6 Black Friday email templates from Flo, Levi’s, Finisterre & more

Countdowns, discounts, social proof. They’ve got it all.

Last year online purchases on Black Friday reached over $9 billion for the first time — that’s 20% of all sales in the year on one day. Wild.

Who knows what it will be this year.

But what we do know is brands are at the ready.

Someone told me that e-commerce brands can make up to 50% of their annual profits around Black Friday. Scary. It’s no wonder my email inbox is full to the brim with Black Friday offers already, and we still have a few days to go.

Let’s have a look at six different email templates from across Direct-to-consumer (D2C)/e-commerce, Mobile apps and B2B for Black Friday that have graced my inbox over the past week. Including:

1. The time-is-running-out template
2. The FOMO template
3. The authentic template
4. The beautiful branded template
5. The enormous discount template
6. And, lastly, the we-don’t-do-Black-Friday template

Let’s go and meet them one-by-one.

1) The time-is-running-out template

Uxcel

Uxcel is a training resource online where you can up-skill in UX and product design. As you’d imagine from UX-pros, their UI, UX and CRM are **mwah** 🤌

See? Pretty landing page right. The UX gods are happy.

Their Black Friday email is no different. Bold header. Clear CTAs that contrast well. A CTA present in every scroll.

They also use a common user psychology tactic: the countdown timer.

Countdown timers create a sense of urgency that propel users into action. It plays into Loss Aversion, as people think they will miss out after the time is up and are therefore more likely to convert.

However, this is definitely a tactic. Meaning that over time, it looses effectiveness as people become accustomed to fake countdown timers and the fact that you can likely still get access to this discount after the timer is up.

Anyhow, a nice thing to try every now and then.

2) The FOMO template

Flo

Flo is a period tracking app and one of the biggest Femtech apps out there. They’re known for their series of push notifications telling you when your period will come (and everything in between).

Their Black Friday email template this year leans heavily into social proof. There are a lot of types of social proof: reviews, ratings, PR logos, user counts, statistics.

Flo uses both app and play store star ratings as well as user reviews — both visible in the top of the fold. There’s even a catchy user quote in the subject line to draw users in and increase open rates:

“I.AM.SHOOK”

I need to sit in a dark room after reading all their comms….

All these together help build trust and rely on the Bandwagon Effect — which describes the fact that when everyone else is doing something, you want to do it too. Else you get fear of missing out (FOMO).

There’s even more subtle ways to create the feeling of FOMO. Take Piglet in Bed’s Black Friday email. They simply have the subject line:

The items on *everyone’s* Black Friday wishlist

Get ready for winter snuggles bundle 101

Its simple and effective. Within the email, there is nice vibey copy:

Choose thermoregulating linen bedding to keep you snug

and

Cosy alpaca wool socks to gift your tootsies

I love it. Love the copy, not so much the design. But strong copy will get you a long way.

I’m getting FOMO from feeling left out that my tootsies are cold rn.

3) The authentic template

Bloom&Wild

Bloom&Wild is Europe’s largest D2C flower company, sending bouquets and plants in the post. I’ve written at length about their email strategy, so you already know I’m a fan of their emails….

And their Black Friday template is no different.

What I love about their emails is that compared to all other CRM I receive, they feel human.

There’s always:

• A plain-text template
• An authentic-looking email signature
• A real sender email Lucy at Bloom & Wild instead of that common noreply email

This email in particular goes two steps further by leaning into exclusivity and breaking the third wall.

The subject line and first paragraph make me feel special AF:

You’re first in line

You get to shop our sale before it goes live on site

This sort of copy makes the user feel special, like they have first dibs. It also plays into the scarcity principle, as it gives the fear that if you don’t move first the product may sell out.

Next, the second paragraph cuts through with the refreshing line:

I know I don’t need to tell you what this Friday is.

This made me do a double take.

I’m so used to seeing emails like ‘Black Friday is here’ cue the confetti canon. It gets boring. I get tired. We all know it is Black Friday, everyone is shouting about it.

