Black Friday and Cyber Monday are more than two big sales days. They kick off the holiday season, bring in new customers, and shape how shoppers see your brand for the months that follow. They’re also easy to get wrong, because a plan built around one weekend misses how shoppers now behave.

This guide covers when Black Friday and Cyber Monday fall, what the latest data shows, and how to plan strategy, inventory, fulfillment, and customer experience, so you can turn the traffic into sales and repeat customers. For the wider season, see our peak season ecommerce guide.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday dates

	2026	2027
Thanksgiving (US)	Thursday, November 26	Thursday, November 25
Black Friday	Friday, November 27	Friday, November 26
Small Business Saturday (US)	Saturday, November 28	Saturday, November 27
Cyber Monday	Monday, November 30	Monday, November 29
Giving Tuesday	Tuesday, December 1	Tuesday, November 30

Black Friday is the day after US Thanksgiving, which is the fourth Thursday of November, and Cyber Monday is the Monday after that. For other key dates through the year, see our retail calendar.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday by the numbers

The latest full set of data comes from Adobe Analytics, which tracks online sales at US retailers. In 2025, as reported by Reuters:

• US online spending on Black Friday hit a record $11.8 billion.
• Shoppers spent $14.25 billion on Cyber Monday, a record for a single day.
• Online sales over the five days from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday reached $44.2 billion, up 7.7% from the year before.
• Buy now, pay later spending passed $1 billion in a day for the first time, on Cyber Monday.

Two shifts matter for planning. First, Adobe’s analysts said persistent deals throughout the week pushed shoppers to buy earlier, so Black Friday now challenges Cyber Monday’s dominance. Digital Commerce 360 notes that Cyber Monday lost share of the Cyber 5 for a second year in a row. Second, mobile is where much of the shopping happens: Adobe reported that 57% of Cyber Monday online purchases in 2024 were made on mobile.

Your own numbers matter more than the market’s. Check what your own Black Friday weekend looked like last year, by channel, before you set targets.

Plan for a season, not just a Friday

Shoppers no longer wait for a single day. Deals start earlier and run longer, so the sales are spread over a much longer period instead of a weekend spike. That changes planning in three ways:

• Start earlier. Have your products, listings, and stock ready weeks before the weekend, and set your early offers on purpose, not in reaction to competitors.
• Sell stock when demand is there. If you have stock in demand and your competitors don’t, you don’t have to hold it for a single date. Use search trend data and your own sales data to decide what to sell early, and keep different stock for the main event.
• Know your whole timeline. Work backward from the key dates: when stock must arrive, when listings must be live, when ads start, and when your last shipping cut-off is.

Phase	Typical timing	What to focus on
Prepare	September to October	Stock plan, supplier lead times, listings, tools, and staffing in place
Early deals	Early to mid November	Preview offers, email lists, and early promotions on best sellers
Thanksgiving week and Black Friday	Thanksgiving to Friday	Availability, site and checkout performance, inventory accuracy across channels
Cyber weekend and Cyber Monday	Saturday to Monday	Fulfillment speed, customer service, and restocking best sellers
Run to Christmas	December	Shipping cut-off dates, gift deadlines, and returns

For the full timeline, see our peak season ecommerce guide.

Black Friday strategy: what actually matters

Availability beats price

Shoppers come for deals, but they buy what’s in stock and what will arrive on time. If you can’t deliver a product in time for Christmas, don’t spend on driving traffic to it, because you’ll waste much of the spend. Make sure you understand supplier availability, your stock levels, and how each sales channel performed in the past. Then allocate stock by channel, and look at price points, margins, and delivery options for each one.

See our guides to managing holiday inventory and peak season inventory planning.

Protect your margin

Discounts, shipping costs, and returns can erase the profit on a record sales weekend. Work out the margin on every promoted product after fees, shipping, and expected returns, before you set the price. For shipping, check carrier surcharges early. Our Lost in transit report looks at why peak shipping costs are so hard to track.

Treat it as a chance to win customers

Black Friday is about the bargain, so it’s tempting to look for the cheapest way to get orders out. But it’s also one of your best chances to acquire new customers. Treat the extra first-time traffic as the start of relationships: make delivery reliable, make packaging and unboxing feel like your brand, and follow up so first-time buyers become repeat customers.

Remember that the experience doesn’t end at checkout

Much of the focus is on getting shoppers to the site and through checkout, but fulfillment matters just as much. What shoppers remember is receiving the package when expected and in good condition. See our guides on the post-purchase customer experience and returns management.

Stay true to your brand

If you’re comfortable with your brand’s identity, stick with it. Trying to become something you’re not during a sales event can alienate your regular customers.

Operations checklist for Black Friday and Cyber Monday

• Inventory. Confirm stock and supplier availability, and keep availability accurate on every channel.
• Listings. Check that titles, prices, and promotions are correct before the weekend.
• Site and tools. Test checkout, mobile performance, and your inventory and order systems under load.
• Shipping. Choose carriers, confirm cut-off dates, and check peak surcharges. See our guide to peak season shipping.
• Warehouse and staffing. Plan picking capacity and temporary staff. See seasonal hire vs. overtime.
• Customer service. Prepare for more inquiries, and set clear delivery and returns messaging.
• After the weekend. Review results by channel and product, restock best sellers, and plan for returns.

Selling on more than one channel

If you sell across your own website and several marketplaces, Black Friday multiplies the risk of overselling and stock mismatches. Every channel peaks at the same time, so keeping stock accurate everywhere is the main operational job. See our guides to multichannel inventory management and the common problems and how to fix them. Linnworks syncs stock across 100+ native channel integrations in under 10 minutes.

More Black Friday resources

• Black Friday ecommerce tips: 16 expert tips to increase sales
• Tips for increasing your Christmas sales
• Retail calendar: key dates for ecommerce planning
• Peak season ecommerce guide: how and when to prepare

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