Black Friday Statistics and Trends for 2026

Black Friday is fast approaching, and you can’t plan to win it without first understanding what happened last year. Last year’s data points to one clear shift: Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM) is getting longer, more mobile, and more spread out across the places where shoppers find products. And the growth didn’t come from deeper discounts.BFCM is turning from a five-day discount event into a longer customer journey.

2026 is set to push that further. Adobe forecasts a record $275.1 billion in U.S. online holiday spending this year, and a survey by Attentive found that nearly half of shoppers start buying before November even begins.

This article breaks down the 2025 Black Friday statistics behind that shift, explains what they mean for your store, and shows what to do about them. It ends with a week-by-week plan you can start on today.

Black Friday statistics at a glance

If you only have a minute, these are the five numbers that should shape your plan:

• ~60%: Black Friday and Cyber Monday’s combined share of Cyber Week 2025 sales. The other 40% happened on Thanksgiving and the weekend.
• 46%: Shoppers who start their holiday buying before November.
• 14%: Sales growth for the Klaviyo brands that offered the smallest discounts, faster than any other group.
• 70%: Cyber Week orders placed on mobile.
• 13.5%: Growth in revenue from repeat buyers, faster than revenue from new buyers.

Here’s what you’ll discover:

1. Overall sales and growth
2. Consumer behavior and shopping trends
3. Top product categories
4. Mobile: where shoppers buy, and where they come back
5. AI and social discovery trends
6. Selling outside the U.S.
7. What to expect for Black Friday 2026
8. Your week-by-week BFCM 2026 plan

Black Friday falls on November 27 this year, and Cyber Monday on November 30. Let’s dive in.

1. Overall sales and growth

Global sales

Worldwide, Cyber Week sales reached $336.6 billion, up 7% YoY, and Black Friday alone generated $79 billion online, up 6%. (Source: Salesforce’s Cyber Week 2025 Report)

Total sales revenue in the U.S.

In the U.S., online drove almost all of the growth. Counting all channels and payment types, U.S. retail sales (excluding autos) rose 4.1% on Black Friday. Online sales jumped 10.4%, while in-store sales grew just 1.7%. (Source: Mastercard SpendingPulse)

Online, BFCM 2025 set new records at a steady pace:

• Cyber Week, the five days from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday, brought in $44.2 billion online. (Source: Adobe’s Cyber Monday 2025 Report)
• The full November–December season reached a record $257.8 billion. (Source: Adobe’s 2025 Holiday Shopping Recap)

Here’s how Cyber Week 2025 broke down day by day:

Day	U.S. online sales	YoY growth
Thanksgiving	$6.4 billion	+5.3%
Black Friday	$11.8 billion	+9.1%
Saturday and Sunday (combined)	$11.8 billion	+8.7%
Cyber Monday	$14.25 billion	+7.1%
Cyber Week total	$44.2 billion	+7.7%

(Source: Adobe’s Cyber Monday 2025 Report)

Black Friday also grew faster than Cyber Monday for the second year in a row, and Adobe expects the same in 2026:

• 2024: Black Friday +10.2% vs. Cyber Monday +7.3%
• 2025: Black Friday +9.1% vs. Cyber Monday +7.1%
• 2026 forecast: Black Friday +9.2% (to $12.9 billion) vs. Cyber Monday +6.2%

(Source: Adobe’s Cyber Monday 2025 Report, Adobe’s 2026 Holiday Forecast)

Shopify and independent stores

Smaller and independent stores had a strong BFCM:

• Shopify merchants sold $14.6 billion worldwide over BFCM weekend, up 27% YoY (24% excluding exchange-rate effects), and more than 94,900 merchants had their best sales day ever. (Source: Shopify’s BFCM 2025 Report)
• During Cyber 6 2025 (Thanksgiving through the following Tuesday), the smallest U.S. retailers recorded 5% more orders than a year earlier, while the largest recorded 10% fewer. (Source: Criteo’s Year-End Shopping Decoded Report)

If you run an independent store, these are the benchmarks closest to your situation, drawn from Shopify’s merchant data and Klaviyo’s tracking of 10,000 ecommerce brands:

Metric (BFCM 2025)	Benchmark	Source
Shopify merchant sales growth	+27% YoY	Shopify
Average Shopify cart	$114.70	Shopify
Orders paid with Shop Pay	32%	Shopify
Same-brand sales growth (10,000 brands)	+11% YoY	Klaviyo
Average BFCM discount	26.2%	Klaviyo
Revenue from email and SMS	42%	Klaviyo
Repeat-buyer revenue growth	+13.5% YoY	Klaviyo

Note: Sources define the BFCM period differently (five days for Adobe, six for Criteo, seven for Salesforce) and track different retailers, so their totals differ. That’s also why Mastercard’s online growth figure differs slightly from Adobe’s. When you compare years, compare numbers from the same source.

