The dates below are a suggested operating plan, not a requirement to keep your sale open for the entire weekend. Set your actual campaign dates and timezone deliberately.

November 1–7: decide what you can profitably sell

Choose a small group of products with reliable stock, clear demand signals and workable contribution margins. A large catalog is not a reason to discount everything.

Create one offer brief containing:

• Eligible products and excluded variants.
• Discount or bundle, minimum spend and combination rules.
• Margin floor after fulfillment and expected acquisition costs.
• Available stock and a rule for pausing promotion.
• Start/end dates, timezone, shipping promise and return terms.

Assign an owner to each decision. If the supplier cannot confirm delivery, keep that product out of the main promotion rather than relying on an optimistic arrival date.

November 8–14: build one consistent customer journey

Follow the route a shopper will actually take: campaign link → landing page → product → cart → checkout → confirmation.

The same offer should appear throughout that route. Check mobile text, product exclusions, shipping thresholds and the final amount charged. Prepare campaign images and messages from the approved offer brief so a later copy change does not accidentally create a different promise.

Keep a record of the previous theme and promotion settings. A rollback plan is useful only if someone knows what to restore and who can make the change.

November 15–21: run the rehearsal

Test eligible and ineligible baskets, existing customer codes, different shipping destinations, out-of-stock variants and the order notification. Capture expected versus actual results in a shared checklist.

Run a support exercise too. Give the team three example questions: “Why did my discount fail?”, “When will this arrive?” and “Can I return this gift?” Each answer should match the live policy and checkout behavior.

November 22–26: freeze avoidable changes

Confirm stock, supplier availability and staffing. Recheck scheduled messages against the store timezone. Avoid introducing a new theme or several untested apps immediately before launch.

Create a simple escalation sheet: problem, first responder, decision maker, rollback action and customer message. Set a review schedule that the actual team can maintain.

November 27–30: watch the operation, not just revenue

At each review, check paid orders, checkout errors, remaining stock, fulfillment backlog, support volume and contribution after advertising. Pause a campaign if it points to unavailable products or an offer the checkout cannot honor.

After the promotion, remove expired claims and record changes while the details are fresh. Review returns and fulfillment outcomes later before declaring the event profitable.

Merchant discussion: Which part of your launch plan still has no clear owner: offers, checkout, inventory or fulfillment?

Continue on Eggflow Blog

For a more detailed rehearsal of discounts, stock, payment and delivery, work through the BFCM 2026 store stress test on Eggflow Blog before the launch freeze.

Sources and further reading

Dates and platform references checked October 31, 2026. The schedule above is an editorial planning template.

• Black Friday 2026 — timeanddate
• Cyber Monday 2026 — timeanddate
• Shopify: preparing for seasonal sales

Browse the BFCM 2026 guide series.