Mark your calendars! Only 7 days until shopping madness starts – beginning with Black Friday, next Cyber Monday, and finally, Boxing Day.

November is probably the most celebrated shopping time of the year in the United States with two highly anticipated shopping sales events happening: Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
  •   Black Friday falls on the Friday following U.S. Thanksgiving Day.
  •   Cyber Monday is a relatively recent sales event which lands on the Monday following Black Friday. The marketing idea behind Cyber Monday is to give shoppers who missed their Black Friday deals a second chance on Cyber Monday through online shopping.

December is traditionally the month of shopping in Canada. Malls and shops are adorned with pretty Christmas decorations and holiday promotion advertisements. The shopping spirit continues uninterrupted until the end of December with a spike in shopping enthusiasm as Boxing Day (December 26th) arrives.

Since 2008, Canadian and American stores (particularly those with presence in both countries) have adopted all three big annual sales events – Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Boxing Day. Sales generally begin a week early now and run throughout the week, with additional specials launched only on the day of. Discounts on these three major shopping dates tend to be significantly more than usual – especially on electronics and fashion.

In Canada, the number of shoppers on Boxing Day (December 26th) still rivals the shopping spirit on Black Friday (late November). On the other hand, in the United States, shopping madness happens on Black Friday with continued energy online for Cyber Monday shopping.

If you’re brave to venture the malls on Black Friday down in the States or Boxing Day up in Canada, be patient and be prepared to make countless rounds in the parking lot to find a parking spot, lineup to enter popular stores, fitting rooms and at cashiers, and be lost in a sea of shoppers. Start your day early – especially if you have your eye on electronics like big screen TVs, which may be in limited supply. When going in a group, it may be useful to set a meeting time and place in advance in case you split up in the masses because cell networks within the mall may be overloaded on these days. Malls and stores may observe holiday hours or have extended hours too.

Online shopping at home on Black Friday and Cyber Monday is certainly more convenient, but you may need quick fingers on these dates to complete your online transactions. Items placed in your cart may be completely sold-out when you finally checkout. Shopping websites may restrict the number of active online customers, or may be intermittently down from the mass online traffic. Good luck!

Mark your calendar for this year’s big shopping dates. The first of three starts in one week!
  •   U.S. Thanksgiving: Thursday November 28, 2013
  •   Black Friday: Friday November 29, 2013
  •   Cyber Monday: Monday December 2, 2013
  •   Christmas Day: Wednesday December 25, 2013
  •   Boxing Day: Thursday December 26, 2013

To remind you of these shopping mania dates in the years to come:
  •   U.S. Thanksgiving: fourth Thursday in November
  •   Black Friday: fourth Friday in November; Friday following U.S. Thanksgiving Day
  •   Cyber Monday: Monday following U.S. Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday
  •   Christmas Day: December 25th
  •   Boxing Day: December 26th

Your inbox will soon be inundated with emails on Black Friday Deals Week, Cyber Monday announcements to Boxing Week Sales.

Get ready to start planning your festive shopping spree 😉 Happy buying!