Hey {{first_name|mate}},

Well, it was nice to have a month off…but we were chomping at the bit to get back into the swing of things last week.

And, lemme tell you, we got stuck in!

Apparently everyone had been storing up their eCommerce opinions over summer because Wednesday’s eCom Collab Club® London was an absolute belter.

A packed cinema. Adam and Nathan on fire as hosts. An electric room from start to finish.

And, fortunately, quite a lot of useful BFCM advice amidst the chaos.

Here’s what went down 👇

Caitlin

One of the loudest messages from our first panel?

You do not need to batter your margin to have a good Black Friday.

Keep the offer simple. Protect the brand. And if you've been wheeling out exactly the same deal every year, perhaps 2026 is the year to give people something slightly more interesting…

For subscription brands – particularly food & bev – that could mean discounting the products people already love and bundling them with something new, rather than sticking 20% off absolutely everything and praying.

Your data should be doing some of the heavy lifting too.

Find what existing customers already love. Use that insight to win new ones. And don't assume the same offer should work for both.

Your loyal customers have been there all year.

Maybe don't reward them by giving Dave, who discovered you 14 seconds ago via an Instagram ad, the better deal.

Then there's mobile…

Rebuy Engine shared that 70% of BFCM purchases happened on mobile last year.

Meanwhile, TikTok-led discovery is squashing the journey from “never heard of you” to “take my money” into seconds.

Less funnel. More WHEEEEE → checkout.

So remove the friction. Make information easy to find. Be relevant. And start building the audience now through sign-ups, wishlists, communities and the channels your customers actually use.

Our second panel tackled the question that becomes rather important once you've acquired all those lovely new customers:

Why the bloody hell should the BFCM buyers come back again after November?

Our panelists’ advice? Don't just take the orders and disappear.

Give them something to come back for.

Free delivery. A gift. A reward. An unexpected little extra.

One of our favourite comparisons of the morning was that it's a bit like gambling – part of the fun is not quite knowing what you're going to get.

Create that feeling.

Because a record-breaking November is great.

A record-breaking November followed by customers who actually stick around is considerably better.

LOADS more went down along the way, but we'd need to turn this newsletter into a short novel to cover it all...

So instead, we've condensed the morning into a couple of minutes of video highlights below 👇

The media team have used approximately 90 TikTok-style transitions, so maybe sit down prior to hitting this button…

In next month’s instalment, we’re digging into:

Adam, Rich and Nathan are reuniting (which already feels administratively irresponsible) to discuss Winning Through Acquisition and Winning Through Retention.

We’ll get into what's actually working, where brands should be investing and how to communicate with customers without making them block you on every available platform.

📱 Four channels
👤 One customer
💎 Limited opportunities to catch them when they’re ready to buy

See you there?

We put Charlotte Aytan from TLC SPORT on roller skates while Adam interrogated her about the realities of running an eCom brand.

The result? Think Hot Ones, but with fewer wings and considerably more risk assessments…

Then strap in, because the next Skate of eCom drops on 17 September…

While you’re here… Want in on this madness?

Join hundreds of eCommerce leaders at THRIVE: Fashion on Wednesday 16 September to discover how leading brands are navigating AI, increasing visibility and unlocking profitable growth.

***For fashion brands only***

The Digital Clubhouse Summit is taking over Manchester on Friday 2 October with two tracks covering tech and marketing to discuss everything currently keeping eCom teams awake.

It’s at the Science and Industry Museum – and retailers and brands go completely free.