Client Spotlight: How Antavo Is Helping Brands Make Black Friday Smarter, Not Just Bigger
Black Friday has always been retail’s loudest, busiest moment of the year; a rush of competing offers, unpredictable customer behaviour and pressure to outperform last year’s results. Yet the brands gaining the most ground today aren’t the ones shouting about the highest discounts. They’re the ones planning smarter, moving faster, and using loyalty in a way that actually strengthens relationships rather than erodes margins.
That’s exactly where our client Antavo, an AI-powered loyalty technology provider, has become a standout partner for global brands. Instead of relying on blanket offers or scrambling through last-minute changes, Antavo helps brands and marketers create Black Friday strategies that are more efficient, more responsive and far more personalised.
Below, we break down how their latest tools are reshaping how brands prepare for peak season.
Black Friday Is a Race, But It Doesn’t Have to Be Chaotic
Antavo often compares Black Friday to a Formula 1 weekend: you prepare for months, then everything changes at the last moment. Most brands struggle because their tech simply can’t keep up, rigid promotion engines, long development cycles and limited customer insight make it difficult to pivot when needed.
Antavo’s solution combines flexible promotions, AI-assisted planning and loyalty journeys that go far beyond discounts, helping marketers stay in control even during peak demand.
1. Promotions You Can Tweak on the Fly
Last-minute changes are practically guaranteed during Black Friday. Antavo’s Promotion Engine was designed to make those changes easy. Teams can:
Launch or update offers instantly
Choose from a broad mix of promotion types, bundles, bonus gifts, promo code and more
Add caps to prevent overspend
Because everything is adjustable in real time, brands can react to what customers are doing rather than sticking to a plan that no longer fits. And for companies still building out a full loyalty programme, the Promotion Engine provides a simple, strategic first step.
2. AI That Makes Planning Less Painful
Black Friday planning can feel overwhelming, especially when ideas need to come together quickly. Antavo’s Timi AI, woven throughout the Planner, Engine, and publicly available in the Optimizer, acts like an extra pair of hands. It helps marketers sharpen campaign concepts, sense-check reward ideas, spot potential gaps, and organise everything into a clear, workable timeline.
Instead of staring at a blank page or debating the same concepts repeatedly, teams move forward faster and with more clarity; an advantage when decisions need to be made quickly.
3. Insights You Can Use Immediately
Once Black Friday is underway, marketers can’t afford to dig through complicated analytics. Antavo’s Optimizer, also powered by Timi AI, turns data into clear, actionable insights and ready-to-use visuals.
Marketers can quickly uncover insights such as which segments reacted best to early access, or which rewards were redeemed most frequently.
Timi produces visuals, summaries and takeaways almost instantly, helping teams adjust campaigns while they’re live, not days later when the opportunity has passed.
4. Loyalty That Lasts Longer Than One Weekend
Antavo encourages brands to view Black Friday as more than a sales spike. Instead of treating it as a one-day flash of activity, to use it as a starting point for a longer-term connection. That might mean giving loyal customers a chance to shop before the rush, offering free delivery for a limited time, or introducing rewards that feel like experiences rather than another coupon.
Many brands also use the moment to spark behaviour-based engagement; things like reviews, referrals or sustainability challenges, which help keep new shoppers active long after cyber weekend ends.
This approach matters even more during Black Friday, when a large number of first-time customers visit a brand’s site. Small, well-timed loyalty moments can be the difference between a one-off purchase and someone who comes back in December, January and beyond.
5. Winning Over Gen Z, The Toughest Audience to Pin Down
Antavo’s research highlights something most marketers already suspect: Gen Z won’t stick around for a loyalty program that feels slow, generic or transactional. They want something quick, personal and a little bit fun. For Black Friday, that often means giving them rewards tied to participation, such as sharing content, leaving a review or teaming up with friends to unlock perks, rather than relying purely on money-off deals.
Smart Loyalty Wins the Season
Black Friday will always be competitive, but it doesn’t have to be chaotic. With tools like the Promotion Engine, Loyalty Planner and Optimizer, Antavo gives brands the flexibility to adjust quickly, personalise confidently and make smarter decisions in real time.
The result? Not just a bigger Black Friday, but a smarter one, built on loyalty that lasts.
Written by Celine Abebe