The National Retail Federation (NRF), the world's leading retail trade association, released its 2026 Black Friday and Cyber Monday Holiday Shopping Insights Report, providing an in-depth analysis of consumer marketing channel preferences during major shopping events.

According to the report, nearly 60% of holiday shoppers prefer to receive Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions, discounts, and special offers through email. The findings indicate that email remains the most trusted and preferred marketing channel during peak shopping seasons.

The report also highlights that consumers show significantly lower engagement with social media advertisements and pop-up ads, while email marketing continues to outperform other channels due to its professionalism, comprehensive information delivery, and accessibility. Consumers value the ability to review promotional emails at their convenience, resulting in higher levels of trust and engagement.

For cross-border brands, the report suggests that launching Black Friday EDM warm-up campaigns four to six weeks in advance can effectively capture customer attention, strengthen engagement, and drive higher holiday sales performance.

These findings further reinforce the critical role of EDM marketing in global cross-border e-commerce promotions, providing valuable consumer behavior insights for both email marketing service providers and international merchants.

Source: National Retail Federation (NRF)