Is the audience the same or entirely new? Do people who buy on Black Friday show different behavior patterns than your usual customers?
This report summarizes the behavior of millions of consumers during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It’s based on:
One of the biggest online shopping periods worldwide
$7.4 billion
Black Friday brought in sales this year — which is even higher than last year’s record-breaking $6.2 billion.
This report reveals all the real numbers and data behind this period of the year.
How much more do people actually buy online these days?
On Black Friday, there’s an increase of 340% compared to an average day. On Cyber Monday, this number jumps even higher, to 510%. For well known brands, the increase can be up to 10X on Black Friday and 15X on Cyber Monday.
but there’s no major peak on Black Friday.
with a slightly smaller peak on Cyber Monday
People been waited for the deals so they can buy the items they’ve had their eye on for a long time.
Online sales double a week before Black Friday.
With so many discounts ahead, purchase rates slightly drop in the middle of November, indicating that consumers prefer to wait a week to get the better deal.
Asian Market buys
Black Friday is clearly the more important day for Asian online shops.
How many of the visitors to the online stores actually buy?
Consumers’ behavior online changes during these days - they’re much more likely to add products to their cart,but less likely to complete the purchase.
Here's a peek into people's brains
How does the funnel change in the event of a sale?
During Black Friday promotions, visitors are almost twice as likely to add items to their cart.This is a common behavior for people who see discounted items. It’s like entering a shop with everything on sale, then finding yourself a few minutes later with a pile of clothes you didn’t intend to buy. Highly interesting, though, is that while visitors are much more likely to ‘grab an item’ they’re less likely to complete the checkout.
In the average funnel, over 40% of the visitors who continue to checkout will complete the purchase. However, on Black Friday only 30% end up buying. Consumers are aware of their ‘hasty’ behavior, even with a big “Sales” sign.
As the famous Jam Experiment from Columbia and Stanford University showed, an overload of choices can actually have a negative effect on sales, and customer satisfaction also takes a hit. Visitors might simply get lost browsing for more and more deals, end up frustrated, and ultimately buy nothing.
The behavior on Cyber Monday is different, and the checkout rate is much closer to the average funnel. Based on the data, it seems that Cyber Monday buyers are more determined, knowing it’s their last chance to claim the discount, and are more keen to complete the purchase.
Traffic Increase by
| Channel | Yearly average conversion rate |
|---|---|
| Direct | 2.06% |
| 0.60% | |
| 1.20% | |
| Google Paid | 1.57% |
| 0.28% |
The conversion rate is usually impacted by the intent - do visitors arrive to the website with a high intent to buy? You can see in the table below that channels which indicate a higher intent convert better.
| Channel | Yearly Average Conversion Rate C. Rate | CBF/CM Conversion Rate C. Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Direct | 2.06% | 2.59% |
| 0.60% | 0.64% | |
| 1.20% | 1.93% | |
| Google Paid | 1.57% | 2.23% |
| 0.28% | 0.57% |
most of them are first time visitors, but this trend is similar to their behavior throughout the year.
The split between first-time and returning visitors remains almost the same during an average day and Black Friday/ Cyber Monday.
The numbers are almost the same with a slight decrease in purchases by first time visitors on Black Friday/Cyber Monday.
There’s only a slight increase in mobile usage for the Holiday season.
Five percent more visitors prefer to shop from their mobile phones as opposed to their desktops.
Sales Increase by
3.5XBlack
Friday
5XCyber
Monday
Asian Market do it better
7.5XHigher than
usual
Big Spenders
These promotions have the biggest effect on expensive products with an average price
500$Products
and up
Consumer behavior also changes: