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Co-founder Briqpay
November 12, 2026 at 08:00 AM
This is the second post in our weekly series ahead of Black Friday. Last week we looked at November as a whole. This week we zoom in on Black Friday itself, and on why the day matters less than the week around it.
Black Friday falls on Friday 27 November this year. It sits inside Black Week, which runs from Monday 23 to Sunday 29 November, and Cyber Monday follows on 30 November (Mobilmarket's Black Week 2026 calendar). Most campaign plans are built around the Friday. Most of the extra spending happens on the other days.
Statistics Sweden (SCB) estimates household spending week by week, mainly from card and digital payment data. In 2024, Swedish households spent just under SEK 48 billion in an ordinary week, and Black Week added SEK 11.7 billion on top of that. Black Friday itself came to about SEK 11 billion, around SEK 4 billion more than an average day (SCB).
Put those two figures side by side and the shape is clear. Friday accounted for about a third of the extra Black Week spending. The other two thirds were spread over the six days around it. A plan that treats Friday as the event and the rest of the week as background is a plan for the smaller part of the money.
Our own checkout data points the same way. In last year's consumer (B2C) checkouts, Black Friday ran at about nine times a normal autumn day. The Sunday after ran at about seven times, Cyber Monday at about five and the Saturday at about four. We went through each day in the Black Friday weekend post.
Svensk Handel forecast SEK 10.2 billion in Black Week sales last year, about half a billion more than the year before. Its survey showed a split audience: 57% of consumers planned to shop during the week, while 34% said they would skip it, mainly for financial reasons. Among 18 to 24-year-olds, 63% planned to skip it, more than double the share the year before (M3 on Svensk Handel's forecast).
The sale itself told a similar story. Svea Bank's statistics on comparable e-retailers, reported by Ehandel.se, showed Black Friday 2025 turnover down about 3.4% on the year before, transactions down about 17% and average order value up about 16%. Fewer orders, each one bigger.
For 2026, the first external reading is HUI's Christmas trade report, Julhandelsrapporten 2026, published on 6 November. HUI forecasts that households will spend SEK 104.5 billion in December, about SEK 4 billion more than last year, with retail up about 6% (SVT on the HUI report). The report does not give Black Week figures, and Svensk Handel has not yet published its Black Week forecast for 2026. We will come back to it when it does.
Three things follow for the payment side. The first is time. Shoppers arriving from a campaign email or an ad have little patience for an extra step, so every redirect or extra form costs more on a peak day than on an ordinary Tuesday. The second is basket size. When fewer orders each carry more value, more revenue rides on each payment decision, including each credit approval. The third is the payment mix. Between January and September 2026, buy now pay later and invoice carried about 53% of completed Briqpay consumer checkouts in Sweden, and last year's peak weekend carried a similar share. If credit approvals slow down or decline more often during the sale, about half of your checkouts are exposed, not a small corner of them.
The survey points the same way. When a third of consumers sit out the sale for financial reasons, the ones who do buy are likely to be watching their budgets too. That does not tell us which payment methods they will choose, but it is a reason not to assume that demand for invoice and instalments will soften this year.
The new Swedish consumer credit act, Konsumentkreditlag (SFS 2026:1011), enters into force on Friday 20 November (official Swedish law record). Credit agreements made before that date stay under the old rules. That makes Black Week the first full week of sales under the new act, and Black Friday its first big peak day. For the full legal picture, see the ultimate guide to CCD2 and our country-by-country update.
First, get written confirmation from every credit provider in your checkout that its assessment and information flow will meet the new rules from 20 November, rather than relying on a status call. Second, decide what a shopper sees when a credit application is declined, so that it leads to another payment method rather than an abandoned cart. Third, track approval rates and conversion by payment method from 20 November, so that a change during the sale can be traced to the rules, the campaign or a provider. Fourth, plan for the whole week, including the Sunday, and not just the Friday.
We will be back next week with the last post before Black Week.
Methodology note: Black Week dates are from Mobilmarket's retail calendar. SCB figures refer to Black Week 2024 and are estimated mainly from card and digital payment data; the split between Friday and the rest of the week is derived from SCB's weekly and daily figures. Svensk Handel figures are its forecast and survey for Black Week 2025, as reported by M3 on 27 November 2025. HUI's forecast is from Julhandelsrapporten 2026, as reported by SVT on 6 November 2026. Svea Bank figures are year-on-year changes for comparable e-retailers, as reported by Ehandel.se. Briqpay figures are completed consumer (B2C) checkouts. This is not legal advice, and we do not name individual providers.
Black Week runs 23 to 29 November and Black Friday is on the 27th, but in most checkouts the whole month is the peak. Last year's Black Month data, what the new consumer credit act changes from 20 November, and what to settle before the sale starts.
Five weeks before CCD2 applies, five EU markets have a law and a date. The Netherlands does not. Where each country stands, how much credit each checkout carries, and what to check this week.
Black Friday was the biggest day, but the Sunday after was busier than Cyber Monday, and average basket value fell sharply by the Tuesday. Day-by-day checkout data from last year's peak and what to plan for.
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