A Shopify jewelry brand has three gifting peaks in the next 18 weeks: Black Friday to Cyber Monday (Nov 27–30, 2026), Christmas, and Valentine's Day (Sunday, Feb 14, 2027). Canadian brands get a fourth, Boxing Day on Dec 26. Brands that start building creative and audiences now go into each peak with warm buyers. Brands that start in mid-November pay peak CPMs to reach cold ones.
This is the week-by-week plan we use for jewelry brands doing $100K+/month on Shopify, selling in the US and Canada.
The dates that matter
| Date | Event | Market |
|---|---|---|
| Mon, Oct 12, 2026 | Thanksgiving (Canada) | CA |
| Thu, Nov 26, 2026 | Thanksgiving (US) | US |
| Fri, Nov 27 – Mon, Nov 30 | Black Friday to Cyber Monday | US & CA |
| Mid-December | Last ground-shipping day for Christmas (check your carrier's published cutoff) | US & CA |
| Fri, Dec 25 | Christmas | US & CA |
| Sat, Dec 26 | Boxing Day sales | CA |
| Sun, Feb 14, 2027 | Valentine's Day | US & CA |
| Sun, May 9, 2027 | Mother's Day | US & CA |
Valentine's Day lands on a Sunday in 2027. Gifts bought online need to arrive by Friday, Feb 12, so your real deadline is your carrier's cutoff for Feb 12, not Feb 14.
Why jewelry is different in Q4
Jewelry is bought as a gift more than almost any other Shopify category, so the buyer is often not the wearer. That changes three things:
- The buyer doesn't know the size, metal or style. Ring size, chain length and gold vs silver are the top reasons a gift order stalls. A size guide, a "not sure? free resize" line and gift receipts do more for Q4 conversion rate than any new ad.
- The deadline is fixed. After your shipping cutoff, a gift buyer can't use you, however good the ad is. Ad spend after the cutoff needs a different message (digital gift card, local pickup, or self-purchase) or it should be cut.
- Ad costs rise for everyone. Every retailer bids in November and December. Jewelry with a $200+ AOV already has the highest CPM on Meta of any category at that price point ($21.67 median, Lebesgue benchmarks). Q4 makes that worse. The fix is to have more buyers already warm before prices rise.
The week-by-week plan
Oct 6 – Oct 25: build creative and the warm audience
- Shoot or source 15–20 new creatives: worn-on-skin close-ups, gifting moments (unboxing, the reveal), and stacked or layered looks. Packshots on white backgrounds belong in catalog ads, not prospecting.
- Test new angles at your normal daily budget. You want to know which 3–4 angles win before CPMs rise, not during BFCM.
- Start an early-access list: "Get BFCM pricing 24 hours early." Run it as a lead ad on Meta and as a pop-up on Shopify. This becomes your cheapest BFCM audience.
- Canada: Thanksgiving (Oct 12) is a small self-purchase moment, not a gifting peak. Don't spend your Q4 budget here.
Oct 26 – Nov 22: set the offer, warm the list
- Decide the offer in writing: % off, a gift with purchase, or bundles. For demi-fine and fine jewelry, a gift-with-purchase or tiered bundle usually protects margin better than a flat site-wide discount. We wrote about why "10% off" doesn't convert.
- Build gift-guide collections by price ("Under $100", "Under $250") and by recipient. Gift buyers shop by budget first.
- Shift 20–30% of prospecting budget to video views and engagement to grow retargeting pools at lower CPMs.
- Check the Meta catalog: every variant (metal, size, length) needs a correct image and price, or catalog ads will show the wrong one.
Nov 23 – Nov 30: BFCM
- Email and SMS the early-access list first. It's your highest-converting audience, and it costs nothing per send.
- Move budget to retargeting and to the 3–4 angles that won in October. BFCM is not the week to test.
- Raise budgets in steps of 20–30% per day on ad sets that hold your target CAC, rather than doubling overnight.
- Watch Shopify's conversion rate by hour. If it falls while ad spend climbs, the issue is usually the site (speed, stock, checkout), not the ads.
Dec 1 – shipping cutoff: Christmas gifting
- Put the shipping cutoff in the ad copy and on the product page: "Order by Dec [X] for Christmas delivery." A fixed deadline converts gift buyers better than a discount.
- Run "last chance to ship" retargeting for the 3 days before the cutoff.
- After the cutoff, switch to digital gift cards and self-purchase angles, or cut spend.
Dec 26 – Jan 3 (Canada only): Boxing Day
- Boxing Day is a self-purchase event. Lead with pieces people buy for themselves, not gift messaging.
Jan 11 – Feb 11, 2027: Valentine's Day
- Valentine's is the most jewelry-specific gifting peak of the year, and the buyer is usually a partner who doesn't know the size. Size guides and easy exchanges matter more here than in December.
- Retarget December gift buyers. Someone who bought a gift in December is a warm buyer for Valentine's.
- Last order date for Friday Feb 12 delivery goes in the ads and on site.
A jewelry brand that scaled spend the right way
A fine jewelry brand in Canada doing $100K–$300K/month had the same problem every quarter: each time they raised Meta spend, CAC jumped and margin dropped. They were testing new creative at random and scaling whatever had the best ROAS that week.
What changed: one testing loop across ads, product pages and retention, and spend only went up behind angles that had already held CAC for a full week. That's the same rule as above. Find the winning angles in October, then scale them in November, instead of discovering them during BFCM at peak prices.
What to do today
Open Meta Ads Manager. Filter the last 60 days to ads with at least $500 spend. Sort by cost per purchase. Write down the top 3 angles (not the top 3 ads: what each one is about, like "gift reveal", "stacked look" or "everyday gold"). Those are your BFCM angles. Brief 5 new creatives on each of those 3 angles this week.
If you want a second pair of eyes on your Q4 plan, book a 20-minute call. We work only with Shopify jewelry brands in the US and Canada, and we'll tell you what we'd fix before BFCM.
FAQ
When should a jewelry brand start BFCM ads?
Start building creative and an early-access list about 7 weeks before Black Friday. For 2026 that means early October. Scale spend only in the BFCM week itself, on the angles that already proved they hold CAC in October.
Should jewelry brands discount for Black Friday?
Not always site-wide. For demi-fine and fine jewelry, a gift with purchase or a tiered bundle (spend $200, get a free piece) usually protects margin better than a flat percentage off. Fashion jewelry under $100 can discount more because the price itself is the hook.
When is Valentine's Day 2027 and when should ads start?
Valentine's Day 2027 is Sunday, Feb 14. Start Valentine's ads in mid-January, retarget December gift buyers, and treat your carrier's cutoff for Friday, Feb 12 delivery as the real deadline.
Is Boxing Day worth running ads for in Canada?
Yes, but as a self-purchase sale, not a gifting push. Buyers on Boxing Day are shopping for themselves, so lead with everyday pieces and stacked looks rather than gift messaging.