Plan around Mondays: for senders in Belgium, Monday had the most shipments of Black Week in each of the last two peak seasons, and Cyber Monday a week later had more than any day of Black Week. Treat 23 and 30 November 2026 as the peak days, hold weekday capacity close to Monday's level through Black Friday, and book much lighter weekend collections than weekday ones.
In the shipments our customers book through nShift, we can follow peak season day by day. The shape of peak, our Black Friday benchmark report, compares each day of the 2024 and 2025 peaks with a regular week in early November. This post applies the same comparison to senders in Belgium around Black Week (the Monday-to-Sunday week of Black Friday), alongside the other six countries in our data: Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK.
Across the whole nShift platform, Friday was the biggest day of Black Week. For senders in Belgium it was Monday. Their weekend had a much smaller share of the week than the platform's, and their third week of December stayed further above a regular week than the platform's. A plan for Belgium copied from platform-wide patterns would put the biggest day of Black Week on the wrong date, overstaff the weekend and plan mid-December capacity too close to a regular week.
Monday was the busiest day of Black Week in both seasons
Monday accounted for 19.7% of Black Week's shipments from Belgium in 2024 and 19.8% in 2025, the largest Monday share of the seven countries in our data. Monday also led Black Week in Finland, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.
Tuesday, Black Friday and Thursday were close behind. Tuesday and Black Friday each had 18.0% of the week in 2024 and 18.1% in 2025, and Thursday 16.3% in both years. Belgium's Monday, Tuesday and Thursday shares were the largest of any country in our data each season, and its Black Friday share was second only to Denmark's.
Saturday and Sunday together had 11.9% and 12.8% of Black Week's shipments from Belgium, the smallest weekend share of the seven countries and well below the platform's 19.4%. Sunday alone had about 5%.
For your 2026 plan: plan Monday 23 November 2026, the opening day of Black Week, first: set its carrier cutoffs, collections and warehouse shifts, then hold them close to that level through Black Friday on 27 November. Plan Saturday and Sunday bookings and collections for a much smaller volume than the weekdays around them, using your 2025 weekend shipments as the check.
Black Week's Monday came close to Cyber Monday
Cyber Monday, the Monday after Black Friday, had 12% more shipments than Black Friday for senders in Belgium in 2024 and 14% more in 2025. Finland, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden also had Cyber Monday ahead of Black Friday each season.
Against a regular early-November Monday, Black Week's Monday had 1.78 times the shipments in 2024 and Cyber Monday 1.82 times. In 2025, Black Week's Monday had 1.44 times the shipments and Cyber Monday 1.50 times. No other country in our data had its Black Week Monday this close to Cyber Monday in both seasons, and in 2024 no other country's Black Week Monday was as high against a regular Monday.
Planning the two Mondays: Cyber Monday is 30 November 2026, a week after Black Week's Monday. Size it from your Black Week Monday forecast, slightly above it, and plan both days' cutoffs and shifts together.
114%
Cyber Monday against Black Friday, senders in Belgium, 2025
112% in 2024. Cyber Monday was the busier day in both years.
108%
Cyber Monday against Black Friday, whole nShift platform, 2025
109% in 2024.
Shipments stayed above a regular week until mid-December
Shipments from Belgium were above a regular week for five weeks in both seasons, from the week before Black Week to the third week after it. Of the shipments above a regular week across those five weeks, 36% came in Black Week itself, against 41% and 40% platform-wide, so the weeks either side of Black Week had a larger part of the extra volume than across the platform.
From the second week after Black Week, volume held almost level: the second and third weeks after were 1.18 and 1.19 times a regular week in 2024, and 1.22 and 1.19 in 2025. On the whole platform, the third week after fell to 1.09 and 1.13. Shipments from Belgium dropped below a regular week in Christmas week, at 0.58 and 0.61.
Into December: keep extra collections and shifts in place until Sunday 20 December 2026, the end of the third week after Black Week, and expect Christmas week, from 21 December, to fall below a regular week.
How Belgium compares with the Netherlands and the UK
Based on what we're seeing in the three Western European countries in our data, senders in Belgium and the Netherlands peak on the same day, and the UK is the contrast for weekend planning.