What this means for you

• Don’t treat Black Friday and Cyber Monday as the only days that matter. About 40% of Cyber Week sales happened outside Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Keep your campaign active through Thanksgiving and the weekend instead of putting all your effort into the two headline days.
• Put your strongest offer on Black Friday. It has grown faster than Cyber Monday for two years in a row. Save something new for Cyber Monday instead of repeating Friday’s deal.
• Set your targets using the benchmark table, not market headlines. Independent stores performed very differently from big retailers in 2025.

2. Consumer behavior and shopping trends

More shoppers, starting earlier

• A record 202.9 million Americans shopped over Thanksgiving weekend. Online shoppers grew 9% to 134.9 million, overtaking in-store shoppers (129.5 million), the reverse of 2024. (Source: NRF’s Thanksgiving Weekend Shopping Report)
• The number of online shoppers rose on Saturday, Sunday and Cyber Monday, but fell on Black Friday (from 87.3 million to 85.7 million). Even so, Black Friday’s online revenue grew 9.1%. In other words, fewer shoppers spent more. (Source: NRF’s Thanksgiving Weekend Shopping Report)
• On average, U.S. shoppers who bought over Black Friday weekend first viewed the product 17 days before buying. For the slowest group of shoppers, that gap averaged 57 days. (Source: Criteo’s Year-End Shopping Decoded Report)

Discounts mattered less than you might think

• Adobe found average Black Friday discounts deepened only slightly, to 23.7% from 22.2%. (Source: Adobe’s Holiday Shopping Recap Report)
• Among a fixed group of 10,000 Klaviyo brands, the average discount fell from 29.6% to 26.2%, yet sales rose 11%, and the brands with the smallest discounts grew fastest (14%). (Source: Klaviyo’s BFCM 2025 Recap)
• Salesforce data shows the average selling price rose 7% on Black Friday while items per order fell 2%. In other words, shoppers bought pricier items rather than more items. (Source: Retail Dive’s Black Friday 2025 Winners and Losers)
• Demand rose even without discounts. On Black Friday, discounted hair styling tools sold 572% more units than in the first week of November. Without a discount, they still sold 213% more. (Source: Criteo’s Year-End Shopping Decoded Report)

Note: Adobe tracks discounts at large U.S. retailers, while Klaviyo measures its own brands, many of them direct-to-consumer stores. If you run an independent Shopify store, Klaviyo’s figure is likely the closest to yours.

New buyers arrive on Black Friday, but repeat buyers drive growth

• On Black Friday, the number of new buyers at U.S. retailers reached 261% above its early-October average. (Source: Criteo’s Year-End Shopping Decoded Report)
• But revenue from repeat buyers grew 13.5%, faster than revenue from new buyers, and owned channels (email and SMS) drove 42% of total revenue for Klaviyo brands. (Source: Klaviyo’s BFCM 2025 Recap)

What this means for you

• Your shoppers are deciding before your sale starts. With a 17-day path from first product view to purchase, shoppers pick their store in the first half of November. Publish product content and open early-access sign-ups before you announce any discount.
• Discount fewer products, and choose them carefully. Smaller discounts didn’t hurt the fastest-growing brands. Pick the few products where a deep discount changes the decision, and use bundles, gifts, or spend thresholds for the rest.
• Plan what happens after the first order. A Black Friday spike in new buyers is only worth one sale unless you have a way to reach them again. Owned channels like email, SMS, and push notifications give you that way back.

3. Top product categories

Shoppers traded up

• The most expensive products made up a 20% larger share of units sold during the season than in the rest of the year. In electronics, that share was 56% larger. (Source: Adobe’s Holiday Shopping Recap Report)
• Adobe’s Cyber Monday report found the same trend in sporting goods (+52%), appliances (+41%), personal care (+30%), and tools and home improvement (+26%). (Source: Adobe’s Cyber Monday 2025 Report)

