Shopify Black Friday Checklist: 10 Fixes to Make Before BFCM

Black Friday is November 27, 2026, and Cyber Monday is November 30. This late, a redesign is a risk, not a fix. These ten changes are small, mostly done in Shopify admin or the theme editor, and each one removes a reason a ready-to-buy shopper might leave. Make every change on a duplicate theme first where you can, and test it on your phone.

Promotions and pricing

1. Check that discount codes combine the way you expect

In Shopify, each discount has a Combinations setting. If your Black Friday code isn't allowed to combine with shipping discounts, it can quietly cancel free shipping at checkout. Open each BFCM discount, check Combinations, then place a test order with every code on mobile.

2. Show the sale before checkout

If the deal only appears at checkout, many shoppers never get far enough to see it. Set compare-at prices (in the product's Pricing section, or with the bulk editor) so the sale shows as a strike-through price and a Sale badge. Only use genuine previous prices, and reset them when the sale ends.

Checkout and cart

3. Make sure Shop Pay is on

Returning shoppers shouldn't have to type their address on Black Friday. Confirm Shop Pay is enabled in Settings, then Payments, and that dynamic checkout buttons appear on product pages. Run a test checkout on mobile.

4. Use a cart drawer if your theme has one

During a sale, shoppers add more than one thing. A cart drawer (Theme settings, then Cart, in many themes) lets them add an item and keep shopping without leaving the page. Test that it opens quickly, shows the checkout button without scrolling and closes easily on a phone.

Product pages

5. Answer "will it arrive in time?" under the buy button

This is the question that stalls holiday orders. Add a collapsible row under Add to cart with your holiday order-by date and return window, and make sure it matches your policies in Settings, then Policies.

6. Give every variant its own image

"Is that the navy or the black?" Assign an image to each variant so the photo switches when a shopper picks a color. Check your top 10 products on mobile.

Mobile and speed

7. Open your store on your phone

Use the theme editor's mobile preview, then your actual phone. Keep the announcement bar to one line, and delay or turn off the email popup on mobile for sale week. The first screen should show what's on sale and how to get it.

8. Remove leftover code from uninstalled apps

Deleting a Shopify app doesn't always delete its code. Check App embeds in the theme editor and turn off any for apps you no longer use. On a duplicate theme, search theme.liquid for old app snippets, then preview on mobile before publishing.

9. Slim down the BFCM homepage

A new sale slideshow can be the heaviest thing on your store. Cut it to one slide, turn off autoplaying hero video, and upload banners close to the size they're displayed at. Test the homepage on a cellular connection, not office Wi-Fi. For how to measure speed properly, see what to measure before and after.

After the order

10. Update the order confirmation email

Your busiest support week starts the moment the sale ends. In Settings, then Notifications, edit the order confirmation to say when orders ship, that tracking will follow, and what the holiday return window is. Send yourself a test and read it on your phone.

After BFCM: what to measure in January

Write down what you changed and when, so January's numbers can be read honestly. Compare conversion rate by device and traffic source against the same weeks last year, and note any tracking changes. If sales were lower than the traffic suggested, start with our guide to Shopify traffic with no sales.