Black Friday 2025 Meta Ads Benchmarks: Daily CPA, ROAS and Spend Index for DTC Brands
On Black Friday 2025 (28 November) the median DTC brand paid $48.77 per purchase at a Meta-attributed first-purchase ROAS of 1.84, on a fixed panel of 27 brands (26 with a purchase that day). Cyber Monday was the best day: median ROAS 2.05, CPA $52.51, spend 2.7 times the October 2025 daily average. On 2 to 5 December spend held near twice October and median ROAS fell to 1.43 to 1.54. Source: MHI Meta Benchmarks, DTC, October 2026 edition, read from MHI Media's warehouse of client Meta ad accounts on 29 October 2026, data settled to 28 October 2026.
Every figure on this page comes from the Meta ad accounts of 27 DTC brands, read from MHI Media's warehouse of client ad accounts on 29 October 2026 with data settled to 28 October 2026. Facebook and Instagram only. The 27 are a fixed panel: a brand is on it if it spent at least £500 and recorded at least 10 purchases in each of the six Monday-start weeks from 27 October to 7 December 2025, and at least £1,000 with 10 purchases in October 2025, so the same brands sit behind every daily cell. Daily CPA is spend divided by purchases for each brand that day; daily ROAS is Meta-attributed purchase value divided by spend; a brand with no purchase on a day is left out of that day's CPA. Each cell shows the median brand with the interquartile range (25th to 75th percentile) in brackets, a pooled figure (the panel's total spend over its total purchases or purchase value), and a spend index in which 100 is the panel's average day in October 2025. Spend appears only as that index. USD at £1 = $1.3289; multiply by 0.7525 for GBP. The method follows the methodology on the benchmarks hub, with a lower weekly bar than the hub's 90-day rule so that daily cells hold enough brands; the largest brand is 29% of panel spend, under the 50% line at which pooled figures would be withheld.
CPA, ROAS, spend and purchases run to 28 October 2026 in the warehouse, which is why a full daily series for Black Friday 2025 exists. CTR, CPM, CPC and conversion rate come from an impressions archive covering 8 January to 7 September 2026 only, frequency covers 8 January to 3 August 2026 only and placement covers 8 June to 13 July 2026 only, so there is no CPM, CTR or CPC for any day on this page and none for Black Friday 2025 anywhere in the dataset. Purchases are Meta's purchase event under each account's default attribution setting, normally 7-day click and 1-day view, and ROAS counts the first purchase Meta attributes, so it is neither blended nor lifetime. The dataset does not see blended or lifetime revenue, profit, discount depth, repeat orders or other channels, so it can say what a Meta-attributed purchase cost on each day and nothing about whether the day made money.
Black Friday 2025 Meta ads benchmarks by day, 1 November to 7 December
Across the 37 days from 1 November to 7 December 2025, the fixed panel's median daily CPA ran from $41.46 (Saturday 22 November) to $64.62 (Tuesday 2 December); Black Friday itself came in at $48.77 with a median ROAS of 1.84, and Cyber Monday had the highest median ROAS of the run at 2.05 and the highest spend, 2.7 times the panel's October 2025 average day.
