Black Friday – A Legal Playbook for High-Growth DTC Brands

You’ve polished your Shopify store, optimised your Meta ads and stocked your warehouse. But here's what most DTC founders miss in the lead up to BlackFriday: the regulatory risk embedded in your promotion could cost you more than an underperforming ad ever will.

Whilst a botched campaign drains budget, compliance breaches drain budgets and erode customer trust. Unlike your ROAS, trust won’t recover with a creative refresh.

Last year’s wake-up call

LastDecember, the ACCC conducted a sweep of Black Friday campaigns and flagged widespread non-compliance, including false ‘sitewide’ discounts, inflated ‘was/now’ pricing and other deceptive advertising practices. By mid-2025, Michael Hill, MyHouse and Hairhouse Online had each received infringement notices and been publicly fined $19,800 each.

Fora high-growth DTC brand, that’s just the headline number. Factor in legal costs, operational disruption and damage to brand equity, and you're looking at a margin-killing event during what should be your most profitable quarter.

Ifan investigation escalates to Court, penalties can also reach up to the higherof $50 million, 3x the value of the benefit derived or 30% of turnover.

Why DTC brands are in the firing line?

You might assume the ACCC only pursues big-box retailers. Wrong. With $30 million in additional funding earmarked for retail enforcement over the next 3.5 years, DTC brands are squarely in the crosshairs.

DTC brands are prime targets because their entire funnel is digitally traceable. Social ads, EDMs, landing pages and checkout flows, every touchpoint leaves a forensic footprint.

The faster you scale, the more visible you become. The aggressive discount claims that worked at $5m in revenue become a genuine liability at $20m. At that scale, you're not flying under the radar, you're a case study waiting to happen.

Common Black Friday pitfalls

False "sitewide" claims:

"40% off sitewide" while excluding hero products, new arrivals and half your catalog. If you're running exclusions, say "selected products"or "most items" and link prominently to the full T&Cs.

Reference price inflation:

Increasing your"was" prices immediately before Black Friday to exaggerate discounts. If your $89 hoodie was never sold at $149, you can't claim "$149now $89." Your reference price must reflect what you genuinely charged for at least a month or two prior.

"Up to" misuse:

Running "UP TO 80% OFF" when only a handful of clearance SKUs hit that discount and everything else maxes out at 30%. If the headline number is functionally unattainable, it’s likely to be misleading. Advertise the real discount range or ensure a meaningful portion of your range qualifies.

Cross-channel inconsistency:

Different claims across Meta, TikTok, email and landing pages or burying material exclusions behind "T&Cs apply" with no visible link. Every channel needs consistent messaging with exclusions stated upfront.

Promotional bait and switch:

"FREE SHIPPING SITEWIDE" that requires a $150 minimum order. "VIP Early Access" that opens to everyone 10 minutes later. If your promotional mechanics don't match your marketing, you're not just frustrating customers, you're at risk of breaching the consumer law.

Compliance is unit economics

Misleading promotions might spike Q4revenue, but they risk fundamentally undermining your unit economics.

Trust = LTV:

When consumers realise your "60% Off" sale was engineered, they don't just return that order, they don't return at all. Your CAC remains constant while your LTV collapses. You've effectively paid to acquire a one-time customer worth a lot less than a repeat purchaser.

 Retention = margin:

Paid social acquisition is expensive and deteriorating. Your highest-value customers are repeat purchasers. Damaging trust with questionable discount claims means you're back on the acquisition treadmill, competing for cold traffic while competitors build audiences with genuine loyalty.

January reveals the true cost:

Refund requests spike and customer service costs escalate. Your Shopify dashboard shows revenue, but your cash flow tells a different story. This is the predictable outcome for brands that run aggressive, non-compliant Black Friday promos.

Compliance as a competitive advantage

While competitors cut corners and assume regulatory risk, you could build a defensible moat.

Transparent pricing isn't a constraint, it's a differentiator. Customers are increasingly sophisticated. They use price tracking tools, screenshot changes and compare your "sale" price to your historical pricing. When you run honest promotions, you're not just mitigating ACCC risk, you're also building trust that compounds into higher repeat rates and lower CAC over time. This becomes increasingly valuable as you scale.

Your Black Friday checklist

1. Audit every channel: Meta, TikTok, email, SMS,     landing pages and checkout copy. Ensure consistency and accuracy.
2. Verify reference pricing: If you're claiming "was     $X, now $Y," pull your Shopify data and confirm you charged $X     for a reasonable period before the sale.
3. Make exclusions obvious: If your sale doesn't cover     everything, state this clearly upfront. Not in fine print. Not behind a link. In the headline where customers can see it.
4. Stress-test promo mechanics: If you're running tiered     discounts, early access or limited-time offers, ensure T&Cs match reality and are prominently displayed.
5. Document everything: If the ACCC investigates, you need evidence that you ran compliant campaigns. Archive your creative assets, pricing history and promotional terms.

The smarter way to stay compliant

AtRanged, we support consumer brands to strike the right balance between legal protection and marketing performance. Our compliance reviews are efficient, focused and conversion-conscious, covering ad creative, promotional T&Cs and pricing mechanics to ensure your campaigns stay compliant without compromising impact.

If you’d like to learn more, send us a DM or reach out to our Executive Director of Legal &Regulatory, Veroshan Sripragasan, at veroshan@ranged.com.au.

This article is general information only and not legal advice. Seek professional guidance for specific Black Friday campaigns.

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Image sources: DISSH, Bailey Nelson, LSKD, Lioness, Koala, Amazon