Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals are increasingly commonplace from the start of November. But with this extended sale window, are Black Friday and Cyber Monday shoppers more likely to go early, or hold out for the main event?
Data from YouGov Surveys shows that some 44% of Britons participate in seasonal sales. Of this group, 14% choose to wait until Black Friday/Cyber Monday before they start buying, 10% shop exclusively in the earlier November sales, and 72% do a mixture of both.
Of this group who shop during the festive sales, a fifth say the deals on offer in the early sales are better (21%), while one in six (15%) say they are worse. Half say the deals are about the same (49%).
Why shoppers buy on Black Friday and Cyber Monday
We asked Black Friday shoppers why they buy during the big November sales events. Our data showed that the most chosen motivation was an expectation that the biggest discounts would be available on Black Friday/Cyber Monday (45%). This was followed by shoppers who waited to buy exactly what they wanted from a specific retailer (39%).
Here, a large gap opens up: the third-most chosen motivation was a doubt that deals in early sales were genuine (18%), with nearly as many saying that they shopped in the event sales because they were closer to payday. A further 13% said they liked to do all their shopping in one go, while 8% said they found the early sales hard to navigate.
Why Britons buy in the sales before Black Friday/Cyber Monday
When we asked early sales shoppers what drove their decision to pre-empt Black Friday and Cyber Monday, 44% cited a desire to get shopping done early, while 33% said they hoped to see good deals on products.
Three in ten expressed a desire to spread purchases throughout the month (30%) or that they were concerned that their preferred items would sell out. A fifth said they wanted to avoid the Black Friday/Cyber Monday rush, while 13% said they had more money at the beginning of the month.
What would motivate shoppers to take part in early November sales?
Finally, we asked shoppers what would make them more likely to participate in early festive sales. Some 85% said transparency around price history (thereby allowing them to see if a discount was genuine), while 81% said that knowing about discounts in advance would motivate them to buy earlier.
A similar proportion (78%) said that a refund in the event of a deeper discount on Black Friday/Cyber Monday would incentivise them to purchase. Some three in five (60%) also said that being able to see stock levels would make them more likely to participate in the sales.
Methodology
YouGov polled 2,021 British adults online on 5-6 November 2026. The survey was carried out through YouGov Surveys: Self-serve. Data is weighted by age, gender, education level, region, and social grade. The margin of error is 2% for the overall sample.
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