There's just over a month to go until Black Friday 2026 , scheduled for November 27th. And the question that weighs most heavily on the outcome isn't " how much will I discount ?". It's another, less obvious one: what are you about to do in the coming weeks that could cost you sales on the most important retail date?
Most Black Friday mistakes don't happen on Friday; they happen now, in October, in decisions that no one realizes are decisions: postponing website adjustments, relying solely on paid advertising, leaving shipping issues to be resolved later . Therefore, we've prepared a guide that compiles the ten most common mistakes and, for each one, what to do instead to get it right.
On this page you will find:
Before any promotions: 6 points about Black Friday 2026
- Black Friday 2026 falls on November 27th, but shopping extends throughout the month: According to research by LWSA, 54% of consumers take advantage of offers throughout November, and only 20% concentrate everything on Friday.
- Half of consumers research products more than a month in advance (LWSA). The purchase decision begins long before your promotion goes live.
- Almost half of the products (45,4%) did not have a real discount on Black Friday 2025, according to a survey by Timelens. Inflated prices erode an already shaken trust.
- According to the Baymard Institute, shopping cart abandonment rates are around 70%. A poor checkout process wastes the traffic you paid dearly to attract.
- Shipping costs are crucial: 55% of consumers always look for free shipping and 36% may abandon a purchase because of the delivery cost (LWSA).
- Artificial intelligence has already entered the journey: 13% begin their research using tools like ChatGPT or Gemini, and 45% are influenced by summaries generated by AI (LWSA).
10 mistakes to avoid this Black Friday 2026
1. Treating Black Friday as a last-minute campaign.
Setting up banners, defining discounts, and sending out emails the week of the event is too late. Half of consumers are already researching products more than a month in advance, and 72% are organizing their finances for Black Friday (LWSA). When your offer only appears at the end of November, it competes with brands that have been under consideration for weeks.
What to do: Start now. Define your mix, goals, and timeline in October and use the next few weeks to prepare your website, inventory, media, and communication. An operation that works ahead doesn't scramble to catch up at the last minute.
2. To bet everything on Friday
" Black Friday " has ceased to be a single day and has become a season. Only 20% of consumers concentrate their purchases on that day itself; 54% take advantage of offers throughout the month, and 47% consider saving an item to buy later, on Cyber Monday (LWSA). Focusing all efforts on November 27th ignores most of the demand.
What to do: Plan a journey that begins in the lead-up to November and extends to Cyber Monday. Distribute offers, communication, and budget over the weeks, instead of selling everything out in 24 hours.
3. Making last-minute changes to the website and checkout process.
Changing the layout, installing a new plugin, or adjusting the checkout process just before the date is asking for trouble, especially when traffic explodes. Cart abandonment is already around 70% under normal conditions ( Baymard Institute ), and 25% of consumers abandon a good offer due to problems on the website or app (LWSA).
What to do: Make performance and usability adjustments now (speed, mobile journey, checkout fields, payment methods). Then, freeze technical changes during Black Friday week. In e-Plus's Black Friday case study , prioritizing CRO and UX before the peak increased the conversion rate by 34% without increasing media investment.
4. Invent a discount
The old trick of raising prices beforehand to "offer a discount" later no longer fools people and comes at a high price. In Black Friday 2025, 45,4% of items had no effective discount, 21% became more expensive during the campaign, and 3,4% had a false discount , according to Timelens . On social media, 51% of critical conversations about the event focus on price manipulation.
What to do: work with real and transparent discounts. Consumers research in advance, compare prices on marketplaces, and remember the October price. Trust, today, converts more than an inflated "from/to" price.
5. Ignore mobile and apps
An operation designed for desktop screens loses the majority of sales. Among consumers, 40% complete the purchase in the stores' own apps and 33% start their search through them ( LWSA ). If the mobile experience crashes, the customer doesn't wait, they go to the competitor.
What to do: test the entire journey on mobile, from ad to payment. Ensure fast loading times, accessible buttons, and a simple mobile checkout. For those with a physical store, integrating the app, website, and point of sale increases the chances of converting the customer wherever they are.
6. Relying solely on paid traffic
Investing all your budget in advertising during Black Friday week is the most expensive way to sell. The media auction becomes highly competitive, and the cost per click increases precisely when everyone is advertising at the same time. Those who reach the date relying solely on paid media end up paying more to sell the same amount.
