As preparations continue for the massive Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales season, GD Commerce is helping your business prepare with our weekly blog series. This week, we’re diving into the key stats from 2018 and how they can inform preparations for this year.
In plenty of areas of life, past performance shouldn’t be relied upon to indicate future returns. However, consumer behaviour is one area where predictions typically ring true. Each year, businesses seem enjoy the biggest Black Friday and Cyber Monday yet. And, if 2018 is anything to go by, we’re happy to report this trend will continue in 2019.
Let’s Look at the Numbers
According to a report released by Salesforce, mobile devices accounted for 67 per cent of all digital traffic on BFCM. This figure is up from 61 per cent in 2017. These people aren’t just browsing either. Mobile devices accounted for 49 per cent of all orders around the holiday in 2018.
Cyber Monday 2018 was also the biggest of all time, according to Adobe. Mobile traffic was up 23.6 per cent on mobile in 2018, accounting for approximately $6.2 billion dollars in revenue in the United States.
What’s the big takeaway here? You’re leaving cash on the table if your site isn’t optimized for mobile.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are Global
The days of Black Friday and Cyber Monday as an exclusively North American tradition are long over. This sales festival has gone global, with Europe leading the charge. Clearhaus analyzed 8,000 stores across 33 European countries and found sales over the BFCM weekend were 361 per cent higher than the daily average for 2018. The average spend per transaction had also increased from 71 Euro to 97 Euro.
Takeaway: Are you ready to sell your products to Europe? The EU represents a huge market if you can nail the logistics of international shipping. There are also privacy considerations to be aware of, with GDPR beefing up the requirements for how you handle customer data. Make sure you’re aware of the requirements, as penalties for breaching GDPR can be stiff.
Cyber Monday is Growing Fast
Did you know – Cyber Monday 2018 was the largest single online shopping day ever recorded in the United States? Customers dug deep to spend a record $7.869 billion in 2018, representing a 19.3% year-on-year increase from the $6.595 billion in 2017. Retailers also saw phenomenal growth in the “buy online, pickup in store” segment, with a 65 per cent increase from 2017.
Takeaway: Cyber Monday is showing phenomenal growth each year. Ensure you’re holding enticing deals back for the big day and build anticipation through your usual marketing channels. If you can offer customers the facility to reserve online and pickup in-store, it should be considered a must.
Ready to Help
Want to make sure your business is ready for Black Friday and Cyber Monday? GD Commerce is standing by to help. Contact Us and find out how we can lessen the load.
Thank you to our GD Commerce Partners:
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