Turkey 12 starts November 19, and while Amazon has not announced the dates of its own Black Friday Week, we plan around the twelve days through Cyber Monday on November 30. The pace is brisk: last year, daily sales for Front Row brands ran 77% above baseline across the event, peaking at 219% on Black Friday and 200% on Cyber Monday. The deal window and the inbound cutoffs have passed, so this list covers what you can still change, in the order you will need it.
Dates to know
- Oct 28: last FBA inbound cutoff, for Amazon-optimized splits (passed)
- Nov 6: submit A+ Content
- Nov 12: publish Brand Store holiday pages
- Nov 19: Turkey 12 starts
- Nov 26, 27 and 30: Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday
- Dec 17: last ground ship date for USPS Ground Advantage and FedEx Ground 5-day
- Jan 14: peak fulfillment fees end
Two weeks out
- Confirm your inventory landed. Prime badge eligibility depends on Amazon receiving your units, not on you shipping them. Check receiving status today, set restock alerts on top ASINs and line up an FBM backup. Stockout losses at Prime Day rose 24% even as inventory improved, concentrated in top ASINs.
- Check deal health every day. Amazon revalidates Prime Exclusive Discounts every 24 hours, so a drifting reference price can take a live deal offline. Low inventory and unbuyable listings are common triggers too. Confirm each hero ASIN shows its badge: for one Front Row client in BFCM 2024, badged products saw daily sales climb 341% over the pre-event period.
- Cap budgets by phase. Sponsored Products CPCs already run $1.05 to $1.65 and Sponsored Brands $1.40 to $3.25 before holiday traffic arrives. Set daily caps for discovery, peak and last-minute now, and spend ahead of the peak as well as during it.
Beef up the pages
Creative has deadlines because Amazon reviews it. A+ submissions can take up to seven business days, longer when the queue fills. Submit by Friday, November 6 to be live by November 17. Brand Store changes are typically reviewed within 24 hours, so publish holiday pages by Thursday, November 12.
- Build gift-led Brand Store pages. Lead with gift sets, "under $30" collections and best sellers, with a hero for each shopper mode: early planner, peak week and last minute. Amazon's own data says Stores updated within 90 days see 21% more repeat visitors and 35% higher attributed sales per visitor, and Stores with three or more pages see 83% higher dwell time.
- Add comparison and gifting modules to A+ Content. Amazon says A+ can lift sales up to 8%, and Premium A+ up to 20%, which are best-case figures. Moderation rejects promotional callouts such as prices, sale labels and shipping promises, so put urgency in the Store, your ads and the deal badge, and keep A+ evergreen.
- Touch PDPs lightly. A gifting badge on a product page can trigger suppression, and a suppressed listing sends the shopper to a competitor before you are reinstated. Limit PDP changes to low-risk gifting nods, like bows in images.
- Write for the shopper who asks Rufus. Rufus answers from listing details, customer reviews and community Q&A. On Black Friday 2025, Amazon purchase sessions that included Rufus jumped 100% against the prior 30 days, versus 20% for sessions without it. Answer the gift questions in your bullets and A+: who it suits, whether it arrives gift-ready, whether it works for sensitive skin.
Learn how Front Row accelerates brand growth by understanding the full commerce ecosystem.
Thanksgiving Day through Black Friday
- Run a morning check. Every day: deal status, Buy Box owner, suppression alerts and days of cover on hero ASINs. At 219% above baseline, one bad morning on Black Friday costs more than a bad Tuesday.
- Watch for resellers and hijackers. Check who owns the Buy Box on hero ASINs each morning, log unauthorized sellers with screenshots and file infringement reports through Report a Violation. Amazon says its automated controls stop more than 99% of suspected infringing listings before brands report them, but the rare miss lands in your busiest week. For resellers of genuine product, escalate through your account team and your reseller agreements.
Cyber Monday
- Shift marginal spend from search to DSP retargeting. During Prime Day 2026, DSP clicks ran about a third cheaper year over year while Sponsored Products CPCs rose roughly 50% at peak. Cyber Monday ran 200% above baseline for Front Row brands last year, so pace the day deliberately and retire bids that stop clearing your target.
Shipping cutoffs and last-minute messaging
- Post your cutoffs, then change the message. By mid-December the shopper's question shifts from price to arrival. FBM sellers should work back from carrier dates, and UPS had not published its dates when we checked. Lead Store and ad creative with delivery confidence, and say "gifts that arrive by Christmas" where Amazon allows it, which is the Store.
The post-event tail
- Read the tail before you celebrate. Compare sales to baseline and review TACOS, new-to-brand share, search terms, returns and days of cover. Peak fulfillment fees run through January 14, about $0.32 more per unit on average, so margin math continues after the event.
- Write down what worked. Log the creative, audiences and deals that earned their keep, and carry them into your 2027 plan.
Want a second set of eyes on your Turkey 12 plan? Talk to our team. Explore Marketplace Acceleration and Amazon Sponsored Ads management, or revisit our Amazon Q4 creative playbook.
