BFCM

What is BFCM?

BFCM stands for Black Friday Cyber Monday. It is the four-day shopping period that begins the Friday after US Thanksgiving and ends the following Monday.

Marketers use the abbreviation as shorthand for the whole event, not for either day on its own. It covers four days: Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, the Sunday that follows, and Cyber Monday.

The term is sometimes written as Cyber Week, which stretches the same idea across the fuller period from Thanksgiving to the Tuesday after Cyber Monday. The exact dates shift each year.

When is BFCM in 2026?

BFCM 2026 runs from Friday, November 27 through Monday, November 30.

The dates move every year because Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday in November. Black Friday is always the day after, and Cyber Monday is always the Monday that follows.

Those two days started out as different events, and the distinction still shapes how people talk about them.

What is the difference between Black Friday and Cyber Monday?

Black Friday began as an in-store event and Cyber Monday as an online one. That split has largely gone, and both now run across every channel.

The bottom row is the point. Retailers now run continuous promotions across all four days, so the two names describe timing rather than channel.

That continuity is what makes the period difficult to plan for.

Why does BFCM matter for email marketers?

BFCM concentrates a large share of annual ecommerce revenue into four days. That compresses the email calendar into a short, crowded window.

Inbox competition peaks across the period, so timing and deliverability matter more than they do the rest of the year. Mailjet alone processed over 255 million emails during Black Friday 2025, and more than 236 million during Cyber Monday 2025.

Email marketers shouldn’t leave BFCM campaigns to the last minute, but sending too early is another common mistake. Campaigns that launch two months out lose their urgency before the shopping window opens.

Mailjet’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday hub collects tips, templates, and expert advice for the season. For campaign-level detail, read our complete guide to Black Friday email marketing.