1.6–3.4×

Black Friday week spend versus a normal September week. That one week took 10–16% of the season's ad budget.

22–57%

higher CPMs than in September by Black Friday week, depending on sector.

Oct 6

when the lowest-cost advertisers started ramping up, five weeks before the rest.

61–85%

of Black Friday week spend was kept in Cyber Monday week: a second peak.

Start building spend in early October, test while costs are low, and keep budget back for Cyber Monday.

Source: Supermetrics' Black Friday playbook for retailers 2026. Meta ads data from 515 retail advertisers (Sep–Dec 2025) and 222 advertisers (Jul–Sep 2026). Published October 2026.

Who it's for

Paid social and performance marketers

Set your Meta budgets before the auction gets crowded.

Heads of marketing and ecommerce

Know what peak week will cost before you sign off Q4 budgets.

Agency media buyers

Check your retail clients against sector benchmarks.

What's inside

  1. 2025 in numbers. Seven findings on spend, costs and strategy, from Black Friday week's 1.6–3.4× spend to the five-week head start.
  2. What we're seeing in 2026. Median cost per click by sector, from €0.09 in Food Items to €0.40 in Healthcare Products, plus benchmarks by campaign objective.
  3. What to do between now and Black Friday. Five moves for every retailer, then a plan for Clothing, Decor, Food Items, Healthcare Products and Personal Care.
  4. Your Black Friday timeline. Week-by-week actions from Oct 5 to Dec 6.
  5. How Supermetrics helps retailers prepare. Track pacing and ask questions of your own data in Claude and ChatGPT during the peak.

Findings by sector

Black Friday 2025, and where costs stand today. Meta ads data from 515 retail advertisers (2025) and 222 (2026).

Sector

Black Friday week spend vs. September, 2025

Median cost per click, Jul–Sep 2026

The 2025 move to know

Clothing

3.4×

€0.13

CPMs rose 57% by Black Friday week, the steepest rise of any sector.

Decor

2.4×

€0.21

Awareness fell from 42% of the campaign mix in early September to 7%, while sales rose to 89%.

Food Items

1.6×

€0.09

Its biggest week was in early September, and cost per click rose 50% in Black Friday week.

Healthcare Products

1.7×

€0.40

CPMs were already 26% above September by October 20, and 85% of spend carried into Cyber Monday week.

Personal Care

2.0×

€0.22

The smallest CPM rise of the five sectors, at 22%.

15.6%

of Clothing's September to December ad spend went into Black Friday week alone.

Source: Supermetrics, 515 retail advertisers, Meta ads data, 2025.

Frequently asked questions


Plan Black Friday on real data before November 27

Week-by-week costs, sector plans and a timeline to Cyber Monday.

Get the playbook