Black Friday is a busy time, not only for us marketers but also for consumers, having to sift through the many promotional emails in their inboxes.
Last season, shoppers spent $11.8 billion online on Black Friday alone. Your email is competing with every single one of those offers.
So you need Black Friday email subject lines that earn the open before anyone reads a word of your copy.
I’ve pulled together 174 of the best Black Friday email subject lines I’ve seen, from pre-sale teasers through Cyber Monday and the extended weekend. Real brands, real sends, straight out of my inbox.
But swipe files only get you so far. So I’ve also broken down what the data says about length, emojis, and why the open rate you’re optimizing for is probably lying to you.
Table of Contents
What Makes a Good Black Friday Email Subject Line?
A good Black Friday email subject line does one job: it earns the open in a crowded inbox, on a phone, in under two seconds.
That’s a narrower job than most marketers treat it as. Your subject line isn’t selling the product. It’s selling the click.
Which means the three things that matter are clarity (can they tell what this is?), specificity (is there a real number, product, or deadline?), and a reason to open now rather than later.
Everything below is a variation on those three levers, and the same rules hold for holiday subject lines the rest of the year. Notice how the best examples usually pick one and commit, instead of cramming all three into 60 characters.
What the Data Says About Black Friday Subject Lines
Black Friday isn’t getting quieter, and the Black Friday statistics back that up. Shoppers spent $11.8 billion online on Black Friday and $14.25 billion on Cyber Monday last season, with Adobe putting the full Cyber Week total at $44.2 billion. The National Retail Federation counted a record 202.9 million shoppers over Thanksgiving weekend.
Here’s the part nobody wants to hear, though.
Your open rate is lying to you. Apple accounts for roughly 65 percent of all email opens (Litmus, May 2026), and Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection fires an “open” the moment a message is delivered, whether or not a human ever looks at it.
So when you read a roundup promising “the subject lines with the highest open rates,” remember that for two-thirds of the audience, those numbers are counting prefetches. Not people.
That doesn’t make subject lines less important. It makes your measurement of them worse. Here’s what still works:
| Metric | Still reliable? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Open rate | No | Apple is ~65% of opens and Mail Privacy Protection fires on delivery, not on read |
| Click-to-delivered | Yes | A click requires an actual human decision |
| Revenue per email | Yes | Ties the subject line to money instead of curiosity |
| Conversion rate | Yes | Unaffected by inbox prefetching |
One more practical constraint. Mobile drove 57.5 percent of Cyber Monday sales, and most phone inboxes cut your subject line off somewhere around 30 to 40 characters.
So front-load the specific thing. “Cyber Monday Deal: $15 Sandals” survives the truncation. “Our Biggest Ever Cyber Monday Event Is Finally Here” doesn’t.
1. Pre-Black Friday Subject Lines
The days leading up to Black Friday are precious.
Whether you want to build excitement around your big sale, set clear expectations, offer information, or create mystery around Black Friday, use these days wisely with well-thought pre-Black Friday emails.
For example, you can gradually reveal your sales or give a sneak peek at what’s about to come. Or you can inform subscribers of when you’ll hit the start button in your subject line, as Drunk Elephant does:
Above else, Drunk Elephant’s subject line evokes curiosity. Yet, you get from the context that they’re counting down to Black Friday.
If you’re interested in Drunk Elephant’s Black Friday, which begins in a day, you open its email to see this:
In this minimal email, the company lets you know that Black Friday is coming, and a 20 percent discount is coming with it too.
Notice the call to action (CTA) “Prep Your Cart”.
When you prepare your cart in advance, you’ll be ready to buy when the sale starts. And when you have a full cart at a reduced price, you’ll be more likely to buy from Drunk Elephant’s sale.
While Drunk Elephant leaves a little mystery about its timing, Pull&Bear gets highly specific and I, personally, appreciate it.
As an avid online shopper, one thing I hate about Black Friday is not knowing when the sales begin. Is it at 00:01, in the morning, or when people are back from work?
Pull&Bear leaves the guesswork out in its subject line and tells you exactly when to be in their app and on their website.