So Bloom&Wild take a different route and break the third wall. Again, this makes the copy feel authentic, not forced to false. It is like you’re talking to a real human.

So refreshing. I love it.

4) The beautiful branded template

Rapha

Rapha is an up-market cycling brand that do beautiful cycling clothing. They call themselves ‘The World’s Finest Cycling Brand’. And their pictures are indeed mighty fine.

So is their email template. It is so cool.

But…

Brand does not come before being mobile-optimised.

The big fail here in eyes is that there is no discount, title, call to action — nothing — in the header of the email. It really is just a pretty picture.

After scrolling, the rest of the email is simple and effective. One main CTA that stands out well.

And whilst Rapha may have a cult following and a queue of people waiting for their discounts, I still think it should be mobile optimised. Last year, according to TechCrunch:

A record 48% of all e-commerce sales on Black Friday were made on smartphones (versus 44% in 2021). — TechCrunch

Which means it is increasingly important to make sure your emails are optimised to have the discount or the call to action in the header.

Take Merrell’s Black Friday email as a comparison. Is it as pretty? Kinda. Do I get way more information in the top of the fold? Definitely.

5) The enormous discount template

Levi’s

Levi’s I don’t really need to explain, but for those of you who don’t know Levi’s, they’re probably the most iconic jean brand in the world.

Which is why I was surprised that their Black Friday discount was on ‘everything’.

Although it is everything with an asterisk: everything*

Which actually makes me want to find out more. So into the email we go.

Their discount is a hefty: 50% off. Which feels large, especially for a brand that generally keeps its price tags on the high end.

They also manage to cram a lot into the top of the fold in the email:

• Logo
• Non-diverse imagery (sigh)
• Header
• Sub header
• Discount
• More styles added tag
• & more

I’m left feeling a little claustrophobic after reading the header. Funnily enough there’s a lot in there but I’ll tell you what there’s not: a CTA.

The image does tap into the website however, don’t forget to make sure you images link through — almost like extra CTAs.

A note on their header image: it is a GIF, which livens the email up a bit but its still pretty white. There’s some women in there, but no African or Asian representation.

Next, a real curve ball template.

6) The we-don't-do-Black-Friday template

Finisterre

Finisterre is a british clothing brand, think of it like the UK version of Patagonia.

They are super super conscious of their environmental impact — each item is made to the highest quality whilst respecting the environment.

Which leads me onto their Black Friday strategy: Blue Friday.

In 2022, they launched their Blue Friday campaign that gave £2 from each order to the swimming charity Level Water. Over just one weekend, Finisterre raised over £10K for the charity.

This plays into the Noble Edge Effect, where companies that care deeply about social and environmental responsibility receive more brand loyalty and generate higher profit.

For instance, this is their 2022 email on Black Friday

Turning Black Friday Blue

My two favourite things about their 2022 announcement email are the graphic and the header.

The graphic does so much with so little. We see the word Black being drowned out by some big blue waves, disconnecting it from the incoming new Blue Friday. Love it.

The second thing I love is how well the space is used in the header. There’s a lot there, but it doesn’t feel tight, or claustrophobic. There’s a faux web navigation that directs to the right links for Men’s, Women’s and Stories. Genius.

I’m using the 2022 email as an example, as I’ve not received the 2023 email yet. But I know its coming, as there has been a blue banner on all Finisterre emails since 14 November (10 days before Black Friday).

Cute lil’ banner

To end: there’s no right or wrong

There’s a huge range of templates and tactics for Black Friday emails. What’s key is matching your tactics to your brand, whether it be big bold discounts or subtle cool imagery.To summarise things to try:

• Try a countdown timer to give urgency (but don’t overdo it)
• Keep the important info top of fold — ideally users don’t have to scroll more than once to get value from your email
• Consider giving profits to a charity in-line with the brand for the Noble Edge Effect

Personally, I’m tired of all the flashy, bright emails. What works for me are things that feel authentic, have a good cause and are from brands I respect, who have built up trust all year round. Not just on one weekend