Ecuador Black Friday: Retailers Want 20 November Date to Avoid Vote
ECUADOR · RETAIL
Key Facts
- —The proposal Three business groups want Ecuador’s Black Friday moved from Friday 27 November to Friday 20 November 2026, El Universo reported on 28 September.
- —Why The usual date falls two days before the local elections of Sunday 29 November, when 13.8 million voters choose 5,742 local officials.
- —The day off President Daniel Noboa’s Decree 507 of 22 September suspends work nationwide on 20 November, and the hours need not be made up.
- —The stakes Tax-agency figures show Black Friday 2025 sales of US$1,384.1 million on the day, up 20.9% on 2024.
- —Still open The date is a proposal; no law fixes Black Friday, and each retailer decides whether to follow it.
Ecuador Black Friday may come a week early this year. Retailers want to keep their biggest sales day clear of the local elections.
Ecuador’s main retail groups want to move Black Friday from 27 November to Friday 20 November 2026, El Universo reported. The usual date falls two days before the local elections of Sunday 29 November.
Who is behind the proposal
The Guayaquil Chamber of Commerce (CCG) announced the plan on 28 September. It is backed by the national federation of chambers of commerce, Fedecámaras, and the appliance retailers’ association, Asadelec.
The groups say the original date “coincides with the electoral weekend”. They want a longer run of offers before voting, rather than a rush of shopping on the voting weekend.
They were due to set out the details at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday 30 September in Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest city. Fedecámaras planned a parallel event in Cuenca, in the southern highlands.
Miguel Ángel González of the Guayaquil chamber was to lead the Guayaquil event. Gabriel Chavira and Nelly Vinueza were to speak for Asadelec.
The chamber says an earlier date would let consumers plan their purchases more calmly. It would also give shops more room to present offers and serve customers, it adds.
The elections behind the date
The vote on 29 November is a sectional election, Ecuador’s term for local and provincial polls. It is not a presidential vote.
The National Electoral Council (CNE) says 13,827,643 people are registered to vote. They will choose 23 provincial prefects, 222 mayors, 1,366 councillors and 4,131 rural parish board members.
Voters also elect the seven members of the Council for Citizen Participation and Social Control (CPCCS), which helps select senior state officials. Polls open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The winners take office on 14 May 2027. The vote was first planned for 14 February 2027, El Universo reported.
The electoral council moved it forward over fears of El Niño weather early next year. The official campaign opens on 12 November, so either shopping date falls inside it.
The council will also organise 45 mandatory debates, in districts with more than 100,000 voters. Of these, 21 are for prefect races and 24 for mayoral races.
Why 27 November is crowded
The electoral calendar starts before Sunday. Prisoners without a final sentence vote on Thursday 26 November.
Home voting, for people who cannot reach a polling station, follows on Friday 27 November.
That Friday is also the day after Thanksgiving, the US holiday held on the fourth Thursday of November. Black Friday grew out of that holiday weekend.
The sales day gained its present weight in the 2000s. The custom then spread from the United States to other countries, Ecuador among them.
A ready-made day off on 20 November
The new date has a second attraction. On 22 September President Daniel Noboa signed Decree 507, suspending the working day nationwide on Friday 20 November.
The suspension covers public and private employers, and the lost hours will not have to be made up. Essential services, including water, power, health care, airports and banks, keep running.
The government linked the day off to the International Festival of Living Arts in Loja, a southern city. The festival runs from 12 to 22 November.
The government says the break should encourage domestic travel and tourism.
How much money is at stake
Ecuador uses the US dollar as its currency, so the figures need no conversion. Sales between 24 and 28 November 2025 reached US$5,552.4 million, up from US$4,823.9 million a year earlier.
Black Friday itself, 28 November 2025, brought US$1,384.1 million in sales, 20.9% more than the same day in 2024. The figures come from the SRI, Ecuador’s tax agency, via El Universo.
Growth has been steep. The day brought US$838.1 million in 2023, and the SRI linked last year’s jump to an early payout of the thirteenth-month salary.
What it means for shoppers and shops
Last year Noboa brought forward that year-end bonus for public workers, and about 150 private companies followed, the SRI said. Spending power on the new date will depend partly on such payouts.
For shoppers, including foreign residents, the change would mean discounts on a public day off, a week earlier. For shops, it avoids competing with election logistics and a quieter electoral weekend.
The risk is a split season if some chains keep 27 November. The groups have asked all retailers to back the new date, so that shoppers see a single official day of discounts.
More: Ecuador news, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is Black Friday in Ecuador in 2026?
The international date is Friday 27 November, but Ecuador’s main retail groups propose Friday 20 November. No law fixes the date, so each retailer decides.
Why do retailers want to move Black Friday?
The usual date falls two days before the sectional elections of Sunday 29 November, and home voting takes place that Friday. Friday 20 November is also a national day off under Decree 507.
What elections does Ecuador hold on 29 November 2026?
Sectional elections for prefects, mayors, councillors and rural parish boards, plus the seven members of the CPCCS. The National Electoral Council counts 13,827,643 registered voters.
Sources: El Universo (Black Friday proposal) · El Universo (CNE convenes 29 November elections) · El Universo (Decree 507, 20 November day off) · El Universo (election calendar moved forward)
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