The rule before any offer: the margin subtraction
Every event offer gets approved with a subtraction, not with enthusiasm: sale price minus product cost, minus packaging, minus delivery, minus fees if you charge through a payment link. If the result is negative, or so thin that one failed delivery eats it, the offer doesn't go up. Run the math per product, not per category — inside the same category some pieces can take the discount and some can't.
The second rule: the regular price must be real. Mexico's consumer protection agency PROFECO watches event promotions and penalizes prices inflated days before the discount; and your regulars remember exactly what you charged in September. A genuine regular price also makes your discount look credible next to the big chains'.
2-for-1 and half-off-the-second, with the math on the table
2-for-1 looks aggressive and works when the cost of the second unit is low. With round numbers: if your product sells for the equivalent of 150 pesos and costs you 60, a 2-for-1 collects 150 for two units that cost you 120 — leaving 30 for packaging, delivery, and your profit. Fair, not generous: 2-for-1 only works on products with a low cost relative to price, and it's best for clearing slow movers or introducing a new variant.
Half-off-the-second-item is the kinder version: same example, you collect 150 + 75 = 225 for two units costing 120. It protects your average margin better, and the customer who only wanted one piece doesn't feel forced into two.
- 2-for-1: for low-relative-cost products or clearance
- Half off the second item: when you want to protect average margin
- Cap units per customer ('limit 2 per person') to keep resellers out
- Always calculate the worst case: both units at the highest cost in your batch
Free shipping above a threshold
Free shipping over a threshold isn't a gift; it's a lever to raise average ticket. The reference: your average order plus 15 to 30 percent. If a typical order runs about 180 in your currency, free shipping from 250 pushes customers to add one more item; if delivery costs you the equivalent of 35–40, the bigger ticket absorbs it and still leaves you ahead. Publish a round number ('free shipping over 250'), not fine print.
- Threshold = average ticket + 15 to 30 percent, rounded
- State the zone: 'free delivery in the neighborhood and nearby from 250'
- Below the threshold, charge delivery visibly — don't silently absorb it
- Deposits remain legitimate for large orders
Budget bundles and gift-with-purchase
Budget bundles turn 'what should I gift?' into a fast sale: build closed kits at three price points with products you already carry, computing the full kit's margin before publishing. Gift-with-purchase is the cheapest offer of all: a small, low-cost, high-perceived-value extra (chocolate with a groceries order, batteries with a toy) that differentiates your catalog without touching the price, which is where people compare.
In the catalog, every offer displays the same way: real photo, struck-through regular price, sale price, and the condition in one line ('2-for-1 on plain t-shirts', 'free shipping over 250', '500 gift kit'). If the condition isn't readable on the card, the question lands in your chat and costs you minutes you won't have on Black Friday.
Promoting the offers on WhatsApp without spamming
The channel matters as much as the offer. WhatsApp promotion that works follows three rules: people wrote to you first or follow you (never buy lists or add strangers), the message is useful even without a purchase (dates, offer conditions, link), and frequency stays at two or three notices for the whole event. A short template: 'Black Friday at [your business]: 2-for-1 on t-shirts and free shipping over [amount], November 27–30. Catalog here: [link]. Order in this chat.'
Status updates and broadcast lists first; groups only if you own the group or cleared it with the admin. Sending the same text to ten groups where nobody knows you doesn't generate sales — it generates blocks, and a blocked contact won't see next year's event either. A catalog on its own link does the rest: whoever opens it browses the offers alone and the assembled order lands in your chat.
- Two or three notices per event: opening day, best moment, last call
- Status updates and broadcast lists before anyone else's groups
- Every notice carries the catalog link and the offer condition in one line
- Nobody who writes to you goes unanswered during a promo: fast replies are part of the promotion
After the event: turn the offers off on time
The last event night, the catalog goes back to regular prices or switches to the holiday campaign; leaving the 2-for-1 alive an extra week is giving away margin without the event's volume. Check the loose ends too: committed deliveries, payments not yet cleared, returns. And keep the numbers per offer: units sold at 2-for-1, orders that reached free shipping. That record decides what you repeat next year.
To everyone who bought, one short follow-up message (delivery confirmed, thank you) closes the loop and leaves them ready for your December campaign — which starts the moment the sales event fades.