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Black Friday 2026: dates and promotion ideas for online shops

Black Friday falls on November 27 in 2026 and the sale runs through Cyber Monday on November 30. The dates, what buyers expect, and promotions a small shop can still set up.

Dates checked against two independent sources on October 18, 2026.

When is Black Friday 2026?

Black Friday is Friday November 27, 2026, the day after Thanksgiving in the United States (Thursday November 26). Small Business Saturday follows on November 28 and Cyber Monday on November 30.

Most shops treat the four days as one sale, and many open early deals during the week before. Outside the United States the date is the same: shops in Europe, Latin America and Georgia run Black Friday on the same Friday.

What shoppers expect

Black Friday buyers arrive with a list and a deadline. They compare quickly, they expect the discount to be visible without a code hunt, and they leave the moment checkout or delivery looks uncertain.

Most of the traffic is on phones, often from an email or a social post. A promotion that is hard to read on a small screen loses most of its value.

A four-week plan

Four weeks before: choose the products and the discount for each, check stock and decide the total amount you are willing to give away in discounts and prizes.

Two to three weeks before: start an early access list and set up your promotion so you can test it on a phone.

Black Friday week: email the list on Thursday evening, open the sale on Friday, send one Cyber Monday message on the 30th and close on time. An extension announced in advance reads as a plan; one added at midnight reads as unsold stock.

Mistakes that cost shops the most

Starting too late. A promotion set up on Thursday has no list to send it to and no time to test.

Discounting everything as deeply as the big retailers. A small shop cannot win on price alone; a smaller discount with a clear reason to buy from you, a gift, fast delivery or a game, keeps more margin.

Seven Black Friday ideas for a small shop

  1. Early access list

    Collect emails from early November with the promise of seeing the deals first. Send the list the link on Thursday night, before the public sale opens.

  2. Spin to win instead of one fixed code

    Show a prize wheel to visitors over the four days. Most spins win something cheap to give, a few win a larger discount. Each winner gets a single-use code, and a budget cap keeps the total cost known in advance.

  3. Spend more, save more

    Offer a larger discount at higher order values, for example 10 percent above one amount and 15 percent above a higher one. It raises the average order instead of only cutting price.

  4. Bundles and gift sets

    Black Friday is the start of gift shopping. Ready gift sets at one price sell well, and they let you move slower stock alongside a popular item.

  5. One limited doorbuster

    Pick one product, a fixed quantity and a strong price, and say how many are left. It brings people to the site; everything else can carry a smaller discount.

  6. A different offer for Cyber Monday

    Give Monday its own offer, such as free delivery on everything or a prize wheel for people who did not buy over the weekend, rather than repeating Friday.

  7. Bring buyers back in December

    Include a code for a December order with every Black Friday purchase. You already paid to win the customer; this turns one sale into two before Christmas.

A ready prize wheel for Black Friday
Four prizes with a clear range from cheap to generous. Open it in the free wheel and spin it a few dozen times to see what customers would get.
  • 10% off
  • Free delivery
  • 20% off
  • Free gift

Suggested chance of winning: 30% of spins land on a prize. Keep 20% off rare and free delivery common.

Set a budget for the whole weekend before it starts. When it is spent, the wheel stops giving prizes, so a busy Friday cannot turn into an unplanned cost.

Spin this prize set

Questions

When is Black Friday 2026?
Friday November 27, 2026, the day after US Thanksgiving on November 26.
When is Cyber Monday 2026?
Monday November 30, 2026, three days after Black Friday.
When should a small shop start preparing?
Four weeks ahead is comfortable: that leaves time to pick products, check stock, build an early access list and test the promotion on a phone.
How much discount should I offer on Black Friday?
Enough to be clearly better than your usual price, and no more than your margin allows. Many small shops keep a modest discount on everything and add a few larger prizes for some buyers, which costs less than one deep discount for all.
Does a spin to win wheel work on Black Friday?
It gives visitors a reason to stop and buy from you on a day when every shop has a discount. Keep the prizes cheap to give, make the big prize rare and set a budget so the cost is known before the sale starts.

Run a prize wheel for this sale

DealCraft puts a prize wheel on your website or at your counter. You choose the prizes, the chance of winning and a hard budget, and every winner gets a single-use code. The free plan gives you 200 plays a month, enough to test it before the sale.

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