This year Black Friday is on November 29, six days later than in 2018, leaving 26 days to Christmas instead of 32. Decide your start date, order stock now, and set shipping dates before the rush.

Six days shorter

American Thanksgiving falls on November 28 this year, the latest date it can fall. Black Friday follows on November 29, and Cyber Monday lands on December 2.

Last year Black Friday was November 23. From Black Friday to Christmas Day there were 32 days then. This year there are 26.

Canadian retailers now run Black Friday and Cyber Monday on the American dates, and Canadian shoppers follow the same calendar for much of their gift buying.

The calendar last fell this way in 2013, so few small stores have a comparable year in their records.

What the calendar changes

The third is the one small stores tend to feel too late. In a longer season, the Black Friday weekend shows what is selling and still leaves time to restock.

This year that window is about six days narrower, and suppliers have December deadlines of their own.

Decide when your season starts

There are two reasonable responses to a short season: start earlier, or keep the dates and prepare for a sharper rush.

Starting earlier does not have to mean a month of Black Friday prices. An early offer for your mailing list in mid-November, or a gift set launched before the rush, spreads orders over more days without discounting everything for longer.

Whichever you choose, decide it this week. Promotions planned in a hurry tend to be generous in the wrong places.

Stock you cannot reorder in December

Ask suppliers now for their last order dates before Christmas, and how long their deliveries take in December, when their own warehouses are busiest.

Order more of last year's best sellers before the rush rather than after it. A best seller that runs out on the second weekend of December may not be restocked in time at all.

If you make what you sell, treat your own production time the same way: count back from the last shipping dates to the last day you can start a batch.

Decide too what a sold-out product page will say: sold out, with a date it returns or a way to be told, rather than a page that disappears and takes its links with it.

Shipping dates, closer than they feel

Carriers set their holiday deadlines by Christmas, not by Black Friday, so the last safe dates sit around the same point in December as usual. What has moved is everything in front of them.

A customer who waits for Cyber Monday now has fewer days left before those deadlines than last year's Cyber Monday shopper did. So does your packing table.

Work out your own last order date for every shipping option, counting back from the carriers' published deadlines and allowing for your packing time, and publish those dates before Black Friday.

A worked example

A small candle maker in a Kootenay town pours soy candles in batches and sells them, with gift sets, through its online store. Each batch needs a week or two to cure before it ships.

Last year it ran a Black Friday offer through Cyber Monday, then shipped Christmas orders until mid-December, with five weekends of steady orders in between.

Laying this year's calendar beside last year's, the owner saw that Cyber Monday falls in December, so a scent that sells out that weekend may not be poured and cured before the last shipping dates.

So the holiday batches were poured in October, the gift sets go to the mailing list in mid-November ahead of the public offer, and the wax and fragrance order for December went in this week.

Last order dates for every shipping option are already on the site, a part-time packer is booked for the week after Cyber Monday, and pickup at the studio runs until December 23.

More orders in fewer days

The same number of orders over fewer days means more each day to pick, pack and label. Count boxes, tape and labels now, because packaging suppliers run short in December too.

Questions arrive in the same compressed burst: where is my order, will it arrive in time, can I change the address.

An order confirmation that states the dispatch date, and a shipping email with tracking, answer most of them before they are asked. Somebody still has to answer the rest every day, including the weekend after Black Friday.

After the last shipping day

A short season pushes more shoppers past the shipping deadlines, and they still want to buy. Decide now what you will offer them.

Pickup from your premises, with its hours and final date. Delivery around town, if you can manage it. Digital gift cards, which arrive by email the moment they are bought.

And a printable card for a gift that will arrive after Christmas, so a late order can still go under the tree as a promise.

Telling customers early

Most customers will not have noticed the calendar. They will assume this December runs like last December and plan their shopping the same way.

A short email in early November, giving your offer dates and last order dates, corrects that before it costs anybody a present. Put the same dates near the top of the site.

It also gives people who like to plan a reason to order in the quieter days before the rush.

The counter-case

Not every store will feel this much. A business whose customers buy for themselves rather than as gifts, or one that sells mostly over the counter, will notice the calendar less.

The calendar also does not decide how much people spend, only how many days they have to spend it in.

But any store selling gifts online has six fewer days to work with this year, and the time to plan for them is now, while November is still quiet.

This week

  1. Lay last year's dates beside this year's.
  2. Ask suppliers for their December order cutoffs.
  3. Order more of your best sellers before the rush.
  4. Work out last order dates for each shipping method.
  5. Decide when your offers start.
  6. Book packing help for the week after Cyber Monday.
  7. Plan pickup and gift cards for late shoppers.

Step two is the one that cannot be put right in December. A shipping date can be published in an afternoon; stock a supplier can no longer deliver cannot be sold at any price.

The full six-week plan is covered in starting Black Friday planning in October.

Frequently asked questions

Why is the holiday season shorter this year?

US Thanksgiving falls on November 28, the latest possible date, so Black Friday is November 29 and there are 26 days to Christmas instead of last year's 32.

Does the American calendar affect Canadian stores?

Yes. Canadian retailers now run Black Friday and Cyber Monday on the American dates, and Canadian shoppers follow the same calendar for much of their gift buying.

Should I start holiday promotions earlier?

Consider an early offer for your mailing list in mid-November rather than discounting for a whole month. It spreads orders over more days without lowering every price for longer.

What happens to shipping cutoffs this year?

Carriers' deadlines stay tied to Christmas, but they now sit closer to the big sale days, leaving fewer days between Cyber Monday and the last safe order date.

How should I plan stock for a short season?

Ask suppliers now for their December cutoffs and order more of your best sellers before the rush. There is less time to reorder once Black Friday shows what sells.

What can I offer customers who miss the cutoff?

Local pickup, local delivery or digital gift cards, plus a printable card for a gift that arrives after Christmas. Decide in advance what late customers will be offered.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

Selling gifts online this December?

Lay this year's dates beside last year's. We will help you set cutoffs, stock dates and a plan for late shoppers.

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