Six ad channels, including Snapchat, Microsoft and AppLovin, on a store we first read as Plus in October.
MetaGooglePinterestSnapchatMicrosoftAppLovin
Also runs: Redo, Triple Whale, Judge.me, Klaviyo, Postscript
Plus detected Oct 10
Alert Research · Pre-Black Friday edition
The Shopify Black Friday & Cyber Monday Report 2026
How Shopify merchants are preparing for the biggest shopping weekend of the year: where they advertise, what their ads promise, how they measure, and the app stack behind it. Shopify reports what merchants sold. This report shows what they did to get ready.
01
#Key findings
Six things the data says about Shopify merchants going into Black Friday 2026. Every number is computed from stores we read directly, and each section below shows its working.
74%
of 1,946,881 tracked Shopify stores run at least one official ad-channel app. 57% of those run two or more.
6x
Shopify Plus stores are 6.1x as likely as the average store to run the Reddit Ads app, 7.5x for AppLovin and 14x for Criteo, against 1.2x for Meta.
18% to 22%
Share of advertisers launching new Meta ads with a "% off" offer, from the week of Aug 31 to the week of Oct 26.
41%
of the 143 stores in our ad sample already running Black Friday ads framed them as early access, a VIP list or a presale.
4.9%
of advertising stores run a dedicated attribution or server-side tracking app we detect. Most measure with the channels’ own pixels.
10x
Plus stores are 10x as likely to run a gift card or gifting app, and 9x as likely to run a helpdesk.
02
#Where Shopify merchants advertise
We record which official ad-channel apps every tracked store has installed. Meta and Google are near-universal among advertisers. The smaller channels are smaller, but the stores on them are much bigger.
Share of Shopify stores running each ad channel's official app
Meta55.5%1,079,770 stores
Google48.7%948,201 stores
TikTok17.0%330,923 stores
Pinterest13.0%252,373 stores
Snapchat1.4%27,524 stores
Microsoft1.4%26,567 stores
AppLovin0.3%6,006 stores
AdRoll0.3%5,192 stores
Reddit0.1%2,767 stores
Criteo<0.1%452 stores
Source: Alert Commerce, official ad-channel apps detected on 1,946,881 live Shopify stores. Data as of November 4, 2026.
How many channels each store runs
None · 26%
One · 32%
Two · 26%
3+ · 16%
74% of stores run at least one channel app, and 57% of those run two or more.
Share of stores running each channel: all stores vs Shopify Plus
Meta1.2x64% of Plus vs 55%
Google1.5x72% of Plus vs 49%
TikTok1.6x28% of Plus vs 17%
Pinterest2.1x27% of Plus vs 13%
Snapchat3.7x5.2% of Plus vs 1.4%
Microsoft4.4x6.1% of Plus vs 1.4%
AppLovin7.5x2.3% of Plus vs 0.3%
AdRoll4.3x1.1% of Plus vs 0.3%
Reddit6.1x0.9% of Plus vs 0.1%
Criteo14.5x0.3% of Plus vs <0.1%
All tracked storesShopify Plus stores
The multiple is how many times more common the channel is on Plus. Meta and Google are near-universal everywhere; the smaller channels are where Plus stores stand apart. Criteo rests on a small number of stores.
Source: Alert Commerce, official ad-channel apps and Shopify Plus status. Data as of November 4, 2026.
For app companies
Plus stores are 6.1x as likely to run Reddit Ads, 7.5x AppLovin and 4.4x Microsoft as the average store. A smaller channel's app on the storefront is a cheap filter for larger merchants.
For agencies
91% of Reddit Ads stores already run three or more channels. A newer channel showing up is a sign of a team testing beyond Meta and Google, which is a paid-media conversation.
For merchants
Most stores that run any channel run two or more. If you run one, the most common second channel is Google & YouTube.
Full channel breakdown, refreshed quarterly: How Shopify stores advertise.
03
#What Shopify brands are advertising
We collect the Meta ads Shopify stores run and classify what each ad promises from its copy. Below: the share of advertisers launching new ads each week whose ads carry each offer. Shares, not counts, because the number of ads we collect in a week depends on our own collection, not on merchants.
Share of advertisers whose new Meta ads carry each offer, by week
% offFree shippingBundle / BOGOBlack Friday / Cyber Monday
Weeks start on Monday. The week of Nov 2 is partial (191 advertisers so far) and shown dashed; weeks with fewer than 1,000 advertisers are left out of the headline numbers.
Source: Alert Commerce, Meta ads collected from Shopify stores, 51,613 advertiser-weeks since Aug 31, offers classified from ad copy. Data as of November 4, 2026.
0.1% → 3.9%
of advertisers mentioned Black Friday or Cyber Monday in new ads
From the week of Aug 31 to the week of Oct 26. In the same weeks the "% off" share went from 18% to 22% and free shipping from 8% to 12%: discounting rose before the Black Friday name did.
