Prepare for success for Black Friday
Ecommpay guide helps small businesses minimise friction and maximise profits for the peak shopping period
With just two months – and counting – until this year’s Black Friday (27th November) inclusive global payments platform, Ecommpay is providing SME merchants with a free helping hand to optimise performance. A new guide ‘The Black Friday Stress Test’ takes e-commerce merchants through seven quick checks to ensure their website and their business is ready for the festive spending season.
“Smaller merchants don’t have the same flexibility with profit margins as big online retailers” commented Luke Pierce Ionides , Small Business Champion, Ecommpay. “And that means planning for the biggest spending period of the year is critical. Our new guide aims to help retailers quickly and easily assess whether their website, delivery policy, fraud protections, payment process and planned promotions are ready for a potential surge in late November and offers practical tips for improvements.”
In 2025, Black Friday did not live up to the predicted hype, with retailers left disappointed by 1.4% annual growth and Barclays reporting a 1.1% year-on-year decline in spending.
PwC predicts 2026 spending will be 1.5% higher than 2025, with 46% of consumers expected to take advantage of deals(down from 53% in 2025), but average spend per shopper up 13% this year.
To capitalise on this spending window, Ecommpay offers a series of pre-Black Friday checks for e-commerce merchants:
- Make sure your likely bestsellers will deliver profit
- Get someone else to do a test shop on your site to identify snags and friction
- Have a payment plan B if checkout stops working – don’t rely solely on one payment provider
- Be realistic about delivery timescales offered to customers
- Check fraud settings are up to scratch
- Plan for the post-sale admin and inevitable returns
- Decide what success looks like, beyond revenue targets
“If promotions are carefully calculated and every area of the business is ready to process a spike in demand, even the smallest merchant should get a slice of the Black Friday profit pie – providing checkout runs smoothly,” added Luke Pierce Ionides. “To ensure conversions are maximised, the payment journey must be as smooth and accessible as possible. A complicated multi-page checkout or limited number of payment options available can lead to increased drop-offs and lost customers, but simple changes can help businesses grow their loyal customer base and boost profits.”
Ecommpay for Small Businesses gives UK SMEs and micro enterprises a simpler way to manage payments and refunds through their websites with no set-up fees or minimum-term contracts[1]. With access to Ecommpay’s full payment infrastructure, merchants can process card payments, Apple Pay and Google Pay, pay-ins, payment links and refunds through one simple dashboard.
The full guide includes what to look for, important considerations and actions merchants can take now to get ready before the rush: The Black Friday Stress Test
[1] Other fees and charges apply; full details available on request
