Is Black Friday worth it?

Black Friday and Black Week have become retailers autumn highlight in Sweden. The traffic surge, sales boost and brand exposure can feel irresistible. But behind the revenue peaks often lurks a hidden cost: the wave of returns, repairs and claims that follows. For many of you retailers, the real test starts after the checkout.

The bright side: new customers

Black Friday often still delivers on its promise. Campaigns help clear old stock and let you experiment with new channels and offers. For some brands, it can become a loyalty accelerator by converting first-time shoppers into long-term customers.

The dark side: returns chaos and margin erosion

The other side of the coin is post-purchase pain. Returns spike in the weeks after Black Week, stretching customer-service teams and reverse-logistics capacity. Each return eats away at margin as discounts reduce revenue and handling costs rise.

Repairs and warranty claims are another problem. For electronics and fashion in particular, post-purchase operations can become a full-time crisis. What was a record-breaking sales event can quickly turn into weeks of manual support tickets, warehouse congestion and frustrated customers.

The sustainability dilemma

There’s also a growing environmental cost. Every unnecessary return, repack or discarded item undermines your sustainability efforts. Many customers prefer brands that handle post-purchase responsibly. Repair, reuse, and recommerce options aren’t just ethical choices anymore; they’re brand differentiators. And soon requirement by law through EU’s Righ to repair.

From reactive to proactive

So, is Black Friday still worth it? The answer depends on how well you manage what happens next. When post-sale processes are automated, customer-friendly and circular, the event remains highly profitable. But when returns and repairs are treated as an afterthought, margins disappear fast.

Try these steps to be proactive instead of reactive:

1. Audit your returns process before the rush. Is it fast, branded and automated?
2. Offer exchanges or vouchers to keep revenue in the business.
3. Integrate repairs and warranty claims into one streamlined workflow.
4. Monitor post-purchase data  Return rates, recovery value, repair frequency.
5. Communicate clearly about return timelines and sustainability efforts.

Automate to make it worth it

By automating returns, exchanges, and repairs, you can eliminate up to 90% of manual handling, keep customers automatically updated and even retain revenue through vouchers or exchanges instead of refunds. Beyond efficiency, it enables circular flows, turning returned or repaired products back into saleable inventory instead of waste.

Black Friday/week is still worth it but only if you see it as more than a sales sprint. The winners are those who master the entire journey: from checkout to return, repair and beyond. Turning post-purchase pain points into circular opportunities is how retailers protect profits, delight customers and build brands that last well beyond the new year.