79% of Brands Offer Early Black Friday Discounts, But Not All Deals Are Worth Shopping

An overwhelming majority of brands launch their Black Friday sales early, but you have to be savvy to get the best deals. Read on for my tips to prepare for Black Friday, Cyberweek and Cybermonth.

I’ve been keeping track of the best Black Friday sales for men since 2012, and have seen the biggest sale event of the year evolve over time. The reality is that Black Friday as a standalone day died years ago. The problem is that today brands offer an often-shifting array of discounts that can start as early as October but don’t always offer the same deep discounts. Here’s what to keep in mind to score the best deals:

The Best Black Friday Deals Happen During “Cyberweek”

I monitored 121 clothing and footwear brands who hosted Black Friday sales. Of those 121 brands, 95 of them (78.5%) had launched a Black Friday sale or pre-sale by the Monday before Thanksgiving.

In my experience, the sales that brands launch during Cyberweek — between the Monday before Thanksgiving to the “Cyber Monday” after, are consistent or comparable across the week, though…

Some Cyber Monday Discounts Are Better Than Black Friday Deals

I have found that some stores will improve their Cyber Monday offer over their Black Friday deal. For example, in 2022, Ministry of Supply offered 30% off sitewide during Cybermonday compared with 25% off during Black Friday. In fact, in 2021, my survey found that 33% of stores I cover offered Cyber Monday deals that improved upon their Black Friday discounts.

The trade-off of waiting for better deals on Cybermonday is that selection may be limited.

Are “Pre-Black Friday Sales” Worth Shopping?

A number of brands have taken to dropping Black Friday sales and discounts weeks ahead of time.

Some companies roll out their best deals right away. Grayers, for example, an online menswear store that I love, has a history of posting its best deal — a flat 30 to 40% sitewide discount — weeks before Thanksgiving.

However, many other companies host “pre-Black Friday,” “fall” or “pre-Thanksgiving” sales that aren’t near as generous as their actual Black Friday and Cybermonday discounts. For example:

• Madewell took 30% off your purchase during their “Black Friday event” that was going on 5 days before Thanksgiving in 2023, but then offered 50% off your purchase plust 60% off Cyberdeals on Cyber Monday 2023.
• Pact Apparel, which makes sustainably-produced basics for men and women from organic cotton and other fabrics, put on a “Countdown to Black Friday” 2023 series of sales, where Week One saw all bottoms on sale. But on Cyber Monday 2023, Pact put its entire store on sale for up to 70% off.

It’s important to read the fine print and do some internet sleuthing to figure out whether a “pre-Black Friday sale” in the first week of November is really a good deal or not. You can compare a range of menswear Cyber Monday and Black Friday deals for brands that I cover on Modern Fellows for 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2014, 2013 and 2012.

Black Friday died in 2019

I really started seeing a shift in the year 2019, which officially marked the death of Black Friday for me. That was the first year that I noticed Black Friday sales were creeping earlier in the week and no longer started on Black Friday or Thanksgiving.

In 2019, many of the innovative e-commerce brands I track launched their Black Friday sales on Monday, November 25. Here are just a couple of examples from Black Friday 2019:

1. Furniture startup Joybird took 35% off throughout Cyberweek.
2. The now-shuttered Washington, DC-based menswear startup Hugh and Crye offered Black Friday pricing of up to 50% off throughout Cyberweek with code HOLIDAY19.
3. Ministry of Supply, which makes technical fabric workwear for women and men, offered 20% off sitewide during Cyberweek with code BF2019.
4. Madewell, the upscale womenswear brand that spun off from J. Crew, is had 30% off purchases during Cyberweek with code GIFTWELL.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Black Friday and Cyberweek

Then came 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic. With clothing and footwear stores struggling to survive, many offered their best Black Friday pricing of the year as early as October. (Amazon contributed to the trend by launching its Prime Day promotions in mid-October 2020.)

The Emergence of Cybermonday

Earlier, Black Friday as a standalone day of shopping began to be undercut by the emergence in the mid-2000 of Cyber Monday. 

Ellen Davis of the National Retail Federation is credited with having coined the term Cybermonday in a 2005 press release, to describe a trend the trade association saw towards increased online traffic and sales on the Monday after Thanksgiving.

Black Friday vs. Thanksgiving

The mid-2000s also saw stores like Walmart and Best Buy and outlet centers opening their doors the evening — and in some cases the afternoon — of Thanksgiving day.

American Express Introduces Small Business Saturday

In 2010, American Express bridged Black Friday and Cybermonday by introducing Small Business Saturday.  The credit card company launched the shopping concept to encourage consumers to shop small and local.

From 2010 until 2018, shoppers and retailers seemed content with sales spanning Thanksgiving Thursday through Cybermonday.

Cyberweek has replaced Black Friday

Black Friday isn’t a thing anymore.

It is more accurate to talk about Cyberweek sales that stretch from the Monday before Thanksgiving to the Monday after Thanksgiving.

What does this mean for consumers? 

Spreading out the deals over a longer period takes the pressure off, meaning you don’t have to spend the Friday after Thanksgiving running out to the mall or scrolling to shop online — though you do have to do some sleuthing to make sure you are getting a good deal.

Goodbye Black Friday.

Welcome to Cyberweek.