41%
framed Black Friday as early access, a VIP list or a presale
Of the 143 stores in our sample with a Black Friday ad by Nov 4, 50 had started before October 15. The median first Black Friday ad appeared on Oct 22. A small sample, so read it as a pattern, not a market rate.
Black Friday creative in the wild
Eight Black Friday ads from established Shopify Plus brands, launched between September and early November. Click through to the ad in the Meta Ad Library.
For app companies
Brands building VIP and early-access lists in October need list growth, SMS and loyalty tooling before the sale, not during it.
For agencies
Early-access framing turns Black Friday into a list-building campaign that starts five or six weeks out. That is the window to sell creative and lifecycle work.
For merchants
Among the stores we track, early access and member pricing are common ways to start Black Friday without discounting sitewide in October.
See the ads Shopify brands are running, matched to each store's app stack.
Start free trial04
#How advertisers measure
Measurement apps fall into two groups: attribution and analytics apps that model where sales came from, and server-side tracking apps that send cleaner conversion data back to the ad platforms.
Spend is everywhere. Dedicated measurement is not.
Only 4.9% of stores running an ad channel also run an attribution or server-side tracking app we detect. Most measure with each channel's own pixel and reporting. The share climbs with the number of channels and with store size.
1,364,220stores run at least one ad channel app with no attribution or server-side tracking app we detect
Share of advertisers running a measurement app
One ad channel
2.8%run one
Two ad channels
4.3%run one
Three or more
9.6%run one
Shopify Plus advertisers
23.7%run one
Source: Alert Commerce, official ad-channel apps plus 18 attribution and 10 server-side tracking apps. Data as of November 4, 2026.
Leading attribution apps
Triple WhaleNNorthbeam
Polar Analytics
Lifetimely
ThoughtMetric50,972 advertising stores run one.
Leading server-side tracking apps
Elevar
Stape
wetracked.io
Littledata
Analyzify25,545 advertising stores run one.
1 in 5
active Meta advertisers run without the official Meta app
Of the 14,485 stores whose Meta ads we saw in the last 30 days, 22% have no Meta app installed: the pixel is pasted by hand or sent through another app. App counts are a floor for advertising, not a ceiling.
What this means
For attribution and tracking apps
1,364,220 advertisers run no measurement app we detect. Stores adding a third channel are where adoption doubles.
For agencies
A multi-channel store with no measurement app is a reporting conversation waiting to happen, especially after the holiday spend lands.
05
#The Black Friday Shopify tech stack
The most-adopted app categories on Shopify, grouped the way a store uses them, with the most-installed apps in each. Percentages are the share of all tracked stores running at least one app in the category, and the share of Shopify Plus stores.
Acquire
Email marketing
20% of stores52% on Plus
Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Omnisend
SMS marketing
0.5% of stores3.9% on Plus
Postscript, Attentive, TxtCart AI
Popups and lead capture
15% of stores18% on Plus
Shopify Forms, CWILL Popups, OptiMonk
Affiliate and referral
5.9% of stores18% on Plus
UpPromote, GOAFFPRO, ShareASale
Convert
Reviews and UGC
31% of stores45% on Plus
Judge.me, Loox, Yotpo
Upsells and personalization
5.9% of stores23% on Plus
Honeycomb, Selleasy, Rebuy
Bundles
7.0% of stores13% on Plus
Kaching, Bundler, BOGOS
A/B testing
0.7% of stores6.4% on Plus
Intelligems, Shoplift, Visually
Serve
Live chat
19% of stores16% on Plus
Shopify Inbox, Tidio, Chatty
Helpdesk
1.3% of stores12% on Plus
Gorgias, Zendesk, Re:amaze
Gift cards and gifting
1.3% of stores13% on Plus
Rise, Wrapped, Gift Card Hero
Retain
Loyalty and rewards
2.1% of stores8.1% on Plus
Smile, Yotpo, LoyaltyLion
Subscriptions
1.7% of stores5.9% on Plus
Appstle, Recharge, Bold
Deliver
Order tracking
5.3% of stores7.0% on Plus
CWILL, Track123, 17TRACK
Shipping protection
0.9% of stores5.9% on Plus
Redo, Route, Navidium
Returns and exchanges
1.1% of stores8.3% on Plus
Redo, easyReturns, Loop
Measure
Analytics and attribution
11% of stores37% on Plus
Microsoft Clarity, Triple Whale, Hotjar
Download the tech stack infographic (PNG)
Source: Alert Commerce, app categories on a random sample of 243,537 tracked stores (10,614 on Plus); leading apps by detected installs. Data as of November 4, 2026.