| Date | Day | n | CPA median (IQR) | ROAS median (IQR) | Pooled CPA | Pooled ROAS | Spend index, pooled | Spend index, median brand |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Nov | Sat | 27 | $50.98 ($32.61 to $75.97) | 1.63 (1.33 to 2.35) | $43.64 | 1.57 | 143 | 108 |
| 2 Nov | Sun | 27 | $58.11 ($33.43 to $84.44) | 1.65 (1.35 to 2.44) | $42.87 | 1.70 | 171 | 152 |
| 3 Nov | Mon | 27 | $52.19 ($40.15 to $105.60) | 1.60 (1.11 to 1.88) | $47.77 | 1.45 | 161 | 131 |
| 4 Nov | Tue | 27 | $55.56 ($36.92 to $114.09) | 1.46 (1.25 to 1.96) | $44.16 | 1.50 | 152 | 138 |
| 5 Nov | Wed | 27 | $55.27 ($35.60 to $102.93) | 1.69 (1.31 to 2.01) | $44.55 | 1.56 | 110 | 122 |
| 6 Nov | Thu | 27 | $56.64 ($36.06 to $96.29) | 1.65 (1.20 to 2.09) | $47.76 | 1.45 | 120 | 132 |
| 7 Nov | Fri | 27 | $41.80 ($33.86 to $66.48) | 1.87 (1.35 to 2.30) | $42.15 | 1.66 | 120 | 116 |
| 8 Nov | Sat | 27 | $53.80 ($39.32 to $93.11) | 1.54 (1.16 to 1.96) | $44.60 | 1.69 | 126 | 121 |
| 9 Nov | Sun | 27 | $53.93 ($30.97 to $78.73) | 1.77 (1.48 to 2.13) | $47.80 | 1.51 | 150 | 132 |
| 10 Nov | Mon | 27 | $51.15 ($39.83 to $104.55) | 1.57 (1.12 to 1.98) | $49.06 | 1.46 | 127 | 116 |
| 11 Nov | Tue | 27 | $52.43 ($40.21 to $83.82) | 1.69 (1.20 to 2.00) | $47.80 | 1.52 | 117 | 117 |
| 12 Nov | Wed | 27 | $47.45 ($33.51 to $79.72) | 1.77 (1.38 to 2.33) | $48.53 | 1.47 | 117 | 124 |
| 13 Nov | Thu | 27 | $47.82 ($35.18 to $82.04) | 1.73 (1.25 to 2.13) | $44.48 | 1.58 | 114 | 115 |
| 14 Nov | Fri | 27 | $55.89 ($40.39 to $81.24) | 1.60 (1.20 to 2.08) | $42.36 | 1.59 | 127 | 126 |
| 15 Nov | Sat | 27 | $51.28 ($33.19 to $93.24) | 1.57 (1.26 to 2.09) | $42.11 | 1.61 | 134 | 128 |
| 16 Nov | Sun | 27 | $52.39 ($35.20 to $98.09) | 1.63 (1.16 to 1.91) | $44.50 | 1.51 | 153 | 156 |
| 17 Nov | Mon | 27 | $58.01 ($38.81 to $103.20) | 1.49 (1.16 to 1.95) | $47.87 | 1.40 | 131 | 127 |
| 18 Nov | Tue | 27 | $56.47 ($37.53 to $76.60) | 1.55 (1.28 to 2.02) | $48.29 | 1.43 | 124 | 112 |
| 19 Nov | Wed | 27 | $57.84 ($36.97 to $96.42) | 1.45 (1.04 to 1.92) | $48.29 | 1.40 | 133 | 121 |
| 20 Nov | Thu | 27 | $51.87 ($36.23 to $79.04) | 1.58 (1.26 to 1.87) | $48.91 | 1.45 | 135 | 143 |
| 21 Nov | Fri | 27 | $54.60 ($36.82 to $80.83) | 1.56 (1.13 to 2.02) | $48.08 | 1.43 | 136 | 167 |
| 22 Nov | Sat | 27 | $41.46 ($34.74 to $82.63) | 1.61 (1.41 to 1.94) | $47.73 | 1.56 | 142 | 145 |
| 23 Nov | Sun | 27 | $62.21 ($35.68 to $90.47) | 1.47 (1.24 to 1.84) | $49.24 | 1.47 | 148 | 159 |
| 24 Nov | Mon | 27 | $62.96 ($39.67 to $90.10) | 1.49 (1.15 to 1.74) | $53.83 | 1.46 | 132 | 147 |
| 25 Nov | Tue | 27 | $50.21 ($38.41 to $85.88) | 1.60 (1.31 to 1.89) | $51.43 | 1.41 | 123 | 119 |
| 26 Nov | Wed | 27 | $51.14 ($37.22 to $82.67) | 1.56 (1.20 to 2.01) | $46.49 | 1.58 | 118 | 145 |
| 27 Nov (Thanksgiving) | Thu | 27 | $54.05 ($37.85 to $88.39) | 1.48 (1.16 to 1.87) | $49.30 | 1.45 | 132 | 155 |
| 28 Nov (Black Friday) | Fri | 26 | $48.77 ($32.50 to $76.59) | 1.84 (1.53 to 2.32) | $46.72 | 1.69 | 194 | 223 |
| 29 Nov | Sat | 26 | $54.87 ($36.43 to $85.94) | 1.48 (1.21 to 1.88) | $48.10 | 1.55 | 162 | 232 |
| 30 Nov | Sun | 25 | $52.65 ($36.12 to $79.86) | 1.69 (1.26 to 2.14) | $46.45 | 1.61 | 160 | 187 |
| 1 Dec (Cyber Monday) | Mon | 27 | $52.51 ($29.99 to $66.53) | 2.05 (1.59 to 2.54) | $43.83 | 1.71 | 266 | 190 |
