Black Friday 2026 falls on Friday, November 27, with Cyber Monday on November 30. For most Shopify stores, these few days bring more traffic and orders than any other week of the year, and small problems become expensive fast. This Black Friday Shopify checklist covers 25 steps to complete before the sale starts, grouped so you can work through them week by week.
Four weeks before: plan the sale
- Decide your offer: percentage off, bundles, free shipping threshold or gift with purchase.
- Check your margins so every discounted order is still profitable after fees and shipping.
- Choose which products to feature and confirm stock levels with suppliers.
- Set sale start and end dates, including any early access for email subscribers.
- Plan your marketing calendar: emails, social posts and ads for each day.
Three weeks before: speed and store health
- Test mobile speed with PageSpeed Insights and fix the biggest issues. Our guide on speeding up your Shopify store helps.
- Remove apps you no longer use, since every app can slow your store.
- Compress large images, especially on the home page and best sellers.
- Fix broken links, old banners and out-of-stock items in collections.
- Review the common Shopify store mistakes and fix any that apply.
Two weeks before: build the sale
- Create discount codes or automatic discounts and test each one in the cart.
- Prepare sale banners, announcement bar text and collection pages in advance.
- Add a clear shipping cut-off message for holiday delivery.
- Update your FAQ with sale terms and holiday returns.
- Set up abandoned checkout emails and a sale email sequence.
One week before: test everything
- Place real test orders on mobile and desktop with every payment method.
- Check taxes, shipping rates and order confirmation emails.
- Confirm Google Analytics, Meta Pixel and Google Ads conversion tracking work.
- Schedule theme changes or duplicate your theme so you can switch quickly.
- Brief your customer support team. See how to prepare customer support for Black Friday.
During and after the sale
- Watch stock levels and hide or mark items that sell out.
- Monitor site speed, checkout errors and payment failures every few hours.
- Reply to customer messages quickly, especially about delivery and discount codes.
- Send Cyber Monday and last-chance emails to people who did not buy.
- After the sale, review sales, ad results and support questions to plan next year.
Practical example: avoiding a discount code disaster
Example: a skincare store launches a 25% Black Friday code but forgets it also applies to already-discounted bundles. A simple test order a week earlier would have shown the stacked discount and saved the store from selling bundles below cost. Testing every discount combination is one of the most valuable steps on this list.
Frequently asked questions
When is Black Friday 2026?
Black Friday 2026 is on Friday, November 27, and Cyber Monday is on Monday, November 30.
When should I start preparing my Shopify store for Black Friday?
Start about four weeks before. That gives time to plan offers, fix speed issues, build sale pages and test checkout before traffic arrives.
Should I make theme changes during Black Friday?
Avoid major changes during the sale. Duplicate your theme, prepare changes in advance and publish them before the busy period starts.
How do I stop my Shopify store slowing down on Black Friday?
Remove unused apps, compress images, limit heavy sliders and videos and test mobile speed before the sale. Shopify handles server capacity, but your theme and apps affect page speed.
Get your store ready with us
We help Shopify stores prepare for Black Friday with speed fixes, sale pages, discount testing and checkout checks. See our Shopify development service and book a free consultation while there is still time before November 27.
Running a small shop? Here is a simple plan for Small Business Saturday on November 28.
Once Black Friday is done, the work isn't over. Our Cyber Monday 2026 checklist covers the Monday after.
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