory sell-through, or customer acquisition?

• How will you measure progress? After choosing your priority KPIs, also make sure analytics capture real-time stock and sales data so you can adjust campaigns as needed.

• Does your revenue target account for returns? A £100k revenue target is very different if 20% of orders are returned. 

• What does success look like beyond the numbers? Always keep your overall goal in mind–are you moving inventory, acquiring long-term customers, or attracting new ones?

Step 2: Be ready to adapt

Black Week is a wild ride, and things can change fast. Brands need to monitor performance in real time and adjust campaigns, messaging, and budgets to stay on track.

For instance:

• Seasonal or trending items might sell out quickly, be ready to boost marketing spend where demand is high.

• Overstock could lag in one market, but fly off the shelves in another. Consider reallocating stock or updating order management rules as needed.

• High-margin products may need extra promotion to hit volume goals, while new launches or limited-edition hype products require careful pacing to avoid overselling.

• Bundles or gift sets might underperform in some channels, so tweak messaging or promotions as needed.

• Last season or end-of-line stock can move unpredictably. Shift inventory and marketing focus accordingly.

• Products might sell out online but still be available in physical stores. Make sure you can switch campaigns on or off by channel and consider using Ship-from-Store to fulfill demand without disappointing customers.

Being ready to adapt ensures you maximize performance, protect margins, and respond dynamically across all product types and markets.

Step 3: Plan for what happens when you hit your target

Hitting your target is the best kind of problem to have. But without a follow-up plan, it can lead to wasted budget, misaligned campaigns, and operational headaches. Use this checklist to ensure every campaign, team, and system is ready to respond effectively:

Goal-hit action checklist

✔️ Pause campaigns when targets are met

Ensure all promotions can be paused quickly as soon as targets are reached. Build flexibility into your campaign assets to avoid being locked into rigid timelines. Different markets may have different goals so you might need to pause campaigns in one region while ramping up in another to hit your overall target.

✔️ Define post-goal actions

Decide whether to clearly communicate that a sale has ended or simply revert to regular pricing on your digital flagship store. Plan any follow-up campaigns, retention strategies, or reporting once targets are hit.

✔️ Check campaign assets

Review banners, graphics, PDP updates, and end dates to maintain consistency and prevent customer confusion.

✔️ Review retargeting and cart campaigns

Make sure retargeting and cart campaigns reflect real-time stock levels to avoid promoting out-of-stock items to customers. For some brands it might be best to pause these campaigns during peak week to avoid overselling and poor customer experience.  

✔️ Coordinate all sales channels

Ensure DTC and in-store promotions complement each other and that fulfillment strategies are clearly defined. If a best-selling jacket is featured online, clearly communicate which stores offer click & collect so customers can pick up items seamlessly in-store, avoiding overselling and confusion during peak week.

✔️ Clarify roles and internal comms

Make sure ecommerce, marketing, logistics, operations, and customer service teams know their responsibilities and are ready to act. Keep stakeholders informed of the plan and any triggers for pausing or adjusting campaigns.

✔️ Track progress and measure success

Define how you’ll know when goals are hit and ensure tracking is in place to gather insights for future campaigns.

✔️ Plan for contingencies

Have backup plans for unexpected stock-outs, technical issues, and traffic spikes to maintain smooth operations and customer experience.

The takeaway: fine-tune for maximum impact

Even with a clear target in mind, peak week can be unpredictable, and even the strongest campaigns can fall short of overall goals.

But the point remains: having a clear goal and the ability to pivot on-demand during the busiest days is the best way for brands to get as close to their targets as possible and maximize every opportunity.

By monitoring sales in real time, reallocating budget to high-potential regions or campaigns, adjusting messaging, and staying aligned across teams and channels, brands can respond dynamically. Because ultimately, the ability to adapt is a key marker of success for fashion brands—not only during peak week, but always.

Find out how Centra’s fashion-focused features let brands stay flexible, react quickly, and make every sale count. Get a demo of the platform with a member of the team (we love to chat…)