| 2 Dec | Tue | 27 | $64.62 ($39.07 to $94.28) | 1.54 (1.19 to 1.95) | $47.14 | 1.41 | 200 | 187 |
| 3 Dec | Wed | 27 | $53.71 ($41.39 to $94.47) | 1.45 (1.14 to 1.63) | $46.21 | 1.36 | 196 | 152 |
| 4 Dec | Thu | 27 | $53.99 ($39.57 to $104.73) | 1.43 (1.16 to 1.77) | $45.48 | 1.36 | 202 | 183 |
| 5 Dec | Fri | 27 | $55.40 ($37.45 to $102.52) | 1.43 (0.99 to 1.95) | $45.94 | 1.33 | 199 | 175 |
| 6 Dec | Sat | 27 (26 for CPA) | $45.18 ($33.23 to $79.26) | 1.72 (1.36 to 1.90) | $43.37 | 1.49 | 200 | 143 |
| 7 Dec | Sun | 27 | $50.32 ($36.32 to $97.00) | 1.48 (1.29 to 1.86) | $48.48 | 1.36 | 236 | 182 |
Source: MHI Meta Benchmarks, DTC, October 2026 edition (benchmark cuts, 29 October 2026).
The first thing to see is how flat the CPA line is. Black Friday was $48.77 and the Tuesday before it was $50.21, so the day cost about the same per purchase as an ordinary November Tuesday; the panel put nearly twice the money through it and ROAS went up. Cyber Monday had the highest spend and the best ROAS of the run, and its lower quartile CPA of $29.99 is the cheapest 25th percentile on the page. What the table cannot show is margin after the discount, so a 1.84 on Black Friday at a deep discount can be worse money than a lower ROAS in early November with no offer running.
Black Friday 2025 week by week on the fixed panel
On the same 27-brand panel, Black Friday week (24 to 30 November) had a median CPA of $50.86 and a median ROAS of 1.65 at a spend index of 146 (October 2025 = 100), Cyber Monday week (1 to 7 December) $50.07 and 1.74 at an index of 214, and the dearest week of the quarter was 15 to 21 December at $67.66.
| Week starting | n | CPA median (IQR) | ROAS median (IQR) | Pooled CPA | Pooled ROAS | Spend index, pooled | Spend index, median brand |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 Sep 2025 | 27 | $45.54 ($33.65 to $87.99) | 1.62 (1.38 to 1.95) | $45.28 | 1.44 | 112 | 95 |
| 6 Oct | 25 | $59.71 ($39.73 to $97.64) | 1.58 (1.28 to 2.02) | $50.52 | 1.35 | 115 | 96 |
| 13 Oct | 25 | $44.41 ($37.54 to $101.32) | 1.64 (1.24 to 2.07) | $54.63 | 1.43 | 105 | 106 |
| 20 Oct | 24 | $56.86 ($36.96 to $84.71) | 1.60 (1.21 to 2.15) | $57.23 | 1.58 | 88 | 92 |
| 27 Oct | 27 | $48.74 ($33.38 to $92.31) | 1.61 (1.37 to 2.02) | $47.58 | 1.44 | 97 | 95 |
| 3 Nov | 27 | $44.72 ($36.56 to $103.02) | 1.68 (1.27 to 1.96) | $45.57 | 1.54 | 134 | 142 |
| 10 Nov | 27 | $52.14 ($38.87 to $82.79) | 1.73 (1.38 to 1.97) | $45.29 | 1.53 | 127 | 123 |
| 17 Nov | 27 | $46.57 ($36.23 to $82.36) | 1.60 (1.33 to 1.92) | $48.35 | 1.45 | 136 | 143 |
| 24 Nov (Black Friday week) | 27 | $50.86 ($38.79 to $87.62) | 1.65 (1.34 to 1.84) | $48.56 | 1.55 | 146 | 187 |
| 1 Dec (Cyber Monday week) | 27 | $50.07 ($35.80 to $86.67) | 1.74 (1.44 to 1.98) | $45.69 | 1.44 | 214 | 168 |
| 8 Dec | 27 | $54.78 ($38.72 to $89.45) | 1.73 (1.31 to 1.87) | $47.94 | 1.37 | 209 | 148 |
| 15 Dec | 26 (25 for CPA) | $67.66 ($37.01 to $96.84) | 1.69 (1.32 to 2.11) | $50.14 | 1.41 | 224 | 119 |
| 22 Dec | 24 (23 for CPA) | $56.82 ($34.98 to $93.90) | 1.52 (1.32 to 1.96) | $44.56 | 1.29 | 134 | 95 |
| 29 Dec 2025 (to 4 Jan 2026) | 27 (26 for CPA) | $57.61 ($32.93 to $79.51) | 1.68 (1.25 to 2.15) | $48.51 | 1.40 | 219 | 194 |
Source: MHI Meta Benchmarks, DTC, October 2026 edition (benchmark cuts, 29 October 2026).