The company invites you to download a mobile app to grab the deals one hour before everyone else and cleverly promotes its apps.
The CTA “Get your basket ready” is similar to Drunk Elephant’s, and the idea is the same. Get your basket ready, so you can shop your favorites before they sell out.
If you have a wishlist option in your store, pre-Black Friday period is the perfect time to mention it. It’ll make the decision-making process much faster for your visitors, which means more Black Friday sales for you.
More Pre-Black Friday Subject Lines
Every one of these is a teaser doing a job. If you’re still building the wider plan, start with your Black Friday marketing strategy and work back to the emails.
| Brand | Subject line | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| Shinesty | Good things happen when you check email on Thxgiving | Holiday-day nudge |
| Everlane | Tomorrow: The Black Friday Fund Returns | Named recurring event |
| Legacybox | Turkey can wait. Our BLACK FRIDAY sneak peek won’t! | Thanksgiving contrast |
| Rebel8 | REBEL8 Black Friday Sale Starts in 120 Minutes | Minutes, not hours |
| Greetabl | Sale Starts in 3…2… | Unfinished countdown |
| Boozt | BLACK FRIDAY starts tonight at 19.00! | Exact clock time |
| Bed Bath & Beyond | 🤯 Something BIG is coming tomorrow. (You don’t want to miss this!) | Pure tease, no detail |
| Calvin Klein | Get your Black Friday shopping bag ready | Tells you what to do |
| tarte | SAVE THE DATE | Borrowed from invitations |
| L’Occitane | Black Friday Starts Tomorrow! Fill Up Your Cart NOW 🛒 | Timing plus instruction |
| Bellroy | It’s coming! In 3 days. | Two short sentences |
| Macy’s | Black Friday Preview—get a head start! | Preview framing |
| 4ocean | Psst… Our Biggest Sale of the Year Is Coming | Whisper opener |
| Boozt.com | It’s now! 🖤 | Two words, total confidence |
| Billie | The Black Friday fairies came early 🪪✨ | Playful personification |
| Sweaty Betty | Black Friday is coming… get your basket ready ⌛ | Tells you what to do next |
| Malouf | Black Friday Starts Tomorrow | Specific timing, zero fluff |
| Legacybox | Black Friday Sneak Peek Inside | Sneak peek framing |
| Benefit Cosmetics | Black Friday Sale starts soon… 📱 | Cross-channel tease (SMS VIPs shop first) |
2. Early Access Subject Lines
If you’ve built a special email list for Black Friday or promised an exclusive deal to your new signups, you’ll likely deliver on your word by emailing your subscribers when the time comes.
While doing that, remember to focus on the exclusivity of the offer in your email and subject line, too. Check out how Bellroy does that:
With this direct subject line, Bellroy invites you to grab its Black Friday exclusive and nudges you to open the email (if nothing else, out of curiosity.)
From top to bottom, Bellroy’s email is built on exclusivity. (They even use the words “Subscriber Exclusive” in the pre-title.)
While Bellroy indulges its subscribers with an offer, they use a dollar value discount rather than a percentage. As Jonah Berger mentions in his book Contagious, dollar-off discounts may seem like a better offer than percent-off discounts, especially for higher-priced products, such as Bellroy’s backpacks and premium collections.
What’s more, Bellroy writes its exclusive offer in different currencies to make it easily understandable for customers in different target markets.
While Bellroy prefers a straightforward approach, One Kings Lane chooses mystery in its early access subject line:
With this brief, curiosity-triggering subject line, the company stands out among hundreds of promotional Black Friday emails. This is what the email looks like:
In it, One Kings Lane gives its subscribers early access to Black Friday, as well as an additional discount for high-value orders.
Notice the phrases “for you” and “everyone else has to wait till tomorrow.” It’s a smart copywriting angle you can use to appreciate your subscribers in your Black Friday emails and popups.
