60 Black Friday email subject lines for small shops
A subject line has one job: get a small shop’s email opened by someone who already likes the shop. Here are sixty you can copy, grouped by the email they belong to, plus a few rules that matter more than any single line.
Five rules before you copy anything
- Say the thing. “Friday only: 25% off all candles” beats “You’re going to love this.” People decide in a second.
- Put the deadline or the number up front. “Ends tonight,” “48 hours,” “Order by Dec 14.”
- Keep it under about 45 characters so phones don’t cut it off, and let the preview text carry the rest.
- Sound like your shop. Swap the brackets for your own words; a line that sounds like you outperforms a clever line that doesn’t.
- Test two lines, not twenty. Send version A to half your list and B to the other half, then use the winner for the resend two days later.
Early access (the week before Black Friday)
- Early access starts tonight
- Your first look at Black Friday
- You’re on the list: early access to [offer]
- Before everyone else: our Black Friday picks
- [Shop Name] early access, 24 hours only
- A head start on Black Friday, [First Name]
- The doorbuster is almost here
- Black Friday preview (you get it first)
Black Friday (the day itself)
- Black Friday is on: [offer]
- Today only: [offer]
- [offer] starts now
- Our Black Friday doorbuster ([number] available)
- The deal everyone asks about is back
- [First Name], it’s live: [offer]
- Black Friday at [Shop Name]: what’s in, what’s on sale
- Small shop, big Friday: [offer]
Small Business Saturday
- Small Business Saturday at [Shop Name]
- Thank you for shopping small, [First Name]
- Saturday only: [offer]
- Our Small Business Saturday story (and a thank-you)
- Why small shops matter on Saturday (and a gift from us)
- Shop small this Saturday, we saved you something
- Come say hi: Saturday hours and a free [treat/gift]
- The people behind [Shop Name], and a Saturday offer
Cyber Monday
- Cyber Monday: last chance for [offer]
- Online only: [offer] ends tonight
- Cyber Monday at [Shop Name]: free shipping inside
- Still thinking? [offer] ends at midnight
- Last call: Black Friday prices end tonight
- Cyber Monday, but make it small-shop
- [First Name], one day left for [offer]
- The last day of our sale
Gift guides (early December)
- The [Shop Name] gift guide is here
- Gifts for everyone on your list
- Stuck on a gift? Start here
- Our staff picks for Christmas
- Gifts under $25 (all in stock)
- For the person who has everything
- Stocking stuffers that aren’t junk
- What we’d give: the [Shop Name] gift guide
Last day to ship
- Last day to order for Christmas delivery
- Order by [day] for delivery before Christmas
- Ships by [day]: last call for gifts
- [First Name], your gifts are 48 hours from the cutoff
- Missed the shipping cutoff? Here’s what still works
- Gift cards arrive instantly
- Last-minute gift? Pick up in store or send a gift card
- The final shipping day is [day]
Bundles, free shipping and doorbusters
- Free shipping on everything, today only
- Build your own gift box: save [offer]
- A free [gift] with every order over $[amount]
- Only [number] left: our most-gifted [product]
- Two for [price]: the gift set that sold out last year
- Free gift wrap, free note, free shipping
- The one item we always sell out of
- Buy one, send one: [offer]
Resends (to people who didn’t open)
- In case you missed it: [offer]
- Quick reminder: [offer] ends [day]
- [First Name], did this get buried?
- Still here: [offer]
How to use these
Pick the email, then pick one line and fill in the brackets. For your resend, change the subject line, not the email. People who skipped “Black Friday is on” may open “Ends tonight.” If you’d like finished emails to go with the subject lines, the free email kit has three complete templates, and the Black Friday email ideas guide lays out the whole send calendar.
Want your own?
These lines are written to work for any shop. Ours, written for your shop, use your products, your offer and your deadlines, and every subject line gets a second version to test. Paste your store address into the free mockup tool to see your own Black Friday email.
Want to see this built from your own products?
Paste your store's address into our free mockup tool and get a Black Friday email made from your real products. No card needed.
Prefer to skip the writing? We write and design the whole run for your shop, ready to import into Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Omnisend or Shopify Email, in 72 hours.