Fashion Brands: Winning Black Friday & Cyber Monday Without Joining the Race to the Bottom

Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) remain fashion’s Super Bowl but in 2025, the rules of engagement have shifted. Consumers are shopping earlier, demanding steeper discounts, and scrutinizing brands more than ever.

According to Power Digital’s Current State of the Fashion Industry Report, 66% of consumers require at least 30% off before they’ll even consider converting. And yet, nearly 40% of shoppers said no discount is compelling unless they already trust the brand. That paradox sits at the heart of this year’s BFCM challenge: deep discounts may drive clicks, but trust and perception drive long-term value.

The takeaway? Price alone isn’t enough anymore. Winning this year means pairing competitive offers with creative quality, exclusivity, and brand transparency. Here’s how fashion brands can thrive this BFCM — without sacrificing equity in the process.

The Black Friday Cyber Monday 2025 Report revealed a fragmented, more skeptical shopper:

This proves that BFCM is no longer just a transactional event. Promotions are reputational. As Madison Sternberg, Account Director, Fashion at Power Digital, explains:

“Discounts drive traffic, but it’s how you frame them that builds or breaks equity. Fashion consumers want to feel like insiders – not bargain hunters.”

Last year gave us a glimpse of the new playbook in action, with Power Digital’s fashion portfolio delivering a 225% year-over-year revenue increase. But the growth wasn’t evenly distributed.

What worked in 2024:

What didn’t work:

The lesson is clear: success requires starting early, keeping offers simple, and building differentiation into both creative and messaging.

If price alone won’t cut it, how can fashion brands win? Based on Power Digital’s research, three strategies stand out.

Shoppers are more discerning. Nearly 44.5% of fashion consumers say they’re waiting for deeper discounts, but 25% say they’ll pay more if they understand the reason for price changes.

This is where radical transparency matters. Explaining higher prices due to tariffs, sourcing, or craftsmanship reframes promotions as a brand-building moment. Instead of training customers to wait for markdowns, brands can position themselves as honest, elevated, and worth the investment.

Creative remains one of the most underrated performance levers. In Q4 2024, campaigns that diversified creative (UGC, video, overlays, and DPAs) saw 40% lower CPMs and 20% better CPA.

For BFCM, that means campaigns should:

The combination of urgency and quality ensures BFCM campaigns drive volume without cheapening the brand.

Our August study shows 18.4% of premium buyers value exclusivity (gift sets, VIP early access) just as much as discount depth. For fashion brands, this unlocks multiple tactics:

This approach reframes the discount as an experience. A 20% markdown paired with exclusivity can often feel more premium than a 40% bare-bones markdown.

Gen Z is fashion’s biggest opportunity this BFCM, but also its most demanding audience.

That means fashion brands need to treat TikTok not as a side experiment, but as a core search and discovery platform. Creator partnerships, influencer discount codes, and demo-style content (unboxings, try-ons) drive far more trust than polished brand ads.

As Sternberg noted in Q4 planning:

“Gen Z doesn’t just buy from brands, they buy from people. If your BFCM strategy isn’t creator-led, you’re invisible.”

The BFCM Study also found that category norms dictate promotional success:

This means fashion brands must calibrate discounts carefully. Go too shallow, and risk losing volume. Go too deep, and risk undermining long-term loyalty. The sweet spot is often 30–40% sitewide, layered with perks like free shipping or VIP early access.

Looking ahead, our Fashion Division Q4 Planning deck highlights several consumer shifts:

The common thread? Consumers want fashion that feels lasting, intentional, and exclusive.

This article only scratches the surface. Power Digital’s BFCM 2025 Study dives deep into how consumer expectations are changing across generations, categories, and channels. From the minimum discount thresholds to the platforms driving discovery, it’s the must-read guide for every fashion CMO heading into Q4.

If you missed it, revisit ourJune 2025 Fashion Report for an even deeper breakdown of creative, media, and retention strategies shaping the industry right now.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday aren’t broken in relevance — they’re broken in execution. The brands that win in 2025 won’t be the ones racing to the deepest discount. They’ll be the ones that:

Be sure to save our go-to holiday checklists below, providing essential tips to help you prepare every step of the way:

At Power Digital, we help fashion brands transform BFCM from a margin drain into a growth driver. Ready to reset your BFCM 2025 strategy? Contact Power Digital today to partner with us and build a fashion playbook that wins without racing to the bottom.