Top categories across U.S. retail

• Electronics led U.S. online spending at $59.8 billion, up 8.2%. (Source: Adobe’s 2025 Holiday Shopping Recap)
• Apparel came second at $49.0 billion, up 7.4%. (Source: Adobe’s 2025 Holiday Shopping Recap)
• Cosmetics reached $8.4 billion online, up 9.3%. (Source: Adobe data via Talk Business & Politics)
• Toy spending ran 173% above its October daily average, the biggest seasonal spike. (Source: Adobe’s 2025 Holiday Shopping Recap)
• On Cyber Monday alone, electronics, apparel, and furniture drove 57% of online spending. (Source: Adobe’s Cyber Monday 2025 Report)
• Counting online and in-store, apparel sales rose 5.7% on Black Friday and jewelry rose 2.75%. (Source: Mastercard SpendingPulse)

Discounts by category

Here’s how deep discounts went by category on Cyber Monday 2025:

Category	Peak discount off list price
Electronics	31%
Toys	28%
Apparel	25%
Computers	23%
Televisions	22%
Furniture	19%
Appliances	19%
Sporting goods	17%

(Source: Adobe’s Cyber Monday 2025 Report)

Top categories on Shopify

• The hottest categories were cosmetics, clothing tops and pants, activewear, and fitness and nutrition. (Source: Shopify’s BFCM 2025 Report)
• Criteo saw a similar pattern across U.S. retail, with lifestyle and wellbeing growing fastest on Black Friday at 26%. (Source: Criteo’s Year-End Shopping Decoded Report)

What this means for you

• Don’t hide your premium products. Shoppers traded up, even in a discount-heavy season. Feature your higher-value products alongside your deals, not just entry-level or clearance items.
• In high-discount categories, compete on value, not price. When competitors cut prices by 25–31%, a bundle or free gift protects your margin better than matching their discount.
• Use the discount table as a benchmark. If you sell in a category where competitors discount less, like sporting goods or furniture, you may not need a deep markdown to stay competitive.

4. Mobile: where shoppers buy, and where they come back

Mobile is now the main checkout

• Mobile devices drove 70% of online orders during Cyber Week. (Source: Salesforce’s Cyber Week 2025 Report) Smartphones drove 56.4% of U.S. holiday online spending, peaking at 61.6% on Thanksgiving. (Source: Adobe’s 2025 Holiday Shopping Recap)
• Shop Pay sales grew 39%, and Shop Pay was used for 32% of Shopify orders. (Source: Shopify’s BFCM 2025 Report)
• Mobile wallets were used for 27% of online orders globally. (Source: Salesforce’s Cyber Week 2025 Report)
• Among in-store payments processed by Adyen, digital wallets reached 33% of revenue on Black Friday, up from 21%. (Source: Adyen’s BFCM 2025 Report)
• BNPL drove $20 billion in U.S. holiday online spending. (Source: Adobe’s 2025 Holiday Shopping Recap) On Cyber Monday alone, BNPL crossed $1 billion for the first time, with 79.4% of those transactions happening on mobile. (Source: Adobe’s Cyber Monday 2025 Report)

Mobile is also where you win customers back

Most merchants stop at “optimize for mobile checkout.” But put the data above next to the repeat-buyer numbers in section 2, and you’ll see a bigger opportunity:

• Most of your new BFCM customers will buy on a phone. That’s where 70% of orders happen.
• Repeat buyers drive growth. Their revenue grew 13.5%, faster than revenue from new buyers.
• Owned channels already drive 42% of revenue, giving you a direct way to reach those customers again.

So the phone is where customers buy first, and where you can bring them back. Criteo’s analysts agree: as mobile gains share, reconnecting with shoppers across web and app matters more at peak times. (Source: Criteo’s Year-End Shopping Decoded Report)

A mobile app can turn that into a channel you own. Saved logins and payment details can make repeat purchases quicker, and push notifications let you reach customers without paying for ads.

What this means for you

• Make mobile checkout effortless before the peak. Test Shop Pay, wallets, and BNPL on a phone. With 70% of orders on mobile, a slow mobile checkout is where you’ll lose the most sales.
• Give new buyers a way to hear from you again. Use the BFCM rush to get them to opt in to SMS, install your app, or allow push notifications. Give them a reason, like early access to your next sale.
• Plan your re-engagement messages now, not in December. Decide what you’ll send new buyers in the two weeks after BFCM: a welcome, a restock reminder, a gifting offer. Then schedule them before the rush, using a BFCM push notification calendar as a starting point.