The panel was already spending 34% above its October rate in the week of 3 November, and that week had the cheapest median CPA of the six-week run at $44.72. The Cyber Monday week and the two after it sat at roughly double October's spend with a pooled ROAS of 1.44, 1.37 and 1.41, against 1.55 in Black Friday week, so the return on the extra December money was lower. The hub's monthly table for a 35-brand panel shows the same direction: median CPA $53.09 in October 2025, $57.99 in November and $66.24 in December. For the 2026 run-up as it happens, see the Q4 2026 weekly benchmarks.
Weekly CPA and ROAS across all brands that qualified each week
Across every brand that cleared £500 and 10 purchases in a given week, 34 to 44 brands depending on the week, Black Friday week had the lowest median CPA of the quarter at $44.00 (37 brands) and the week of 15 December the highest at $67.66 (35 brands), with the weekly median ROAS between 1.55 and 1.82 throughout.
| Week starting | n | CPA median (IQR) | ROAS median (IQR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 29 Sep 2025 | 39 | $55.97 ($33.65 to $114.50) | 1.64 (1.50 to 2.01) |
| 6 Oct | 37 | $59.69 ($39.73 to $112.39) | 1.58 (1.28 to 2.00) |
| 13 Oct | 36 | $48.42 ($36.32 to $115.85) | 1.75 (1.24 to 2.21) |
| 20 Oct | 35 | $56.78 ($36.28 to $99.40) | 1.75 (1.25 to 2.30) |
| 27 Oct | 41 | $59.31 ($36.46 to $126.65) | 1.61 (1.36 to 2.00) |
| 3 Nov | 42 | $52.81 ($35.86 to $109.25) | 1.80 (1.29 to 1.98) |
| 10 Nov | 37 | $53.33 ($40.35 to $88.89) | 1.82 (1.48 to 2.04) |
| 17 Nov | 36 | $46.63 ($36.28 to $80.80) | 1.62 (1.43 to 2.01) |
| 24 Nov (Black Friday week) | 37 | $44.00 ($34.03 to $81.65) | 1.70 (1.39 to 2.00) |
| 1 Dec (Cyber Monday week) | 42 | $53.53 ($38.53 to $93.87) | 1.73 (1.39 to 2.02) |
| 8 Dec | 39 | $60.05 ($40.42 to $96.53) | 1.65 (1.26 to 1.91) |
| 15 Dec | 35 | $67.66 ($40.48 to $110.61) | 1.69 (1.28 to 2.09) |
| 22 Dec | 34 | $62.31 ($35.82 to $109.24) | 1.55 (1.30 to 2.06) |
| 29 Dec 2025 (to 4 Jan 2026) | 44 | $53.37 ($31.40 to $85.27) | 1.79 (1.32 to 2.48) |
Source: MHI Meta Benchmarks, DTC, October 2026 edition (benchmark cuts, 29 October 2026).
This is the series to read if your brand would not have made the fixed panel. The counts are 34 to 44 a week because MHI's client roster a year ago was smaller than today's, when 60 to 70 brands clear the same weekly bar, so compare it with the panel table above and treat comparisons with the 2026 weekly pages as rough. Both series peak in the week of 15 December at $67.66. They part on Black Friday week: $44.00 across all brands against $50.86 on the panel, which suggests the brands outside the panel that cleared the bar that week had a cheaper Black Friday than the brands that spend all quarter. The data cannot say why.