More Early Access Subject Lines
Notice how many of these signal exclusivity without ever using the word “exclusive.” If you run a loyalty program, this is the section to steal from.
| Brand | Subject line | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| Levi’s | Early access to Black Friday deals unlocked. | “Unlocked” implies earned |
| Paperchase | You’re on the nice list – 25% off for you | Christmas metaphor |
| Miss Selfridge | Been waiting for Black Friday? TODAY’S THE DAY🤩 | Question then payoff |
| Cloth & Paper | Black Friday’s Starting Early! 🙈 | Playful emoji |
| Greetabl | Early Access: Up to 30% Off Gifts 💃 | Label plus offer |
| Ralph Lauren | Black Friday Priority Access: Up to 30% Off | “Priority” as status |
| Torrid | 🦃 🦃 🦃 Black Friday’s here early 🦃 🦃 🦃 | Emoji as a frame |
| Fenty Beauty | Black Friday’s early to the party this year | Personifies the day |
| Estee Lauder | [First Name], 25% Off for E-Listers Only 🦃 We’re Thankful for You! | Names the subscriber tier |
| Hollister | ❗ [First Name], get 25 to 40% off BEFORE. EVERYONE. ELSE. | Full stops for emphasis |
| Forever21 | VIP STATUS: 30% Off Everything NOW! | Status label |
| Bath & Body Works | Black Friday REVEAL: Just for Rewards Members! | Loyalty gate |
| OUAI | Skip the Line – Shop Early | Queue metaphor |
| Brooklinen | [EXCLUSIVE ACCESS] | Two words in brackets |
| Mugsy | *Confidential Sale Inside* | Asterisks do the work |
| Studio Neat | A super secret sale, today only. | Understated, no caps, no emoji |
| Bunch Bikes | Heads up, for Early Birds only | Self-selecting label |
| Outdoor Voices | EARLY ACCESS STARTS NOW | Caps plus immediacy |
| Murad Skincare | Tonight only: private Black Friday preview sale | Private and time-boxed |
| Tuft & Needle | Fashionably early: Shop Early Black Friday | Idiom twist |
| adidas | Black Friday deals for adiClub Members: up to 60% off | Names the loyalty tier |
| Sweaty Betty | [First Name], want to shop Black Friday first? 🖤 | Personalized question |
| Public Rec | Don’t Miss Exclusive Early Access to 50% OFF EVERYTHING | Exclusivity plus scale |
| Dollar Shave Club | Early Black Friday Deal: Free $5 Razor Hanger! | Small gift, concrete value |
3. Sale Subject Lines
Time for the big day… 🥁
When your Black Friday sale starts, you likely notify your subscribers via email (and hopefully popups, when they return to your site.)
While many companies go with the simplistic “Black Friday is on” subject line, I know you can do better.
Rather than say your sale has started and send people to your homepage, you can give your subscribers a better starting point, as Frank and Oak does:
The company knows that a lot of brands are competing for attention when Black Friday starts. That’s why they make it easier for their subscribers to make a decision and start shopping from their store, instead of others.
On what Frank and Oak calls “a better Black Friday,” the company doesn’t want you to get lost while searching for good deals. In the email, they curate a few products their team selected for you, so you can easily click through and start shopping.
If you’re offering an irresistible discount level, as Old Navy does, you can consider writing it in your subject field, too:
Old Navy’s subject line easily grabs attention, but not just because of the discount. Once the company catches you with its bold opening “Call in Sick,” the 50 percent discount makes the email irresistible.
In the email, you learn more about the sale, which is so amazing that you should call in sick.
It’s a subtle touch that makes Old Navy’s Black Friday subject line different from the rest. You don’t have to ask people to call in sick, but think about the ways you can frame your sale instead of the classic “30 percent off.”
