Why Muscle Nation is adding a $100,000 giveaway to its Black Friday offering

With the Black Friday sales weekend just around the corner, one Aussie business is going beyond mere discounts, offering a $100,000 cash prize and goody-bag giveaways as well as cut-price goods.

Fitness brand Muscle Nation will enter any customer who spends more than $100 into the draw for the cash prize.

The first 10,000 people to spend $250 or more will receive a free bag of extra goodies, valued at $200.

All in, that amounts to more than $2 million worth of prizes.

The founders are also releasing some 200 new products, which will also be sold with the site-wide 40% discount applied.

Muscle Nation was founded in 2016 by Nathanial Anthony and Chris Anastasi, who started out selling activewear out of Anastasi’s spare room.

Now the business also offers supplements and food products, which are on sale in Coles supermarkets.

The brand’s Black Friday bonanza follows something of a growth period. It turned over $51 million in revenue for the 2020/21 financial year, an 89% increase on the previous 12 months.

Last year, it processed $6 million in sales on the first day of Black Friday weekend alone, Anthony tells SmartCompany.

And while he’s loath to make predictions, he’s hoping to hit $10 million this time around.

That means thousands of additional orders, he adds. The team has hired between 60 and 70 staff to help cope with the influx.

“It’s time consuming a lot of effort and money,” he says.

“But for us, it’s a no-brainer.”

Black Friday rewards for loyal customers

The founders’ decision to go above and beyond on its Black Friday offering comes down to it’s vast, vocal and loyal online community, which Anthony calls “the foundation of our brand”.

He credits this community with Muscle Nation’s success so far, and it informs every single decision the founders make.

That’s why the sale is not about shifting old stock, he explains. It’s an opportunity to give back to that community and continue to build trust.

Customers are going to be shopping over Black Friday weekend either way, Anthony explains.

Adding a giveaway into the mix is just another way to surprise and delight them, while differentiating from other brands and creating a buzz.

“It just makes sense for us to run it all together as one big hype campaign and get people really excited,” Anthony says.

Black Friday is evolving in Australia

When Muscle Nation launched in 2016, it was one of relatively few Aussie brands offering Black Friday deals. The so-called shopping holiday was very much a US event, Anthony says.

“Now it’s like a worldwide phenomenon.”

Even over the past couple of years we’ve seen huge Aussie stores like Myer and David Jones embracing the sales weekend.

Aussies are expected to spend about $3.8 billion between Black Friday and Cyber Monday this year. That could be the biggest sales season ever seen in Australia.

In some ways, that piles on the pressure, Anthony explains. Many of Muscle Nations competitors are now in the game.

On the other hand, however, the buzz creates awareness, and gets consumers actively looking for deals.

“As long as we keep doing the right thing by our customers and keep building on our community, [the competition] doesn’t really affect us.”