When to start Black Friday ads: what the daily numbers say
The daily table shows no cheap pre-Black Friday lull to wait for. From 1 to 26 November the median CPA sat between $41.46 and $62.96, the week of 10 November ($52.14) was dearer than the week of 3 November ($44.72), and the cheapest single days were Friday 7 November ($41.80) and Saturday 22 November ($41.46). Pooled spend was 10% to 71% above the October 2025 average day on all 26 days.
The dear days were the Sunday and Monday before Thanksgiving, 23 and 24 November at $62.21 and $62.96, and the Tuesday after Cyber Monday, 2 December at $64.62. Two of the three cheapest days were Saturdays: 22 November at $41.46 and 6 December at $45.18.
What I'd do with that for 2026: have the Black Friday creative live and through learning by the first week of November, because those days were no dearer and they build the warm audience for the day. Hold the main budget uplift for Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday, where the ROAS lift was, and plan 2 to 5 December as a tapering week. This sample cannot show how much of Black Friday's 1.84 was discount and how much was demand.
What this means for your account
If your Black Friday 2025 CPA sat above $76.59, the panel's 75th percentile for the day, the day was dear for you against this sample and the 2026 question is the offer and the creative that carried it, which is where the Black Friday discount and profit post starts. If it sat below $32.50, the 25th percentile, a bigger 2026 budget on the day is the obvious test, provided the margin after discount holds.
If your ROAS fell through 2 to 5 December while spend stayed doubled, you matched the panel (median ROAS 1.43 to 1.54 against 2.05 on Cyber Monday), and the fix is a planned step-down in daily budget from 2 December; the budget-step rules in how to scale winning Meta ads apply on the way down too. If your November spend stayed near October until the week before Thanksgiving, you started later than this panel, which was 34% above October in the week of 3 November. The DTC budget allocation guide covers phasing the quarter, and our Meta ads team runs this plan for the brands whose media we buy.
FAQ
What was the average Meta ads CPA on Black Friday 2025?
On Black Friday 2025 (28 November) the median cost per purchase on Meta was $48.77 across a fixed panel of 27 DTC brands (26 recorded a purchase that day), with the middle half of brands between $32.50 and $76.59. The pooled figure, panel spend over panel purchases, was $46.72. That is USD at £1 = $1.3289; multiply by 0.7525 for GBP. Source: MHI Meta Benchmarks, DTC, October 2026 edition.
What ROAS did DTC brands get on Cyber Monday 2025?
Cyber Monday 2025 (1 December) had the highest median Meta-attributed first-purchase ROAS of the 1 November to 7 December run, 2.05 across a fixed panel of 27 DTC brands, with the middle half between 1.59 and 2.54 and a pooled ROAS of 1.71. Median CPA was $52.51. The panel spent 2.7 times its October 2025 daily average that day, the most of any day in the window. Source: MHI Meta Benchmarks, DTC, October 2026 edition.
When should you start Black Friday ads on Meta?
The 2025 daily data gives no reason to wait. Across a fixed panel of 27 DTC brands, median CPA from 1 to 26 November 2025 stayed between $41.46 and $62.96, and the panel was already spending 34% above its October rate in the week of 3 November at a $44.72 median CPA. I would have the Black Friday creative live by the first week of November and hold the main budget uplift for Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday.
How much more do brands spend on Meta over Black Friday?
On a fixed panel of 27 DTC brands, pooled Meta spend on Black Friday 2025 was 1.9 times the panel's average day in October 2025 (index 194) and the median brand spent 2.2 times its own October day (index 223). Cyber Monday was 2.7 times (index 266), and every day from 2 to 7 December stayed at about twice October (index 196 to 236). The dataset publishes spend only as this index, never as an amount.
Is the week after Cyber Monday still worth spending on?
In 2025 the fixed panel of 27 DTC brands kept spending about twice its October 2025 daily rate from 2 to 7 December, but median Meta-attributed first-purchase ROAS fell to 1.43 to 1.54 on 2 to 5 December against 2.05 on Cyber Monday, and 2 December had the highest median CPA of the whole window at $64.62. Saturday 6 December recovered to $45.18 and a 1.72 ROAS. Whether that return was profitable depends on your margin after discount.
Sources
- MHI Meta Benchmarks, DTC, October 2026 edition, MHI Media; hub post with methodology, 22 October 2026
- MHI Media warehouse of client Meta ad accounts, benchmark cuts edition, read-only extract 29 October 2026, data settled to 28 October 2026