More Sale Subject Lines
The best ones here give you a reason to care beyond the percentage. If discounting is your whole plan, it’s worth studying how promotional subject lines work the rest of the year.
| Brand | Subject line | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| Ssense | Why Settle For Less? Shop Best Of Sale, Up To 50% Off | Challenge question |
| quip | Our only electric toothbrush sale of the year 🏁 Ends Today | Rarity plus deadline |
| OUAI | The sale is still going strong – but not for long. | Reassure, then pivot |
| Framebridge | The perfect gifts are on sale | Gifting angle |
| Old Navy | $5 STEEEEEALS | Stretched vowel for energy |
| Rebel8 | Black Friday $8.88 Sale | Oddly specific price |
| American Apparel | Black Friday Weekend = Half Off Everything | Equation format |
| Crate and Barrel | TGI BLACK FRIDAY. | Idiom swap |
| Torrid | 50% off for [First Name] 👈 | Name plus pointing emoji |
| The White Company | 20% off everything | Forget Black Friday, it’s all about The White Weekend | Renames the event |
| Urban Decay | 📞 Hello, Black Friday is calling : 25% off sitewide! | Phone metaphor |
| Banana Republic | You have lists, we have gifts (at 40% off) | Reader first, brand second |
| Crocs | 🖤 Up to 60% off! Enough said. | Confident brevity |
| Crocs | 📞 Black Friday is calling: Up to 60% off! | Metaphor carried into the preview text |
| Bombas | 25% Off Sitewide (Yes, Even Slippers) | Parenthetical specificity |
| Mugsy | Hey Handsome, Our Sitewide Sale Is Live | Voice-led greeting |
| Legacybox | Rise & shine, it’s time for our biggest sale ever | Morning-of framing |
| New Look | Up to 50% off 1000s of styles? Yes please. | Answers its own question |
| Wayfair | ⏰📅 BLACK FRIDAY. (Here TODAY, gone TOMORROW.) | Full stops as pacing |
| The White Company | 20% off everything | The White Week starts now | Owns a branded event |
| Murad Skincare | On sale for the first time: Retinal ReSculpt Body | Never-discounted product |
| The Sill | The plants you want are on sale ✨ | Category specificity |
4. Incentive Subject Lines
Black Friday is all about discounts. Nothing new there.
If everybody’s discounting, though, what sets your offers apart from the competition?
Incentivizing Black Friday offers with an additional coupon, an extra gift, free delivery, or gift wrapping service can help you move ahead of competitors, even when your prices aren’t as low. This means more revenue without hurting your profit margins.
If you’re offering any additional benefits, even as small as free returns, make sure to use it in your subject line. Here’s how KVD Beauty does that:
While all other brands are focusing on discounts and sales, KVD highlights what they offer, and it’s more than just a sale.
It’s hard to say no to a gift, and to this subject line.
In the email, the company expands on its gift offer, which is only valid for orders over $75. Cleverly enough, KVD writes the dollar value of the gift set, making it easier for you to make a rational decision.
kikki.K, a stationery and gift company, chooses another incentive on Black Friday:
After informing you that the sale is on and you can expect 20 percent off everything, they let you know that you can also use their personalization service for free.
By making its monogramming service, which normally starts from $10, free, kikki.K aims to get more orders during Black Friday.
More Incentive Subject Lines
Free shipping and gifts let you compete without cutting deeper into margin. These discount email examples show the same idea played out in full campaigns.
| Brand | Subject line | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| Wool and the Gang | Re: Your Free Pattern | Fake reply format |
| Bobbi Brown | 25% off AND pick a full-size eye ends soon. | Capital AND does the stacking |
| MAC Cosmetics | It’s Black Fri-Yay! Get 25% off. Plus, a free gift. | Pun plus gift |
| Pura Vida Bracelets | FINALLY Black Friday!! 50% off + free shipping! | Relief framing |
| Ipsy | Can we send you a gift? It’s an extra Glam Bag | Permission question |
| Legacybox | What’s Free? 👀 | Two words, pure curiosity |
| FabFitFun | Black Friday Drop: $450 Mystery Gift | Dollar value plus mystery |
| Drunk Elephant | Whoa, 30% off + free Therabu Hand Cream! | Names the actual product |
| Supergoop! | 20% off + a free gift? This email’s got everything | Self-aware stacking |
| Mugsy | Up to 30% OFF + FREE Beanie With All Orders | No minimum spend |
| FabFitFun | Have you heard? We dropped a BOGO offer this Black Friday | BOGO framed as news |
| Levi’s | Overflowing with thanks (and deals!) | Gratitude, not discounting |
5. Urgency-Driven Subject Lines
Black Friday is built on FOMO.
