Your 2026 sales calendar: key dates, SMS tips, and campaign ideas

March 19, 2026

Struggling to keep track of all the big sales events throughout the year? You’re not alone — it’s hard work. But it’s worth it. From Mother’s Day to Black Friday, Valentine’s Day to EOFY, there’s a new opportunity to cash in on sales almost every month.

To help you plan your 2026 campaigns to perfection, we’ve created this handy calendar of key dates — along with helpful tips, ideas, and inspiration to help your campaigns stand out. Explore it all or jump straight to a particular quarter.

Hit the ground running in 2026 by making the most of those start-of-the-New-Year vibes. Here’s how you can connect with your customers at this time of year.

Who can’t resist a good resolution? The new year is the ideal time to reach out to customers who are resetting their goals or setting a new intention for the year ahead. Here are some ideas to put to work:

• Focus on a theme — think family, togetherness, resolutions, positivity, reflection, and planning for the future
• Have a New Year’s sale — a fresh sale could help drive more revenue even after the holiday period ends
• Launch a new product or service — the new year is a great time to get customers excited about something new
• Celebrate resolutions — have conversations with your customers on social media, provide encouragement and support, and deepen your relationships
• Share valuable content — engage customers who bought from you over the festive season by sharing key tips and tricks about your products
• Host a competition or giveaway to spread the positive vibes and start the year on a high note

Valentine’s Day is a major retail moment, with people around the world consistently spending hundreds of millions on gifts for their loved ones. To make the most of this romantic sales event, get your best-selling Valentine’s Day gifts into the hearts and minds of consumers early. Start promoting your offers in mid- to late-January and use Sinch Engage’s SMS campaign tools to reach customers on the channel they actually check.

In 2026, Chinese New Year falls on Thursday 17 February, marking the start of the Year of the Horse.

Like Christmas and Ramadan, Chinese New Year is about connection, community, and returning home. Focus on these values in your campaigns and ads, perhaps weaving in a nod to the Horse — a symbol of energy, freedom, and forward momentum.

As everyone settles into the rhythm of 2026, you’ve got a little more room to really connect with your customers. From Easter egg hunts to EOFY, here are the key dates where consumers are more likely to spend big.

By the time you spot those foil-wrapped eggs and hot cross buns in your local supermarket, your Easter marketing campaign should already be lined up and ready to go. No matter what your retail or ecommerce business specializes in, think about how you can capitalize on this big holiday event.

Not everyone celebrates Easter, but most will get to enjoy a day or weekend off — your campaign could focus on taking a break or connecting with family. You can also engage customers with innovative campaigns like mystery gift bags or Easter baskets of items from your store for customers to bid on, win, or buy.

Who doesn’t love a good end of financial year sale? Customers often plan big purchases months in advance in the hopes of snagging a bargain. Your job is to deliver — with discounts on clothes, apparel, homewares, experiences, and business equipment.

With so many brands competing for customers’ wallets during EOFY sales, you need to think smart about your marketing. Use Sinch Engage to cut through the noise with great offers customers can’t refuse. Check out our SMS marketing tips and templates for EOFY.

This is often the slowest time of year for retail and ecommerce businesses. Use it wisely — plan out your Black Friday and Christmas campaigns, refine your SMS templates, polish your content, and check your contact lists. By the time the big sales roll around, everything’s ready to go.

This is it — the quarter that regularly smashes sales records, with back-to-back sales events keeping all brands and marketers on their toes. Make sure you have a solid plan in place for moving through each campaign.

Halloween has grown from a single night of trick-or-treating into a festival of fun that builds throughout October — with shoppers on the lookout for decorations, dress-ups, party supplies, and plenty of candy. Start advertising your Halloween campaigns at the start of October to cash in on early stockers as well as last-minute buyers.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday have become the biggest retail events of the year, eclipsing even post-Christmas sales. To make your brand stand out from the crowd, put the power of SMS to work — it’s fast, personalized, and super-effective at cutting through the clutter. Use Sinch Engage to send targeted, timely offers that land directly on your customers’ lock screens when it matters most. Check out our complete BFCM marketing checklist to help you plan and execute your campaign.

On Free Shipping Day, online retailers offer free shipping and guarantee delivery by Christmas Eve. It’s hugely popular with people looking to finish last-minute holiday shopping, save money, and avoid the crowds. Start promoting well in advance and make it clear that the offer applies to local customers. Free Shipping Day is also a great opportunity to remind customers about final shipping dates before Christmas.

To make the most of the Christmas rush, start your holiday marketing as soon as Halloween is over. A few tips to keep in mind: plan a two-month campaign running from November into December, making the most of the many sales dates along the way; dress up your shop, social media posts, and campaigns with festive branding; and make sure all your systems — in-store, online, and wherever else you interact with customers — can cope with heavier traffic. Don’t forget to plan for last-minute shoppers, early birds, and deal hunters — they all need a different message.

Depending on where you are in the world, certain holidays may fall on different days or in different seasons. Your area may celebrate local events that you can use as a base for hyper-specific sales. Pay attention to your local calendar to make the most of every holiday.

Parents always want to give their kids the best start to the new school year. They’re likely to spend a little more on their children as they stock up on school supplies, clothes, lunch boxes, and more. If you sell anything relating to kids or education, now’s the time to ramp up your marketing — start a few weeks before school starts and keep it up until the first bell rings.

A few things to keep in mind: kids influence back-to-school purchasing decisions, so use language and campaigns that appeal to both kids and parents. Uni students may also be on the lookout for new supplies. Parents find this time of year a drain on the budget, so promotional offers and savings are likely to grab their attention — as is convenience, so make it easy to shop with checklists and shopping guides.

Mother’s Day is a huge sales opportunity. Flowers, alcohol, food, and gift cards consistently top the list of most popular gifts, but services like spa days and experiences are equally popular. Start promoting a few weeks before and keep these tips in mind:

• Offer services, not just products — families often want to treat mum with a day off, a spa visit, or a special occasion
• Be authentic — emotional and genuine sentiment will make more of an impact than straightforward promotional ads
• Celebrate mums — showcase the human side of your business by promoting your team’s mums or running a community competition
• Consider an opt-out — many businesses kick-start Mother’s Day campaigns with a considerate opt-out message for those who may find the day a difficult time of year.

Like Mother’s Day, food and alcohol are popular Father’s Day gifts, along with clothes, shoes, books, music, and games. People tend to shop last-minute for dads compared to mums, so plan surprise offers and last-minute deals the week before the big day. Consider an opt-out for this holiday, too — just in case your customers don’t want the reminder.

If your country celebrates itself — whether it’s an independence day, founding day, or a national commemorative day — it can be a great opportunity to highlight food, alcohol, and ways to celebrate. Lean into patriotism and get into a celebratory spirit. Use relevant years or dates as discount codes and the colors of your flag in your marketing materials to tap into national pride.