5. AI and social discovery trends

What changed

• AI traffic to U.S. retail sites grew 693.4% over the 2025 holidays. (Source: Adobe’s 2025 Holiday Shopping Recap) Salesforce estimates AI and agents influenced about 20% of global Cyber Week orders, mostly through AI product recommendations and customer service on retailers’ own sites. (Source: Salesforce’s Cyber Week 2025 Report)
• On Shopify, AI-driven traffic and orders both tripled YoY in Q2 2026. (Source: Shopify’s Q2 2026 earnings call, via Retail TouchPoints)
• Shopify says that through Agentic Storefronts, products become discoverable in ChatGPT by default. Rollout on Microsoft Copilot, AI Mode in Google Search and the Gemini app is still more limited. (Source: Shopify’s Agentic Commerce Momentum update)
• Social media drove 3.6% of U.S. online revenue on Cyber Monday, and that share grew 56.5% YoY. Affiliates and partners, including influencers, drove 21.8%. (Source: Adobe’s Cyber Monday 2025 Report)

What this means for you

• Check how AI assistants describe your products. On Shopify, Agentic Storefronts can surface your products in ChatGPT and other assistants, and Shopify notes these channels favor clean, structured product data. Vague titles or outdated prices lead to vague recommendations.
• Use social and creators to get on the shortlist early. Social still drives only a small share of sales, but more and more shoppers start their research there.

6. Selling outside the U.S.

Europe

• UK: Black Friday was the biggest online spending day at £1.16 billion, but Cyber Monday led on orders among retailers using Scurri. (Source: Adobe UK, Scurri via ChannelX)
• Germany: The HDE retail association forecast €5.8 billion in Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, down about 2%, even though 48% of online shoppers planned to shop on Black Friday. (Source: HDE via Retail News)
• France: Online transactions rose 3% on Black Friday and revenue rose nearly 6%, led by sports and outdoor (+12.1%) and home and garden (+9.5%). (Source: Criteo via CB News) Across Black Week, shoppers spent €236 on average. (Source: Joko via FashionUnited)
• Italy: Consumer tech sales rose 8.4% during Black Friday 2025. (Source: NielsenIQ)
• EMEA overall: Shoppers placed more orders but spent less per order, with order value down 2% during Cyber 6. (Source: Criteo’s Year-End Shopping Decoded Report)

Asia-Pacific

• Australia: Online spending grew 9.3%, compared with 2.3% in stores, and athleisure jumped 42% over Cyber Weekend. (Source: CommBank, Australia Post)
• Japan: Online orders rose 11% during Cyber 6, but order value fell 17%, and shoppers took 26 days on average from first product view to purchase. (Source: Criteo’s Year-End Shopping Decoded Report)

Americas and the Middle East

• Canada: Black Friday was the busiest shopping day of the 2025 holiday season, with Cyber Monday reaching about 79% of its volume. (Source: Moneris)
• Brazil: Online sales on Black Friday reached R$4.76 billion, up 11.2%. Orders jumped 28%, but the average order fell 12.8% to R$553.60. (Source: Confi Neotrust via Exame)
• UAE: During White Friday, shopping app installs jumped 38%, and in-app purchase volume grew 10% YoY. (Source: AppsFlyer via Khaleej Times)

What this means for you

• UK and Canada: Prepare for two peaks. Black Friday leads on spending or volume, but Cyber Monday stays big, so keep stock and fulfillment ready for both.
• EMEA, Japan, and Brazil: Focus on basket size. Shoppers there placed more but smaller orders, so use bundles, cross-sells, and spend thresholds to lift order value.
• Australia: Put more budget online. Plan stock and promotions around strong categories like athleisure.
• UAE: Make your app part of the campaign. UAE shoppers are installing shopping apps and buying in-app during White Friday, so give app users early access and app-only offers.

7. What to expect for Black Friday 2026

Adobe’s forecast for U.S. online holiday spending in 2026:

(Source: Adobe’s 2026 Holiday Forecast)

Four shifts will shape how shoppers get there.

1. The season is already underway.

Adobe expects $95.8 billion in U.S. online spending in October alone, up 8%, and 46% of shoppers say they start buying before November. (Source: Adobe’s 2026 Holiday Forecast, Attentive’s 2026 Consumer Pulse)

→ If you’re reading this in October, your shoppers are already researching.

2. AI will send more ready-to-buy shoppers.

AI-referred visitors converted 60% better than other traffic in July 2026 and generated 53% more revenue per visit. Adobe expects AI traffic to U.S. retail sites to grow 130% YoY this holiday season. (Source: Adobe’s AI Traffic Trends Report, August 2026, Adobe’s 2026 Holiday Forecast)

→ These shoppers arrive with their mind half made up. Your product page should confirm the choice fast.