It’s all about grabbing too-good-to-miss deals that won’t come back for another year. Time is running out and you’re competing with fellow shoppers to get your hands on your favorite products.
It’s almost common sense to use scarcity and urgency in Black Friday subject lines. But the key is to use them in moderation, without driving people into a panic.
Check out this subject line by Snakehive, a retailer of phone cases and covers:
While Black Friday is about to end, Snakehive sends out an urgency-driven email, but in a subtle way. Instead of saying “HURRY UP,” the company uses a gentle tone, simply reminding you that this is the best deal you can get at least until next year’s Black Friday.
Snakehive’s Black Friday offer doesn’t even include discounts. The company offers gifts worth £25 with every purchase and makes a point by saying “free is better than discounts.”
The email itself is full of persuasion elements, such as the countdown timer, “ends soon,” “subscriber exclusive,” and “don’t miss out”. And their subject line is successfully driving a sense of urgency, without sounding annoying.
More Urgency-Driven Subject Lines
The trick is specificity. “Ends soon” is noise. “4 hours left” is information. For more in this vein, these last chance subject line examples and flash sale examples are worth a look.
| Brand | Subject line | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| Allies of Skin | Just 12 More Hours to Enjoy Our Black Friday & Cyber Monday Sale! | Exact hours |
| Crocs | 🥺 Black Friday deals end in mere hours | Pleading emoji |
| Paperchase | Our black magic will vanish at midnight ⏰ | Magic metaphor |
| Esqido | Your secret deal is expiring… | Possessive plus secrecy |
| Brooklinen | you are MISSING OUT | Lowercase into caps |
| Kina & Tam | It’s Almost Over… | Four words, no offer |
| Bonobos | Say 👋to Black Friday Week. 30% off ends tonight. | Waves the sale goodbye |
| The North Face | You’re running out of time—Black Friday sale ends today | Direct, no games |
| Foot Locker | ⏰ Black Friday: The Clock is Ticking… ⏰ | Bookended emoji |
| Michael Kors | The Final Hours Of Black Friday | Understated |
| Esqido | Time is ticking, [First Name]… | Clock plus name |
| Torrid | Is this goodbye? 😢 | Emotional question |
| Mojo | 30% off goes poof at midnight 🕐 | Playful verb defuses the pressure |
| Peter from Mojo | The Black Friday sale 100% ends at midnight. Seriously. | Flat sincerity after four days of hype |
| Sunski | Thank god our sale ends tomorrow | Contrarian relief |
| OLIPOP | Stock up before the savings fizzle out 🥤 | On-brand verb |
| Murad Skincare | Don’t play the odds: 30% off won’t last forever | Gambling metaphor |
| Hotel Chocolat | Not long left to save… | Understated, no caps |
| Hush Puppies | Black Friday Only 4 Hours Left! | Exact hours |
| TOG Knives | Just over 24 hours left | Precise and unhyped |
| ThirdLove | Selling FAST ⚠️ $15 BRAS are going, going… | Auction cadence |
| L’Occitane | Your 20% Off Exclusive Is Going Away 😢 | Possessive, so it feels like a loss |
| Bonobos | Sale’s Ending Soon: 30% Off Won’t Wait | Personifies the offer |
6. Funny and Creative Subject Lines
Whether in style, format, or tone of voice, most Black Friday subject lines resemble one another.
Using proven tactics to create salience in subject lines, such as humor, short sentences, capital letters, emojis, and questions, can help catch the eye on Black Friday.
One of the subject lines that stood out in my inbox last Black Friday is from Bonobos:
Bonobos’ subject line checks out a few boxes I covered in this post:
It drives urgency by counting down to the end of the sale, it promotes the sale by highlighting the discount percentage and scope, and it contains a relevant emoji that actually makes sense in the context.
Crate & Barrel takes a different approach to announce its sale and it’s a funny one:
With this subject line, the company indirectly invites you to shop before it’s too late, but does it in a memorable way.
