Every Black Friday arrives with the same expectation attached: prices drop, everyone cuts deeper than usual, and anyone who holds back disappears. Last year's emails tell a different story. They show more emails and more pressure, but not deeper discounts. The number that reaches the basket stays remarkably still.
This post is built on 772 newsletters sent by 187 German online shops between 17 November and 1 December 2025, the two weeks up to and including Cyber Monday. The comparison window is the four full weeks before it, 20 October to 16 November 2025, with 1,591 emails from 189 shops. From those we show twelve, each with its industry, send time, mechanic and the numbers behind it. We do not name the shops: the point is the pattern, not the sender.
One limit up front: we see what was sent, not how it performed. Opens, clicks and revenue are not available to us. Where we read something into the observation, we say so.
Black Week against normal trading
All values refer to the two windows in the German market.
| Metric | 4 weeks before | Black Week |
|---|---|---|
| Emails in window | 1,591 | 772 |
| Shops | 189 | 187 |
| Promotional emails | 66.9 % | 82.1 % |
| Emails with a stated discount | 51.3 % | 66.6 % |
| Discount phrased as "up to" | 35.4 % | 47.8 % |
| Median fixed discount | 20 % | 20 % |
| Top quartile of fixed discounts | 29 % | 30 % |
| Median "up to" figure | 57 % | 50 % |
| Top quartile of "up to" figures | 70 % | 68 % |
| Emails with a voucher code | 21.3 % | 21.1 % |
| Emails with a minimum order value | 14.1 % | 13.9 % |
| Median minimum order value | 70 € | 59 € |
| Urgency signals in the body | 51.9 % | 72.5 % |
| Scarcity signals | 25.6 % | 36.9 % |
| Social proof | 12.6 % | 11.3 % |
| Emojis | 42.7 % | 44.6 % |
| Percent sign in the subject line | 24.5 % | 31.7 % |
| Subject line, median | 42 characters | 43 characters |
| Body length, median | 180 words | 180 words |
| Sections, median | 6 | 6 |
| Buttons, median | 4 | 4 |
| Sent between 5am and 10am | 56.3 % | 54.8 % |
The most interesting row is the flattest one. The median fixed discount sits at 20 percent in both windows. Everything that moves sits above and below it: more emails carry a discount at all, far more phrase it as a ceiling, and three in four push. Black Week does not change the price. It changes the packaging and the volume.
The run-up: Friday starts on the Monday before
528 of the 772 emails, or 68 percent, landed before Black Friday itself. Three examples from the start of the window, eleven days ahead of the date.
A furniture retailer, Monday 17 November, 6:55am. Subject: "Die Black Days beginnen morgen | Zusätzliche 20% Rabatt für Sie" ("The Black Days start tomorrow, an extra 20% off for you"). The mechanic runs fifteen days, to 1 December: up to 50 percent site-wide, plus 20 percent above a 300 euro basket via a code, stackable on reduced items, excluding outlet, gift cards and the interior design service. 40 words, four buttons. The shortest email in the sample carries the longest run time.
A clothing and footwear retailer, Tuesday 18 November, 6:29am. Subject: "Heute schon Black Friday: bis zu -70% EXTRA" ("Black Friday already today: up to 70% extra"). Ten days early, with an offer that expires on 24 November at 00:59, four days before the real Friday. No code, no minimum order value, selected items. 220 words, four buttons. The same sender reuses almost the identical subject on Black Friday itself, minus the word "today".
An optician with an online shop, Wednesday 19 November, 7:00am. The subject promises an early-starter benefit of up to 35 percent. Behind it sits a brand ladder: 35 percent on eight brands, 25 percent on fifteen more, three brands and every already reduced frame excluded, code at checkout, valid until 3 December. Fifteen days of run time, five buttons.
What we read into it: The run-up is not a warm-up act, it is the larger half of the campaign. Only 62 of those 528 emails announce a head start in the subject line. The rest move the date without saying so: the promotion is called Black something and it is already live. If you anchor your calendar to 28 November, you are planning against a market that started ten days earlier.
The mechanic: "up to" replaces depth
The share of emails carrying a discount rises from 51.3 to 66.6 percent. The share of percentage figures that begin with "up to" rises from 35.4 to 47.8 percent. Three emails that show what that means in practice.
An electronics retailer, Monday 17 November, 9:09am. The subject advertises tech deals and up to 64 percent off the recommended retail price. The conditions pull the other way: the discount is already applied, no code needed, but it only covers the items on one campaign page, while stocks last. Eight buttons, six sections. The number in the subject describes a single article, not the assortment.
A travel provider, Monday 17 November, 3:31pm. The subject names up to 750 euros off. Behind it sits an eleven-step ladder keyed to booking value: 50 euros from 500 euros of travel spend, 100 euros from 1,000 euros, and the 750 euros from the subject only unlocks above 12,000 euros. A four-day booking window, discounts visible only after login. The gap between the headline number and the reachable one is the widest in this sample.
A fashion retailer with a membership programme, Wednesday 19 November, 10:00am. Subject: "Black Week dreht weiter auf: 17% auf dein neues Lieblingsteil!" ("Black Week turns it up: 17% on your new favourite piece"). A fixed figure instead of a ceiling, but with conditions: online only, minimum order value of 49.99 euros, active club members only, code at checkout, three days of run time. 180 words, five buttons.