3. Shoppers will compare more.

42% expect to compare brands and retailers more before buying, and Adobe expects social and affiliates to gain the most revenue share this season. (Source: Attentive’s 2026 Consumer Pulse, Adobe’s 2026 Holiday Forecast)

→ Make reviews, delivery times, and return policies visible on every product page.

4. BFCM is becoming a stock-up event.

Compared with September, Adobe expects Cyber Week sales of clothing basics to jump 210% and personal hygiene products 150%. And 39% of shoppers plan to stock up on everyday items. (Source: Adobe’s 2026 Holiday Forecast, Attentive’s 2026 Consumer Pulse)

→ If you sell replenishable products, plan multi-buy offers now and restock reminders for January.

8. Your week-by-week BFCM 2026 plan

Adobe expects discounts to build through the season:

• Early November: up to 14% off
• Just before Thanksgiving: up to 21% off
• Cyber Week: up to 30% off
• December: easing to 10% to 15% off

(Source: Adobe’s 2026 Holiday Forecast)

Here’s what to do each week.

Week	Focus	Do this week
Oct 12–18	Fix product pages and checkout	Audit your top 20 product pages: titles, specs, reviews, shipping times, return policy. Test checkout on a phone with Shop Pay, wallets, and BNPL.
Oct 19–25	Set your offer	Choose the few products that get a deep discount. Plan bundles, gifts, or spend thresholds for the rest. Plan one new offer for Cyber Monday.
Oct 26–Nov 1	Build your audience	Launch an early-access sign-up and promote it across your site, email, SMS, and app. Give shoppers a clear reason to opt in now.
Nov 2–8	Get noticed	Publish gift guides and product content. Post on social and brief any creators or affiliates.
Nov 9–15	Write everything in advance	Draft and schedule all BFCM emails, SMS, and push notifications, plus the post-purchase messages for new buyers.
Nov 16–22	Announce and open early access	Announce your BFCM dates. Open early access for subscribers and app users. Check inventory on best-sellers.
Nov 23–25	Final checks	Make sure your site and mobile checkout can handle a traffic spike. Confirm stock, shipping cutoffs, and customer support coverage.
Nov 26–30	Run the five-day peak	Launch your strongest offers on Thanksgiving and Black Friday. Keep the weekend active. Send a new offer on Cyber Monday. Watch stock daily.
Dec 1–14	Turn buyers into repeat buyers	Send welcome messages to new customers, gifting offers before shipping cutoffs, and push notifications to bring them back.
Late Dec–Jan	Keep them coming back	Send restock reminders for everyday products and loyalty perks for BFCM buyers.

Conclusion

BFCM is becoming a longer shopping journey, not just a race to offer the biggest discount. Shoppers start earlier, increasingly shop on mobile, and discover products across AI and social channels. Meanwhile, repeat buyers are becoming an important driver of growth.

For merchants, the opportunity goes beyond winning the first order. It’s about making mobile shopping easy, then giving customers a reason to come back.

To turn these trends into action, explore our BFCM push notification calendar and BFCM promotion ideas.

Frequently asked questions

When should I start my BFCM 2026 campaign?

As early as possible, ideally by mid-October. 46% of shoppers start their holiday buying before November, and shoppers take 17 days on average from first viewing a product to buying it, so it’s worth building awareness well before the sale begins.

How deep should my BFCM discount be?

Probably not as deep as you think. In 2025, Klaviyo brands cut their average discount from 29.6% to 26.2% and still grew sales 11%. Save deep discounts for a few key products, and use bundles or free gifts for the rest.

Should I save my best offer for Black Friday or Cyber Monday?

Lead with your best offer on Black Friday, which has grown faster than Cyber Monday for two years in a row. Cyber Monday is still the biggest day by sales, so give shoppers a new offer that day instead of repeating Friday’s.

How do I turn BFCM buyers into repeat customers?

Get new buyers to opt in to email, SMS, your app, or push notifications at their first purchase. Then follow up with a welcome message, restock reminders, and gifting offers. In 2025, repeat-buyer revenue grew 13.5%, faster than revenue from new buyers.

Do I need to do anything for AI shopping assistants like ChatGPT?

Mostly, keep your product data clean and up to date. If you sell on Shopify, Agentic Storefronts can make your products discoverable in ChatGPT and other AI assistants, and AI-referred shoppers converted 60% better than other traffic in July 2026.

What are the key BFCM 2026 dates?

Thanksgiving falls on November 26, Black Friday on November 27, Small Business Saturday on November 28, Cyber Monday on November 30, and Giving Tuesday on December 1. Discounts usually ease after Cyber Monday but stay around 10% to 15% through December.