More Funny and Creative Subject Lines
Humor is the cheapest way to look different when every other sender is shouting a percentage. Same goes for creative subject lines and curiosity-driven ones outside the holidays.
| Brand | Subject line | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| Esqido | Shhh… Don’t tell anyone | Whisper |
| The Spinsterz | Bizarre story why it’s called Black Friday | Curiosity via story |
| Bath & Body Works | 🤚 HOLD UP 🤚 | Interruption |
| Frank and Oak | Our Better Black Friday is rated ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Stars as social proof |
| Banana Republic | BLACK. FRIDAY. ENDS. SOON. | Full stops slow you down |
| tarte | OPEN ME (you won’t regret it) | Direct instruction |
| Fenty Beauty | Ay, bay bay… It’s Black Friday! | Song reference |
| BarkBox | How The Grinch stole (record scratch) BLACK FRIDAY!? | Pop culture plus interruption |
| ThinkGeek | Get a jump on #000000 Friday with these Black Friday Markdowns | Hex code for black |
| KiwiCo | 🎉Saturday is the new Friday | Reframes the day |
| Tuft & Needle | These savings are the real deal * pun intended * | Self-aware pun |
| Mugsy | *Cue Black Friday Madness* 😵 | Stage direction |
| OLIPOP | Turkey’s gone… time to save! 🥤 | Thanksgiving callback |
| Wayfair | ⬛⬛⬛ BLACK FRIDAY EXTENDED ⬛⬛⬛ | Emoji used as visual design |
| Bose | 📧 Open to snag best-selling Black Friday deals! | Meta joke about the medium |
7. Cyber Monday Subject Lines
Cyber Monday is not Black Friday with the word swapped out. It’s a different job.
By Monday your subscriber has already sat through four days of discounting. They’ve either bought from you, ignored you, or deliberately waited. Most brands run find-and-replace on Friday’s campaign and wonder why it underperforms.
The brands that win on Monday write for one of four situations: the sale is live, the deal is the hook, time is running out, or the reader missed Black Friday entirely and needs a second chance.
Here’s the best example I saw last season, and it does something almost nobody else tries.
Thirty-one characters. No discount, no deadline, no “Cyber Monday” anywhere in it.
What Tuft & Needle did instead was flip something everybody already believes. Mondays are bad. This one isn’t. That reframe does work no percentage sign can.
And because it’s short, it survives truncation on every phone in your list. Compare that to the twenty “Cyber Monday Deal: 30% Off” lines sitting around it in the same inbox.
Open the email and the selling starts immediately: 35 percent off mattresses, 40 percent off accessories, up to $1,000 off bundles. The subject line’s only job was the open. The email did the rest.
That’s the lesson. Before you write the discount, ask what your customer already believes about this specific day, then write to that instead.
The second example is the send most brands never bother making, and it’s often the last real money on the table.
By the time this landed, Public Rec had already sent its last-chance email. The sale was supposed to be over.
So the subject line leads with the one word that makes an open worth it: Surprise. It’s not repeating a deadline you already ignored. It’s telling you something changed.
The email underneath does the emotional work. “Things come up, we get it.” It hands you an excuse instead of guilt, which is a much better reason to click than being told off for procrastinating.
And notice the extension has a hard edge: one day, ends at midnight. Extend without a new deadline and you just teach people that your deadlines are decorative.
