How to prepare your Shopify store for Black Friday: the 6-week checklist we use with our brands

Nico Bértolo · 2026-10-14

In short

  • Black Friday 2026 is Friday 27 November. Whatever isn’t ready by the 20th is better left alone: the big week isn’t the time to launch anything.
  • November traffic is the most expensive of the year. Before raising your budget, fix what makes those visits leave: the mobile product page, surprise shipping in the cart and speed.
  • Prepare the email campaign before the ads: your list is the cheapest traffic you’ll get in November.

Every year we see the same pattern: brands spend October planning the discount and the ads, then reach Black Friday with the same store as the rest of the year. Traffic arrives, more expensive than ever, and leaks out in the usual places. This is the calendar we follow with our brands, counting back from 27 November.

Weeks 6 and 5: measure before touching anything

Note three numbers from the last month, split by mobile and desktop: sessions, conversion rate and average order value. Do the same for last year’s Black Friday, and ask three people to buy on their phone while recording the screen.

Weeks 5 and 4: a product page built for mobile

  • Price, shipping and delivery time visible without scrolling.
  • A sticky buy button on mobile.
  • Photos of the product in use, to scale and in detail.
  • Returns and reviews visible on the page.

Weeks 4 and 3: a cart and checkout with no surprises

Around 40% of shoppers who abandon a cart do so because of unexpected extra costs. Show shipping before checkout, enable guest checkout and express payments, and test a real order end to end on mobile.

Cutting it close for Black Friday? We review your store in 30 minutes and tell you what we’d fix before 20 November and what we’d leave for January. Book a call

Weeks 3 and 2: speed and app clean-up

Uninstall unused apps (and their leftover code), compress key images and remove autoplay videos. From 15 November: no new apps and no theme changes.

Weeks 2 and 1: email campaign and offer page

Warm up your list, give subscribers early access, update your welcome and abandoned-cart flows with the offer, and send paid traffic to a dedicated campaign page, not the homepage.

What not to do in November

  • Change themes or launch a full redesign. Plan it for January.
  • Raise ad spend before fixing the product page and cart: Meta CPMs rise in the second half of November.
  • A 40% sitewide discount just because everyone does it. Work out the margin cost first.

Black Friday isn’t won in November. It’s won with what you fixed in October.

Nico Bértolo, 224

Frequently asked questions

When is Black Friday 2026?

Friday 27 November 2026. Cyber Monday is Monday 30 November.

Should I redesign my store before Black Friday?

Not in November. Fix the product page, cart and speed before Black Friday and plan the full redesign for January.