What to do: build an audience beforehand. Work on SEO , content, and a well-nurtured lead base throughout October and November, so that part of the sales come from organic channels and CRM. The e-Plus case study showed a 44% increase in revenue with practically the same volume of sessions ; the gain came from preparing for conversion, not from buying more traffic.
7. Leave the shipping and delivery arrangements to be resolved later.
Shipping costs are not an operational detail: they are a purchase decision factor. More than half of consumers (55%) always look for free shipping, even if it means waiting longer, and 36% may abandon a good offer because of the delivery cost (LWSA). Defining shipping policies at the last minute usually means tight margins and promises of delivery times that the operation cannot meet.
What to do: Model your shipping policy and delivery times now, calculating the impact on the margin of each tier. Make the conditions clear on the product page and at checkout, so there are no surprises at the end of the purchase.
8. Neglecting customer service and logistics.
The sale doesn't end with the "order confirmed." Among consumers, 50% don't buy from a store again after an excessive delay or a wrong or damaged item, 45% stop returning due to slow or poor service, and 17% give up due to lack of human support (LWSA). A sales peak without after-sales support becomes a peak in complaints.
What to do: Size your customer service, inventory, and logistics to meet the expected volume before the date. Prepared customer service protects your reputation and opens the door for repeat purchases at Christmas, which comes soon after.
9. Ignoring the search for artificial intelligence
The way consumers research is changing. Today, 13% begin their product search using AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity, and 45% say that AI-generated summaries influence their purchase decision (LWSA). Brands invisible to these engines are left out of a growing share of decisions.
What to do: Structure your content to be cited by AI (so-called GEO ): direct answers, sourced data, and clear pages about your products and policies. In physical retail, this also applies to searches like "best X store near me".
10. Improvising the operation without direction.
The mistake that binds all the others is managing the website, media, CRM, shipping, and customer service simultaneously, each area pulling in a different direction without anyone coordinating priorities. When everything is urgent and nothing is a priority, the operation works reactively, and the result becomes hostage to improvisation.
What to do: adopt a method. Organize the work into a backlog with assigned responsibilities, a monitoring cadence, and business-aligned goals, with a single point of coordination among the specialists. This is how Black Friday stops being a last-minute improvisation and becomes a project with direction.
How to be ready for Black Friday 2026
Notice the pattern: none of these ten points depend on a larger discount. They all depend on preparation and someone pulling the strings in the same direction. That's exactly where CS Flex comes in , e-Plus's model where a Customer Success manager coordinates access to around 40 on-demand specialists, from development and SEO to CRM, media, and data, replacing the logic of a different agency for each service.
Instead of distributing tasks haphazardly, the operation gains governance: a prioritized backlog, a time bank focused on what drives the business, and a single point of contact. It was with this method that e-Plus's Black Friday campaign increased conversion by 34% and revenue by 44%, preparing the customer journey to convert better before the peak.
To put together a schedule, it's worth exploring other content on the e-Plus blog and, if your operation already has a significant volume, talking to the e-Plus team of experts about how CS Flex can organize your Black Friday before the November peak.
Frequently Asked Questions – Black Friday 2026
When is Black Friday 2026?
Black Friday 2026 takes place on November 27th, the last Friday of the month, following the international standard. In Brazil, however, the offers are spread throughout November: 54% of consumers buy throughout the month and many take advantage of Cyber Monday, the following Monday, to close any remaining purchases.
When should you start preparing your store for Black Friday 2026?
Preparation should begin in October, about six to eight weeks before the date. Half of consumers research products more than a month in advance, so those who structure their website, inventory, media, and CRM early will arrive at the date with the journey ready to convert, instead of fixing problems under pressure.
Is it really worth offering discounts on Black Friday?
Yes, and it's becoming increasingly crucial. By 2025, 45,4% of products had no real discount, according to Timelens, and half of the reviews on social media point to price manipulation. With consumers researching and comparing in advance, a transparent discount converts more effectively than an inflated price disguised as a deal.
What is e-Plus' CS Flex?
CS Flex is e-Plus's strategic operating model for digital retail. A Customer Success Manager coordinates access to approximately 40 on-demand specialists in areas such as development, SEO, CRM, media, and data, with a prioritized backlog and continuous governance, connecting day-to-day execution to business objectives on platforms like VTEX and Shopify.