Cyber Monday Subject Lines: The Sale Is Live
| Brand | Subject line | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| Billie | Cyber Monday starts now 👻💕 | Four-word launch |
| Bed Bath & Beyond | Let Cyber Funday begin 😊 | Portmanteau |
| PROVEN | Your Monday just got better ✨ | Possessive reframe |
| Crocs | Cyber Week Steals 🛒 Up to 60% off! | Sells the week, not the day |
| Banana Republic | The best of the Cyber Event is inside… | Curiosity gap |
| Benefit Cosmetics | ⚡Cyber Flash Sale⚡50% OFF BROWS! | One category, flash framing |
| Boozt.com | Cyber deals – Up to 70% 💥 | Plain, with a big number |
Cyber Monday Subject Lines: Deal-Led
| Brand | Subject line | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| J.Crew | Can’t beat this: 500 Cyber deals from $14.50 | Absurdly specific price |
| Xero Shoes | 🎯 Cyber Monday Deal: $15 Sandals | One product, one price, survives truncation |
| FabFitFun | Cyber Monday Deal: Free $450 Gift | Dollar-value gift beats a percentage |
| Bonobos | Cyber Monday Deals from $55 | Entry price as the anchor |
| FabFitFun | Cyber Monday Sale: Bonus Box + $50 Credit | Stacked incentive |
| Bobbi Brown | Cyber Monday Event: 30% off sitewide plus up to two free full-sizes with $115+ order | Threshold gift |
| Drunk Elephant | Deal with it: 30% off for Cyber Monday! | Pun plus offer |
| Bed Bath & Beyond | Cyber Monday just clocked in, 25% off your cart 🛒 | Work-Monday pun |
Cyber Monday Subject Lines: Last Chance
| Brand | Subject line | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| KOIO | THE SALE OF THE YEAR ENDS IN 6 HOURS | Exact hours in all caps |
| Legacybox | Leaving it until the last minute? CYBER MONDAY ends tonight! | Names the reader’s behavior |
| Benefit Cosmetics | LAST CHANCE! Cyber Monday Sale logging off soon 💻 | On-theme verb |
| The North Face | Final hours: Cyber Monday deals | Clean and plain |
| Tuft & Needle | LAST CHANCE: Shop Cyber Monday | Label first |
| Xero Shoes | Cyber Monday Sale Countdown! ⏰ | Countdown framing |
| Frank And Oak | CYBER. WEEK. ENDS. TOMORROW. | Full stops slow the reader down |
| Bose | Cyber deals end tonight ✨Plus something NEW just added! | Deadline plus a fresh reason |
Cyber Monday Subject Lines: Recovery and Extension
These are the ones most brands skip, and they’re often the highest-earning send of the weekend. Treat them like win-back emails with a deadline attached. Somebody who ignored four Black Friday emails might still convert on a well-framed second chance.
| Brand | Subject line | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| Boozt.com | Cyber deals – Up to 70% 💥 (preview: “Missed out on Black Friday? Now is your chance!”) | Recovery handled in the preview text |
| Xero Shoes | It’s Not Too Late: Cyber Monday Deals Inside | Reassurance instead of pressure |
| Banana Republic | Surprise Cyber Monday extension – today only! | Surprise framing |
| Torrid | Extended 1 DAY ONLY! Cyber Monday STEALS | Extension with a hard cap |
| FabFitFun | The Cyber Monday Deal That Won’t Stop | Endless framing |
| Victoire Boutique | Did We Say SALE?? Last Day, Ladies! | Conversational |
8. Extended and Post-Black Friday Subject Lines
It’s not a secret that when Black Friday sales end, oftentimes, they make a comeback, either in the form of Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday, or an extended Black Friday weekend.
It’s a great opportunity to follow up on Black Friday and convert prospects who haven’t shopped from your sales yet. However, as more and more companies start using this strategy, consumers become numb to it.
Make sure to give a good reason for why you’re extending your Black Friday sales or find an inventive angle for announcing the restart of Black Friday. Otherwise, your emails will go unnoticed, or worse, you’ll risk losing credibility.
The Spinsterz, a hula hoop e-tailer, tries an interesting approach:
In its subject line, the company informs you that they extended the sale and the reason is a “stupid website glitch.”
This is what the email looks like:
In it, the Spinsterz relates to how its customers might have felt when they experienced technical issues due to high Black Friday traffic.
The company simply apologizes for what went wrong and lets you know that this is the reason why they extended their Black Friday sale for 48 hours.
I can’t tell if this really happened or that you should follow the company’s lead even if your site doesn’t glitch. But a lot of stores experience technical problems during Black Friday and being honest about it might do the job in your subject lines.
