BFCM Peak Season Playbook

Six weeks out: decide the offer

Run your offer through the discount vs gift calculator first. A gift with purchase usually protects more margin than a sitewide discount, and it puts a second product in the customer's hands.

• Choose one hero offer and write it in a single sentence
• Check margin on every product in the offer after discount, shipping and fees
• Confirm stock levels for hero products and reorder lead times
• Decide which products are excluded from the sale
• Set your break-even CPA for the sale price, not the full price

Four weeks out: build the list and the creative

• Launch an early-access or VIP sign-up with a pop-up and a lead ad
• Brief 8 to 12 sale ads: 3 offer-led, 3 product demo, 3 social proof, plus founder
• Write the email and SMS calendar: teaser, early access, launch, reminder, last chance
• Build a sale landing page or collection that leads with bundles
• Check the site speed and checkout on mobile

One week out: load and test

• Load sale ads into a testing campaign so they exit learning before launch
• Schedule all emails and SMS, and send test versions to yourself
• Set automatic rules or a daily check for the kill switch below
• Brief customer service on the offer, shipping cut-offs and returns

During the sale: the daily kill switch

Signal	Action
Blended sales per $1 of ad spend below target for 2 days	Cut Meta budget 25%
An ad above 2x target CPA after 2x CPA spend	Pause it
Hero product under 2 weeks of stock	Swap ads to the next best seller
Sales per $1 well above target	Raise budget 20%, then re-check in 24 hours

After the sale

• Send a thank-you and how-to-use email within 48 hours
• Start replenishment and cross-sell flows for every new customer
• Write down what worked: offer, best ads, best emails, sales per $1
• Turn off sale messaging everywhere by the end date