For app companies
Reviews, email and chat are mass-market. Gift cards, helpdesk, A/B testing, SMS, returns and shipping protection are still small overall but common on Plus: room to grow below the top of the market.
For agencies
Every category in the Measure and Convert columns is a CRO or analytics engagement. Stores without them are the ones to talk to after the holidays.
For merchants
If you run reviews, email and a chat tool, you match the typical Shopify store. The Plus column shows what larger stores add next.
Track installs and uninstalls in your category across Shopify stores, as they happen.
Start free trial06
#What Shopify Plus brands run differently
About 4% of tracked stores are on Shopify Plus. Their stacks are not just bigger versions of everyone else's: some categories are many times more common on Plus, and one is less common.
Share of stores running each category: all stores vs Shopify Plus
Gift cards and gifting
9.8x13% of Plus vs 1.3%
A/B testing
9.2x6.4% of Plus vs 0.7%
Helpdesk
8.6x12% of Plus vs 1.3%
SMS marketing
8.5x3.9% of Plus vs 0.5%
Returns and exchanges
7.5x8.3% of Plus vs 1.1%
Shipping protection
6.4x5.9% of Plus vs 0.9%
Upsells and personalization
3.9x23% of Plus vs 5.9%
Loyalty and rewards
3.8x8.1% of Plus vs 2.1%
Subscriptions
3.5x5.9% of Plus vs 1.7%
Analytics and attribution
3.4x37% of Plus vs 11%
Affiliate and referral
3.1x18% of Plus vs 5.9%
Email marketing
2.6x52% of Plus vs 20%
Bundles
1.8x13% of Plus vs 7.0%
Reviews and UGC
1.4x45% of Plus vs 31%
Order tracking
1.3x7.0% of Plus vs 5.3%
Popups and lead capture
1.2x18% of Plus vs 15%
Live chat
0.8x16% of Plus vs 19%
All tracked storesShopify Plus stores
Source: Alert Commerce, app categories on a random sample of 243,537 tracked stores. Data as of November 4, 2026.
The apps Plus brands pick: share of each app's stores on Shopify Plus
1
Checkout Components
Checkout Components62%
2Attentive
Attentive57%
3Loop
Loop56%
4Rise
Rise56%
5
HubSpot
HubSpot50%
6Elevar
Elevar50%
7Gorgias
Gorgias49%
8Shoplift
Shoplift47%
9Rebuy
Rebuy43%
10Zendesk
Zendesk42%
11Intelligems
Intelligems42%
12LoyaltyLion
LoyaltyLion38%
The marker is the 4.4% Plus share across all tracked stores. Apps with at least 3,000 detected stores.
Source: Alert Commerce, detected app installs and Shopify Plus status. Data as of November 4, 2026.
For app companies
Gift cards (10x), A/B testing (9x), helpdesk (9x) and SMS (8x) are the categories where Plus adoption runs furthest ahead of the market. Chat is the only category less common on Plus.
For agencies
Plus brands pair growth tooling (testing, SMS, personalization) with service tooling (helpdesk, returns, protection). Agencies selling to Plus should expect both to be in place.
For merchants
Stores moving up-market tend to add post-purchase and support tools, not just more marketing.
See which stores are upgrading to Shopify Plus, with the apps they run.
See Plus upgrades07
#Shopify brands to watch this Black Friday
Ten stores with an interesting mix of signals: recent Shopify Plus moves we detected in October, and brands that started their Black Friday advertising early. Every signal below is something we observed on the storefront or in the Meta Ad Library.
Five channels including AdRoll, with Triple Whale for measurement and Redo for post-purchase.
MetaGoogleTikTokPinterestAdRoll
Also runs: Redo, Triple Whale, Rise, Klaviyo, Yotpo
Plus detected Oct 17
Four channels led by AppLovin, Snapchat and Microsoft rather than Meta, with Triple Whale, Recharge and Intelligems.
GoogleSnapchatMicrosoftAppLovin
Also runs: Triple Whale, Recharge, Intelligems, Judge.me, Klaviyo
Plus detected Oct 29
One of the few stores running the Reddit Ads app, alongside Meta, Google and TikTok.
MetaGoogleTikTokReddit
Also runs: Rise, Klaviyo, Gorgias
Plus detected Oct 28
Four channels including Microsoft Advertising, on a store we first read as Plus on October 31.
MetaGoogleTikTokMicrosoft
Also runs: Rebuy
Plus detected Oct 31
A measurement-heavy stack: Triple Whale, Intelligems and Microsoft Clarity next to Redo and Gorgias.
MetaGoogle
Also runs: Redo, Triple Whale, Rise, Intelligems, Klaviyo
Plus detected Oct 16
Running early Black Friday ads on Meta without the official Meta app installed.