More Extended Black Friday Subject Lines
Give people a reason for the extension, or at least the personality to carry it off. The rest of your holiday marketing calendar works the same way.
| Brand | Subject line | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| United by Blue | They’re Back: The Socks that Sold Out on Black Friday | Restock as news |
| Dollar Shave Club | EXTENDED: Sale ends today at Midnight 🕛 | Label plus deadline |
| Brooklinen | [EXTENDED] just for you | Brackets plus personal |
| PatPat | Black Friday Continues! | Two words |
| Marc Jacobs | Surprise! Black Friday Extended | Surprise framing |
| Urban Outfitters | ONE MORE DAY | Black Friday now extended | Precise extension |
| Esqido | Second chances don’t come along often… | Philosophical |
| Fenty Beauty | Black Friday’s over, but this promo’s still taking over | Contrast |
| Legacybox | Did ya miss Black Friday? It’s Back! | Casual question |
| Pura Vida Bracelets | Forgot to shop on Black Friday? NBD! | Slang reassurance |
| Kate Spade | offer extended… need we say more? | Lowercase confidence |
| Malouf | Extra! Extra! Extended Black Friday! | Newsboy alliteration |
| Malouf | A Little Longer for Black Friday | Gentle, no shouting |
| Lez at Mid-Day Squares | Missed Black Friday? (preview: “No sweat, your special offer is still live!”) | Question as a recovery hook |
| KiwiCo | 🎉Saturday is the new Friday | Extends into the weekend |
| Sweaty Betty | Payday treat | 50% OFF SELECTED BLACK BESTSELLERS 🖤 | Ties to payday, not to the sale |
How to Write Your Own Black Friday Subject Line
You’ve got 174 examples now. Here’s how to turn them into something that sounds like your brand instead of a copy-paste.
Write for 40 characters, not 60. Mobile drove most of last season’s sales and phone inboxes truncate early. Put the specific thing first and let the rest fall off the edge if it has to.
Pick one lever and commit. Curiosity, or a number, or a deadline. The lines that try to do all three read like a banner ad.
Use one emoji or none. An emoji that carries meaning (a clock for a deadline, a cart for a cart) earns its place. Three in a row is decoration, and decoration gets skimmed.
Personalize with a reason, not just a name. “[First Name], 25% off” is a mail merge. “[First Name], want to shop Black Friday first?” is an invitation that only makes sense because of who they are.
Write your preview text on purpose. It’s the second half of your subject line. Public Rec proved that above.
Test the send time, not just the copy. In Drip you can split test up to four subject line variations on a single campaign, and schedule sends in each recipient’s local timezone so your midnight deadline actually means midnight to them. You can also resend to non-openers with a different subject line, which is the cheapest incremental revenue available on Black Friday.
Don’t forget your triggered emails. Around 70 percent of carts get abandoned in a normal week, and Black Friday traffic makes that worse. Your cart and browse abandonment workflows are still firing all weekend with whatever subject lines you wrote in March. Rewrite your cart abandonment subject lines for the sale, or they’ll read like they’re from a different company.
Write Monday’s email before Friday. Cyber Monday planned in advance beats Cyber Monday improvised at 11pm on Sunday, every time.
Black Friday 2026 Key Dates
Mark these now, because your pre-sale teasers need to go out well before the first one. Our wider Black Friday tips cover what to do with the weeks in between.
| Date | Day | What’s happening |
|---|---|---|
| November 26, 2026 | Thursday | Thanksgiving |
| November 27, 2026 | Friday | Black Friday |
| November 28, 2026 | Saturday | Small Business Saturday |
| November 30, 2026 | Monday | Cyber Monday |
Wrapping Up
Whether you’re teasing an upcoming sale, rewarding your subscribers with early access, or chasing the people who slept through Friday, your subject lines decide whether any of the rest of it gets read.
The 174 examples above should cover every send in your calendar. But the ones worth stealing aren’t the biggest discounts. They’re the ones where somebody clearly thought about what the reader already believes, then wrote one specific sentence to that.
Steal the tactic, not the wording.
Ready to put this into action?
Drip makes it easy to split test your Black Friday subject lines, segment by who actually bought last year, and send at the right moment in each subscriber’s timezone. Shopify stores running on Drip generated $19.3 million in attributed revenue over Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend last season.
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