What we read into it: Almost half of all percentage figures in Black Week are a ceiling rather than a price, and that ceiling gets lower, not higher: the median "up to" figure falls from 57 to 50 percent. That follows from how many shops join in. In the quiet weeks, mostly shops with deep clearance stock phrase an "up to". In Black Week everyone does, including those sitting at 20 or 25 percent, so the median drops as the field widens. A high number in the subject line stops being a differentiator that week. The condition underneath it does not.
Friday itself: the densest day in the whole window
On 28 November, 85 of the 187 shops sent at least one email, nine of them more than one. At 94 emails it is the densest day across the six-week window. The strongest day in the four weeks before was a Sunday with 80.
A textile retailer, Thursday 27 November, 11:01pm. Subject: "Der black friday ist jetzt live!" ("black friday is live now!"). Sent 59 minutes before midnight, with 60 percent off textiles and clothing, one day of run time, no code, while stocks last. 120 words, a single button. Three further emails in the panel went out in the same hour.
A DIY chain with a loyalty card, Friday 28 November, midnight. The subject announces a voucher day. The mechanic is a threshold rather than a percentage: 20 euros back per 100 euros spent, cardholders only, that day only, not combinable, with an exclusion list running from services through tobacco to gift cards. 420 words, six buttons. The copy is long because the conditions are.
A clothing and household goods retailer with physical stores, Friday 28 November, 5:19am. The subject uses the shop's own campaign name and promises 30 percent on the entire assortment. The mechanic keeps that promise: 30 percent, online, in the app and in every store, on that single day, excluding fixed-price books, vouchers and shipping. 60 words, four buttons. The same sender had run the same 30 percent the day before under a different subject line.
What we read into it: On the Friday itself, 95 percent of emails are promotional and 87 percent carry urgency signals, both the highest values of the window. Yet the median fixed discount that day drops to 20 percent, below the Wednesday at 30 and the Thursday at 25. The explanation is turnout: shops that usually stay quiet also send, and they rarely arrive with the deepest offer. Enter that day at 20 percent and you sit exactly at the median, not beneath it.
After Friday: an empty Saturday, then Cyber Monday
The Friday is followed by the emptiest day in the window: 26 emails on Saturday 29 November. On the Monday after, 72 emails from 68 shops, the second-densest day.
A streetwear retailer, Saturday 29 November, 9:01am. The subject declares Black Friday extended and names up to 20 percent on almost everything. The body delivers 15 percent, above a 60 euro basket, via a code, valid for two days, with seven brands excluded. 120 words, two buttons.
A DIY retailer, Saturday 29 November, 12:05pm. Subject: "Letzte Chance! Black Week nur noch bis morgen" ("Last chance! Black Week only until tomorrow"). Up to 67 percent, online only, campaign period 24 to 30 November, and one notable exclusion: discount vouchers cannot be redeemed on the campaign items themselves. 220 words, three buttons.
A furniture and home retailer, Sunday 30 November, 8:04am. The subject borrows a line from a Christmas song and advertises free delivery. The mechanic: 60 percent on Christmas decorations, a 499 euro minimum for free delivery, valid from 30 November to 6 December, new orders only. 45 words, three buttons. It is the first email here to switch occasion entirely.
What we read into it: 150 emails followed the Friday. Of those, 46 still name Black or Cyber in the subject and 21 work with a deadline. The rest have moved on. Across the whole window, only 242 of 772 subject lines, or 31.3 percent, mention a Black Friday term at all. Two in three emails during Black Week are about something else: Advent, gifts, the weekly offer. That is the easiest number in this post to miss.
What to take from the twelve
- The discount holds, the volume rises. The median fixed discount is 20 percent in both windows. What climbs is the promotional share, urgency and scarcity.
- "Up to" becomes standard, and shallower. Almost half of all percentage figures are ceilings, and their median falls from 57 to 50 percent.
- The campaign starts eleven days early. 68 percent of all emails arrived before Black Friday, the first on 17 November.
- On Friday, median is not mediocre. 85 of 187 shops send, 95 percent of them a promotional email, and the median fixed discount drops to 20 percent that day.
- The Saturday after is empty. 26 emails, the lowest figure across the six-week window. The Monday after brings 72.
- Two thirds of subject lines never say Black Friday. Only 31.3 percent name the occasion. The rest sell Advent, gifts or the weekly offer.
How we counted
The basis is 772 newsletters from 187 German online shops sent between 17 November and 1 December 2025, captured through test accounts in the Reyo panel. The comparison window covers 1,591 emails from 189 shops between 20 October and 16 November 2025, four full weeks from Monday to Sunday. An email is a unique combination of sender, send time and subject line; emails carrying several offers count once. A fixed discount is the highest percentage an email states without "up to", an "up to" discount the highest stated with it. Euro amounts and tiered prices count towards the share of emails with a discount, but not towards the percentage medians. The twelve examples were chosen by distance from the median and by position in the campaign arc, not by shop size. Senders are described by industry, never by name. German subject lines are quoted in the original with a translation in brackets, and only where they do not identify the sender and contain no first name; otherwise we paraphrase. Voucher codes are never reproduced.
What you need for this
Twelve examples from last year are a slice, and the panel is not your competitive set. What matters for your Q4 planning is when your competitors actually start, which mechanic they enter the week with, and when they follow up. Those are the fields competitor monitoring in Reyo delivers, email by email, in the same structure used throughout this post. The campaign planner puts your own dates alongside them, and the Q4 guide 2026 sorts the quarter's occasions in advance. To see this against your own competitors, book a demo.
Related posts: Black Friday 2026: 12 weeks from kick-off to send turns these patterns into a schedule, and Newsletter Examples: 12 Emails from German Retail runs the same analysis on a window with no occasion attached.