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How should an e-commerce team prep their customer service SOPs for Black Friday?
March 6, 2026·2 min read·SOPs by Role and Use Case
Prep for Black Friday by updating your SOPs for the highest-volume scenarios: order status inquiries, shipping delays, refund requests, discount code issues, and out-of-stock items. Create or update a guide for each scenario, add temporary holiday-specific policies (extended return window, holiday shipping cutoffs), and train seasonal staff using the visual SOPs at least two weeks before the event.
What SOPs need to be ready?
| SOP | Normal Volume | Black Friday Volume | Holiday-Specific Changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Order status inquiry | 20/day | 200/day | Add shipping cutoff dates |
| Discount code issues | 5/day | 100/day | Document all active promo codes |
| Refund processing | 10/day | 50/day | Extended return window policy |
| Out-of-stock response | 5/day | 80/day | Backorder vs waitlist vs alternative |
| Shipping delay communication | 3/day | 60/day | Holiday carrier delay templates |
| Gift card / gift issues | 2/day | 30/day | Gift receipt, gift messaging |
What is the preparation timeline?
| When | Action |
|---|---|
| 6 weeks before | Review and update all support SOPs for accuracy |
| 4 weeks before | Create holiday-specific SOPs (promo codes, shipping cutoffs) |
| 3 weeks before | Train seasonal staff using the visual SOPs |
| 2 weeks before | Run a mock exercise — seasonal agents handle sample tickets |
| 1 week before | Final review, pin holiday SOPs in Slack, update macros |
| Day of | Monitor queue, adjust staffing, collect new FAQ patterns |
How do you create SOPs fast enough?
Record each workflow in your ticketing system using Glyde — processing a holiday refund, applying a promo code, checking shipping cutoffs. Each guide takes 5 minutes to create. A team of 3 can produce 20 holiday-ready SOPs in a single afternoon.
This answer is part of our guide to SOPs by role and use case.