Cyber Week Sales Shifted Earlier Toward Pre-Thanksgiving Days
Shoppers are spending earlier in the week, as retailers push promotions ahead of Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Updated on Sept. 23, 2026 in Spending
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Retail trends from 2021 through 2025 show that the portion of Cyber Week sales occurring before Thanksgiving grew from 21.8% to 24.2%. This shift reflects a broader strategy by retailers to capture demand by expanding their promotional calendars.
Why it matters
Retailers have accelerated their promotion schedules to capture consumer demand before traditional peak shopping days. This change alters how households plan their holiday budgets as discounts appear earlier in the week.
Average legitimate cart sizes fell 14% to $115 in 2025, down from the $133 average seen between 2021 and 2023. Meanwhile, fraud-to-legitimate cart ratios reached 2.33x in 2025.
The details
Retailers have aggressively extended their sales periods, resulting in 66% and 61% sales volume growth on Wednesdays and Tuesdays since 2021. By contrast, growth on Black Friday and Cyber Monday has hovered between 37% and 39%. As shopping activity disperses across the week, consumers face a higher concentration of attempted-fraud transactions, which averaged 1.9x to 2.3x the size of legitimate purchases in 2025.
Timeline
2021-2025: Period tracked for Cyber Week sales and fraud metrics.
Money Landscape
This development marks a departure from the historical concentration of holiday retail sales on Black Friday. The trend illustrates an ongoing transition toward a multi-day promotional period that fundamentally changes when household holiday spending occurs.
With sales spread earlier into the week, you may want to review your budget for Tuesday and Wednesday rather than waiting for Friday. Because fraud attempts often mirror the size of legitimate shopping carts, always monitor your credit card statements closely during holiday periods.
The takeaway
Retailers have successfully stretched the traditional shopping window, meaning you may find discounts earlier than in past years. Always compare prices across the entire week rather than assuming the best deals are reserved for the holiday itself.
Further reading
For more on managing your seasonal budget, visit our Spending section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Chain Store Age.
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Do you prefer that retailers start holiday sales weeks before the Thanksgiving holiday?
