The National Retail Federation expects holiday sales this November and December to grow 4.2%, to more than $1 trillion. A lot of that money will be spent online. But a lot of it still starts on the street: in ICSC's 2026 holiday survey, 93% of holiday shoppers said they expect to visit a physical store, to shop or to pick up an order they placed online.
That's where rideshare and delivery cars are all season: on the shopping streets, in the mall parking lots and outside the stores, at the hours people are out buying. Here's how to put your brand there for the holidays, and what to book when.
The 2026 holiday calendar
- Thanksgiving weekend, November 26–30. Black Friday is November 27, Small Business Saturday November 28, and Cyber Monday falls in November this year, on the 30th. NRF estimated that 129.5 million people shopped in stores over Thanksgiving weekend 2025.
- Hanukkah, December 4–12. Early this year, before the Christmas rush.
- Super Saturday, December 19. The last Saturday before Christmas. NRF expected a record 158.9 million people to shop on Super Saturday 2025.
- The week after Christmas. Gift cards, returns and sales: in NRF's 2025 survey, 70% of shoppers planned to shop the week after Christmas.
What to run, and when to book it
The format you choose depends partly on how soon you need to be on the street. From early November, here's how the lead times line up:
- In-vehicle screens: days. A screen ad is usually reviewed within one business day and goes live on its start date. It's the format to choose if you're deciding late, or if your offer changes week to week.
- Tiles: a week. Tiles start at least seven days after you submit, so submit by November 20 to be on the doors for Black Friday.
- Standard Wraps: two weeks. Submit by November 13 to be on the road for Black Friday weekend.
- Full wraps: about four weeks. Book now, and a full wrap is on the street in time for December and Super Saturday.
Wraps and Tiles run two months or more, and for the holidays that's an advantage. A flight that starts before Black Friday is still on the road for the week after Christmas, when shoppers come back with gift cards and returns, and into the New Year sales.
Wraps and Tiles: be seen on the shopping streets
A wrapped car spends the season where shoppers are: driving through downtown and the neighborhoods, parked outside restaurants and stores, waiting at the mall entrance. In an OAAA and Harris Poll survey this fall, half of consumers said retail out-of-home ads affect what they buy when they see them in the days before shopping, and 59% said so when they see them just outside a store.
Keep the message to one thing, the way shoppers will see it from the sidewalk: your name, the gift or the offer, and where to find you. "Gifts, two blocks ahead" works. A list of every sale doesn't. Here's how to design a wrap people remember.
Swarms: own the busiest days
The biggest shopping days are predictable, which makes them ideal for a swarm. Schedule a window and a place, a shopping district, a mall or a main street, and the campaign's wrapped drivers are paid to bring their cars into that zone for the hours you choose:
- Black Friday morning at the mall or retail park.
- Small Business Saturday on the main street, for local shops.
- Super Saturday in the shopping district, for the last-minute crowd.
Some cities limit stopping or staging on their busiest shopping streets, so plan the zone around the local rules.
In-vehicle screens: an offer people can act on
A screen ad is the one format that can change with the season. Run your Black Friday offer in November, your gift guide in December and your after-Christmas sale on the 26th. Every Vugo screen ad carries a QR code to the landing page you choose, so a rider who sees the offer can open it on the spot.
- Play near your stores. Add a radius around your locations, and the ad plays only inside it. Or play across the metro and let TripIntent® put your ad first in cars headed somewhere that fits it.
- Run on the days that matter. Choose active days to play only on the weekends or dates you pick, and set the hours that matter as a priority.
- Make the offer worth the trip. In the same OAAA and Harris survey, 73% of consumers said they'd visit a nearby store that same day if an out-of-home ad said a specific product was in stock. "In stock today at our Main Street store" is a reason to go.
- Test two versions. Add a second version with a different offer and see which one earns more scans.
- Count the visits. Add your storefronts, and Vugo counts the working cars in its network that passed nearby, were headed there or arrived. It's a signal of your campaign around your stores, not a count of customers.
The best holiday ads have the same rules as any in-vehicle ad: the offer on screen, big type, and one clear call to action. Here's how to make video work without relying on sound.
Put it on one plan
The holiday moments, Black Friday, the holiday season and New Year's Eve, are already on the Vugo Planning board, on the same timeline as your flights, with the dates installs need booking and creative is due. Put the wraps, the swarms and the screen flights on one plan, and you can see at a glance whether you're running when it counts.
For ready-made plans, see the Shopper Intercept and Visitor Season playbooks.
The short version
- Decide this week. Standard Wraps by November 13 and Tiles by November 20 for Black Friday; screens can start within days.
- Plan for the whole season. A two-month flight covers Black Friday through the week after Christmas.
- Swarm the big days. Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Super Saturday.
- Give people a reason to come in. A specific offer, a nearby store, a clear next step.
Talk to Vugo about your holiday campaign, or see vehicle wraps and in-vehicle screens.