Unboxing the Future: How CPG Brands Win With Experiences
October 22, 2025
Every consumer packaged goods brand is gearing up for Black Friday with the same tired playbook: slash prices, blast emails, and hope for a temporary sales spike. But if the last few years have taught us anything, it's that the CPG brands truly winning during BFCM aren't just discounting products, they're building systems that transform one-time bargain hunters into loyal, repeat customers.
While your competitors are busy planning their "40% off everything" promotions, the CPG brands that will dominate this holiday season are asking a fundamentally different question. They're not debating between 30% or 40% off; they're strategizing how to use BFCM as a customer acquisition engine that powers year-round growth. Here's what they've figured out that most of the industry is still missing.
Last year's BFCM revealed a clear pattern: while some CPG brands celebrated a short-lived revenue spike from deep discounts, others quietly built empires. These savvier brands focused on turning the transactional holiday into a subscription and replenishment opportunity. The result? They emerged with predictable recurring revenue and a loyal customer base, while the discount-chasers were left with depleted margins and customers trained to only buy on sale.
The data tells the story. CPG brands that focused on building replenishment systems over chasing one-time sales saw a 35% higher customer lifetime value and a 40% better retention rate six months after BFCM. Meanwhile, brands that relied on deep discounts found themselves in an endless cycle of margin erosion and diminishing returns.
This year's winners won't be the ones with the flashiest deals or the biggest ad budgets. They'll be the ones who have mastered the art of turning a single BFCM purchase into a long-term customer relationship.
Your customers aren't just buying a product; they're starting a relationship with your brand. BFCM is your golden opportunity to acquire new customers at scale and immediately set them on a path to becoming loyal, repeat purchasers.
The Power of Strategic Bundling
The most successful CPG brands have moved beyond discounting individual products to creating strategic bundles that solve complete consumer problems. Instead of marking down a single face wash, they offer a "Complete Skincare Starter Kit" with cleanser, moisturizer, and serum. Instead of discounting protein powder, they create a "Fitness Essentials Bundle" with protein, pre-workout, and recovery supplements.
These bundles work because they deliver more value than a simple discount. They introduce customers to multiple products in your line, increasing the likelihood they'll find something they love and want to repurchase. They also significantly boost your average order value during the most competitive shopping weekend of the year.
The Subscription Conversion Strategy
The real magic happens when you seamlessly transition BFCM shoppers into subscribers. Smart CPG brands design their BFCM offers with subscription conversion in mind:
The goal is to use the urgency and traffic of BFCM to acquire customers at scale, then immediately convert them into predictable, recurring revenue through subscriptions.
The Replenishment Reminder System
CPG products have a natural replenishment cycle—whether it's coffee beans every two weeks, vitamins every month, or skincare every 60 days. The brands winning at BFCM are meticulously tracking these cycles and building sophisticated reminder systems.
Instead of hoping customers remember to reorder, they're proactively reaching out at precisely the right moment with personalized offers. They're using SMS, email, and even package inserts to ensure customers never run out of their favorite products.
This approach transforms BFCM from a one-time discount event into the first step of a carefully orchestrated customer journey.
Executing a sophisticated bundling and subscription strategy requires more than just good intentions. It demands a robust technological foundation that can support complex offers, seamless checkout experiences, and data-driven customer journeys.
This is exactly why we built FERMÀT. While your competitors are struggling with rigid e-commerce platforms and disconnected marketing tools, you can be launching sophisticated, high-converting funnels in a matter of hours.
With FERMÀT, you can:
The CPG brands that leverage FERMÀT aren't just preparing for a successful BFCM weekend; they're building a more resilient and profitable business for the long term.
Black Friday in the CPG space is no longer about who can offer the deepest discount. It's about who can most effectively convert the holiday traffic surge into long-term customer relationships.
When you shift your focus from transactions to subscriptions, from one-time sales to repeat purchases, BFCM becomes your most powerful customer acquisition tool.
The brands that adopt this new playbook won't just have a successful holiday season. They will build a foundation for sustainable growth that extends far beyond the BFCM weekend.
The choice is yours. You can continue to compete on price and hope for the best, or you can build a system that turns BFCM into your brand's most valuable customer acquisition channel.
Ready to see how FERMÀT can help you build your repeat-purchase flywheel this BFCM? Let's talk.
