The decisions that define Q4 success, with ex-Gymshark CMO Richard Chapple

Q4 has become more complex than ever. ‘Peak’ now stretches across weeks rather than days, customer expectations are higher, and brands need to work harder than ever to cut through the noise.

So, what separates the brands that consistently outperform from those that spend November reacting?

At our latest Elevating the Game event, Leaf CEO Gilbert Corrales sat down with Richard Chapple, former CMO at Gymshark and now Chief Growth Officer at The Growth Foundation, to answer just that.

Having scaled Gymshark, THG and Play.com into billion-pound success stories, and now advising brands like Tallow + Ash, Wonderskin & Cowshed, Rich brings a uniquely broad perspective to the decisions that drive peak-season success.

Here are some of the biggest takeaways from the conversation.

Peak is won long before Q4 begins

Rich's biggest message was also his simplest: the brands that perform best during peak don't wait until autumn to start planning.

"Q4 is not won in Q4… The best teams are making the big decisions now."

Those decisions include everything from which products to push and what offers to run, to how much stock to hold and where to invest marketing budget.

Drawing on his time at Play.com, Rich shared that Christmas planning began as early as April, with a dedicated Head of Christmas responsible for coordinating teams across the business. Peak wasn't viewed as a Black Friday campaign, but as a commercial trading period that lasted through to the end of January.

Discounting isn't your only growth lever

While discounts remain a key part of many peak strategies, Rich encouraged brands to think beyond simply cutting prices.

"Discount doesn't have to be the offer."

Exclusive product launches, early access for loyal customers, bundles and added-value offers can all create urgency without damaging margins or teaching customers to wait for the next sale.

He also recommended looking back at previous years' data before deciding on discount depth. Are you offering 25% off to customers who would have happily paid full price? Or could a smaller incentive deliver similar results while protecting profitability?

Peak isn't just about driving revenue - it's about making commercially sensible decisions that benefit the business long after BFCM has ended.

Peak isn't a marketing campaign - it's a business-wide effort

"Peak decision-making shouldn't sit within one team. Bring senior people from customer service, finance and every key function into the discussion from the start."

One of Rich's themes was that peak success depends on alignment across the entire business.

Marketing, CRM, ecom, trading, finance, operations, fulfilment and customer service all need to be involved from the outset. Decisions made in isolation often create problems further down the line, whether that's stock shortages, overwhelmed support teams or operational bottlenecks.

During peak, Richard described running twice-daily "war room" meetings, bringing together representatives from every function to review performance, identify issues quickly and make decisions together.

Always have a Plan B

No matter how well you plan, peak rarely unfolds exactly as expected.

Rich explained that at THG, the team never relied on a single offer or campaign. Instead, they prepared multiple trading scenarios in advance, with promotional mechanics ready to deploy if competitor activity or customer behaviour changed.

Rather than scrambling to react in the moment, the business simply moved to the next prepared option.

"If offer A isn't doing as well as we want, we'd have offer B and offer C lined up in the background, with creative and CRM ready to go."

The lesson? The work that matters most happens before peak begins. By the time Black Friday arrives, the focus should be on execution, not last-minute decision-making.

Don't forget Q5

Many brands treat Christmas Eve as the finish line, but Richard believes one of the biggest missed opportunities comes immediately afterwards.

He shared how Gymshark actively marketed to customers on Christmas Day, knowing their audience had both spare time and Christmas money to spend. In fact, Christmas Day became one of the brand's strongest trading days of the year.

“They're sitting around at four o'clock on Christmas Day with their phones, full of Christmas dinner... we're going to hit you right now… that audience had quite a bit of disposable income and time on their hands."

It's a reminder that peak shouldn't be viewed as a single weekend or even a single month. Thinking beyond BFCM - and into January - can unlock valuable revenue that many competitors overlook.

The decisions that define Q4 success?

Across more than 20 years of peak trading, Richard has seen ecommerce evolve dramatically. But the key principles behind successful Q4 performance have remained surprisingly consistent.

His message was clear: peak success isn't determined by one campaign, one discount or one weekend. It's the result of hundreds of decisions made across the business in the months leading up to Q4. 

The brands that consistently outperform are simply the ones that make those decisions earlier - and make them better.