GooglePinterest
Also runs: Rise, Klaviyo, Gorgias, Elevar
First Black Friday ad seen Oct 29
Ran a "we moved Black Friday" sale in early September, three months before the day, across four channels.
MetaGoogleTikTokPinterest
Also runs: Triple Whale, Recharge, Klaviyo, Attentive
First Black Friday ad seen Sep 1
Borrowed the Black Friday name for an off-season sale in September, with Triple Whale and Intelligems behind it.
MetaGooglePinterest
Also runs: Triple Whale, Intelligems, Okendo, Zendesk, Klaviyo
First Black Friday ad seen Sep 3
Opened Black Friday early on one hero product, the Vista V3 stroller, instead of a sitewide discount.
MetaGooglePinterest
Also runs: Klaviyo
First Black Friday ad seen Nov 1
Plus dates are when we first read the store as Plus, which can trail the actual move. We confirmed 26 Plus moves with our own detection between October 8 and November 3. Nothing here implies anything about a brand's sales or ad performance.
08
#Black Friday channels by country
Share of stores running each channel's app, among the 713,326 stores where we know the country.
| Country | Stores | Meta | Google | TikTok | Pinterest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 260,730 | 59% | 63% | 21% | 24% |
| United Kingdom | 62,425 | 60% | 70% | 21% | 21% |
| Australia | 58,108 | 68% | 68% | 18% | 21% |
| Germany | 38,822 | 57% | 66% | 20% | 20% |
| Canada | 35,266 | 60% | 66% | 16% | 21% |
| India | 30,096 | 78% | 71% | 1% | 1% |
| France | 23,004 | 56% | 62% | 19% | 22% |
| Italy | 19,329 | 72% | 66% | 22% | 13% |
| Netherlands | 17,619 | 54% | 67% | 19% | 20% |
| Japan | 14,390 | 59% | 72% | 9% | 10% |
India's TikTok share is near zero because TikTok has been blocked there since 2020, a useful check that the counts reflect real installs.
Source: Alert Commerce, official ad-channel apps by store country. Data as of November 4, 2026.
09
#What to watch next
What we observed, and what we think it suggests. The observations are measured; the hypotheses are ours to test in the post-event edition.
For Shopify merchants
Observed: discount offers in new ads rose through October before Black Friday language did, and early-access framing was common among early movers.
Hypothesis: stores that build a list in October rely less on deep sitewide discounts in late November. We will check offer depth after the event.
For Shopify app companies
Observed: Plus stores run gift cards, helpdesk, A/B testing, SMS, returns and protection at several times the market rate, and smaller ad channels skew Plus.
Hypothesis: these categories are where the next tier of merchants adds tools as it grows. The post-event edition will look at installs in a clean measurement window.
For Shopify agencies
Observed: most advertisers run two or more channels and few run a measurement app; new channels like Reddit and AppLovin appear on sophisticated, multi-channel stores.
Hypothesis: January reporting is when measurement gaps hurt most. Multi-channel stores without attribution are the natural first calls.
Stores
1,946,881 live Shopify stores where we detected at least one app, each read within the last 90 days. Parked, closed and unverified domains are excluded. Countries are known for 713,326 stores.
Apps and channels
We detect apps from the code each one places on a store's live storefront. Ad channels are counted from each channel's official Shopify app. A store that pasted a pixel by hand is not counted, so channel numbers are a floor.
Categories
Apps are grouped using their Shopify App Store category plus our own review. Apps filed in the wrong category (for example a subscriptions app listed under loyalty) are removed. Category shares come from a random sample of 243,537 stores; leading apps are ranked by detected installs.
Shopify Plus
Plus status comes from our own store-level Plus detection. A Plus move is dated when we first read the store as Plus, which can trail the real migration. Plus coverage runs slightly higher than overall coverage, which nudges Plus shares up; comparisons hold, absolute values are approximate.
Ads and offers
We collect Meta ads from Shopify stores and classify each ad's offer from its headline and copy. The ad library is a sample of advertisers, not a census, so we report shares of advertisers, never counts of the market. "Advertising" means ads we observed, not spend.
What this edition does not cover
Trends in app installs, Plus upgrade volume, hiring and industry breakdowns need a longer clean measurement window than we have before Black Friday. They will appear in the post-event edition, published in December.
Rounding: shares under 10% are shown to one decimal, larger shares to the nearest whole number. App and brand names and logos are trademarks of their owners and are shown only to identify them. Alert is not affiliated with any company named in this report.
Using Alert Research
You are welcome to quote and chart any number in this report. Please cite Alert Commerce and link to this page. For data requests or press questions, email hello@alertcommerce.com.
Alert Commerce, "The Shopify Black Friday & Cyber Monday Report 2026" (pre-Black Friday edition), November 4, 2026, https://alertcommerce.com/reports/shopify-black-friday-2026/
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