Black Friday can expose every weak point in an ecommerce website at once: slow pages, inaccurate stock, unclear offers, abandoned checkouts and tracking that stops working when you need reliable data most.

In 2026, Black Friday falls on Friday 27 November, followed by Cyber Monday on 30 November. Australian businesses should prepare the website, promotion and fulfilment process together rather than treating the campaign as a last-minute discount code.

Use this checklist to get the foundations ready before traffic and advertising costs increase.

Confirm the offer before designing the campaign

Write one internal offer sheet showing:

• included and excluded products
• normal and promotional prices
• campaign start and finish times
• coupon requirements
• stock limits
• shipping thresholds
• returns conditions
• whether discounts can be combined

The information on the landing page, product page, advertisement, email and checkout must remain consistent.

Avoid inventing a higher comparison price to make the discount appear larger. “Was/now”, strikethrough and percentage-saving claims need to reflect genuine prices. The ACCC has recently taken action over allegedly misleading Black Friday and strikethrough pricing.

Avoid false scarcity as well. A countdown timer should reflect a real deadline, and a “sitewide” claim should not hide major exclusions.

Build a dedicated campaign landing page

A focused Black Friday page gives visitors one clear route into the offer and creates a URL that can be prepared and indexed before the campaign.

Include:

• the main benefit and genuine offer
• campaign dates
• eligible categories
• meaningful exclusions
• shipping information
• returns information
• frequently asked questions
• links to featured products
• one prominent CTA

Publish the page early without activating the offer. Use an email-registration or preview message until the campaign begins, then update the page instead of creating a different URL.

Test the mobile experience first

Most campaign visitors will not patiently troubleshoot a difficult mobile page.

Test the campaign on several real phones and check:

• text and buttons remain readable
• promotional banners do not cover navigation
• filters and product options work
• images load without shifting the page
• discount codes are easy to enter
• express-payment methods work
• form fields use the correct keyboard
• checkout errors explain what needs fixing

Complete a real low-value purchase or controlled test order. A visual review of the checkout is not enough.

Check website performance under realistic conditions

Large hero images, promotional pop-ups, tracking scripts and recommendation tools can collectively slow the page.

Compress campaign images, remove unused scripts and delay non-essential elements. Test the landing page, a typical product page, cart and checkout separately.

Ask the hosting or development provider:

• whether caching is configured correctly
• how traffic spikes are handled
• whether server resources can scale
• whether a content-delivery network is active
• who will respond if the site becomes unavailable

Performance improvements can help conversions, but no particular speed score guarantees sales or rankings.

Synchronise stock and fulfilment information

Confirm that website inventory matches the stock that can actually be shipped. If products are sold through several channels, test how quickly inventory updates between them.

Decide what happens when stock runs out:

• remove the product
• mark it unavailable
• offer back-ordering with a realistic date
• recommend an alternative
• capture restock requests

Place delivery cut-offs and likely dispatch times close to the buying decision. Do not hide important fulfilment limitations in a general policy page.

Verify analytics before the sale

Record a test journey from campaign click to purchase and confirm that the analytics platform receives:

• campaign source and medium
• landing-page visits
• product views
• add-to-cart events
• checkout starts
• completed purchases
• revenue and transaction identifiers

Use consistent campaign tags across paid ads, email, social posts and partner links. Exclude test transactions before analysing performance.

Prepare security, backups and recovery

Update the website platform, plugins and extensions before the campaign—not during its busiest hours.

Confirm:

• administrator accounts use multi-factor authentication
• inactive users have been removed
• payment processing remains compliant and externally managed where appropriate
• recent backups exist
• a backup has been restored successfully in a safe environment
• domain, hosting and payment contacts are current
• someone can pause advertising if checkout fails

Document a rollback procedure for campaign code, pricing rules and plugins.

Run a final 48-hour campaign check

Two days before launch:

• check every advertised price
• confirm exclusions are visible
• test coupons and automatic discounts
• place mobile and desktop test orders
• test confirmation emails
• verify stock quantities
• check delivery messaging
• test analytics and advertising pixels
• confirm monitoring and support contacts
• prepare a plain backup banner if a complex promotion fails

Frequently asked questions

When should a small business prepare for Black Friday?

Technical and campaign planning should begin several weeks beforehand. Major platform changes should be completed early enough to test properly.

Should I create a new Black Friday URL every year?

Usually, one reusable landing-page URL is more manageable. Refresh the content and metadata annually while retaining relevant history and links.

Can every product be described as discounted?

No. The promotion must accurately identify which products are included and what saving genuinely applies.

Will a faster website guarantee more sales?

No. Speed can reduce friction, but results also depend on the offer, traffic quality, product, trust, pricing and fulfilment.