- The Netherlands also had Monday as the biggest day of Black Week, at 18.3% of the week each year, and its Cyber Monday had 14% and 17% more shipments than Black Friday. Senders in the Netherlands shipped a larger share of Black Week at the weekend than senders in Belgium, at 16.1% and 14.6%. The Netherlands was close to Belgium in the third week after Black Week, at 1.23 and 1.20 times a regular week. If you ship from both, the Monday peaks can share one plan, with weekend collections set for each country from its own 2025 share.
- The UK had the largest weekend share in our data: Saturday and Sunday together had 23.0% and 23.1% of Black Week, and Black Friday was the biggest day of the week. UK volume was already high in the week before Black Week, at 1.46 and 1.41 times a regular week. If you ship from Belgium and the UK, build the plan for the UK around Black Friday and its weekend, and the plan for Belgium around Monday.
Belgium's two seasons: what held and what differed
The day pattern repeated in both seasons: Monday was the busiest day of Black Week, the weekend share was the smallest in our data, and Cyber Monday was ahead of every day of Black Week. So did the length of peak, with five weeks above a regular week and the same level in the third week after. The levels differed: how high Black Week was, and how high the two peak Mondays were against a regular Monday. For both, plan from your 2025 figures, the most recent peak.
Black Week was 1.46 times a regular week in 2024 and 1.59 times in 2025, the second-lowest of the seven countries each season after Finland, and below the platform's 1.72 and 1.74. The week before Black Week was 1.14 and 1.25. If your week before Black Week was already well above a regular week in 2025, book extra weekday collections with each carrier from Monday 16 November 2026.
Belgium's 2026 peak calendar
Peak 2026 calendar for shipping from Belgium: weekly shipments against a regular early-November week
| 2026 week | 2024 | 2025 | For your plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week before Black Week 16 to 22 November |
1.14x | 1.25x | Book extra weekday collections if your week before was high in 2025 |
| Black Week (Black Friday, 27 November) 23 to 29 November |
1.46x | 1.59x | Plan Monday 23 November as the biggest day; hold weekday capacity close to it through Friday |
| First week after (Cyber Monday, 30 November) 30 November to 6 December |
1.31x | 1.40x | Plan Cyber Monday slightly above Black Week's Monday |
| Second week after 7 to 13 December |
1.18x | 1.22x | Keep extra collections and shifts in place |
| Third week after 14 to 20 December |
1.19x | 1.19x | Still above a regular week; release extra capacity after 20 December |
Shipments booked on the nShift platform by senders in Belgium, against a regular early-November week (1x) in the same year. 2024 and 2025 weeks are placed on the 2026 week in the same position around Black Friday.
Start the Belgian plan from:
- your 2025 Black Week shipments by day, with Saturday and Sunday shown separately
- your Black Week Monday and Cyber Monday volumes for 2024 and 2025, against your own regular early-November Monday
- your 2025 weekly shipments against a regular early-November week, through the third week of December
- each carrier's weekday collection capacity and its terms for adding or ending extra collections
During a code freeze, several delivery and returns settings can still change without a developer.
Plan peak shipping from Belgium with nShift
The full report maps the busiest days of the 2025 peak onto your 2026 calendar.
The shape of peak covers the whole nShift platform for 2024 and 2025: how long peak lasted, which days had the most shipments, and the checks to make on capacity, cutoffs and Saturday collections before peak 2026.
Get the Black Friday reportTo test your Belgian plan, book time with our team: we'll look at your forecast, service mix and carrier agreements together, and at the more than 1,000 carriers you can reach on one platform. Browse more peak guides on our Black Friday and peak season hub.
How we measured
The figures cover outbound shipments booked on the nShift platform by senders in Belgium around Black Friday 2024 and 2025, counted on the day each shipment was booked, with identified returns excluded. A regular week is the average of the two early-November weeks in the same year: 4 to 17 November 2024 and 3 to 16 November 2025, and a regular Monday is the average of the two Mondays in those weeks. The data describes nShift's senders in Belgium, wherever their parcels were going, rather than the Belgian ecommerce market as a whole. The mix of senders can differ between years, so every multiple and share is calculated within the same year.
