The fate of Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the rest of the Cyber 5 has been in constant question. Has the seasonal sale lost its spark? Or will rising inflation and living costs reignite consumer interest? We’ve taken a first look at consumer behaviors to answer just that—starting with Thanksgiving and Black Friday.
The extension of Cyber 5.
Despite 56% who only sometimes or never shop on sale days planning to do so this year, traffic was down year-over-year for both Thanksgiving and Black Friday. This follows the trend with Black Friday traffic on a 10% decline since 2020.
But that doesn’t mean consumers aren’t taking advantage of holiday sales. Holiday sale shopping is shifting due to major factors this year:
Early sale shopping: With retailers starting sales earlier, traffic saw a pick-up earlier in the week with a 7% YoY increase the Sunday before Thanksgiving and a 5% increase the Monday before. Sales for the week of Thanksgiving saw more than a 200% increase between Sunday and Monday and remained above these levels going into the holiday. In fact, overall sales for Thanksgiving were just 6% lower than Black Friday. Looks like the early bird doesn’t wait until Friday for gift shopping.
Pre-planned shopping: As retailers offered sneak peaks to upcoming sales, bulk shopping for Black Friday got even easier with average order values for November seeing a 50% increase YoY. The average consumer spent $259 each time they hit the checkout button on Black Friday or Thanksgiving, compared to just $131 in 2021.
Thanksgiving alone saw order values that were 3X as high as 2021, likely the result of pre-planning and lingering consumer concerns about inventory issues. Even with lower traffic levels, conversion rates held steady with what was seen in 2021. Compared to 2020, conversion rates were 29% higher on Thanksgiving and 20% higher on Black Friday.
It will be interesting to see how rates held over the weekend and if we will see larger purchases for Cyber Monday.
Is Cyber 5 really “mobile-first”?
Absolutely.
Mobile traffic was 3X higher than desktop on both Thanksgiving and Black Friday, setting the trend for holiday browsing. As traffic saw overall declines during both days, desktop was impacted the most with Black Friday traffic down 20% compared to 2020, while mobile saw just a 5% decline.
The big win for mobile isn’t just in traffic, but sales. For the first time, mobile made up 60% of sales during Black Friday, with its overall conversion rate growing 7% YoY for Black Friday, while desktop saw a 9% decline. For retailers this means those investments in native apps and optimize mobile web experiences are finally paying off. Mobile has transitioned from a critical tool for browsing and research to the primary channel for sales.
A happier holiday experience.
Even in the face of higher prices, spirits are up this holiday season—especially for Quantum Metric customers. Customer frustration was down 21% YoY for Black Friday and 14% for Thanksgiving. Meanwhile, rage clicks were down 27% for Black Friday and 48% for Thanksgiving YoY. This could be the result of less inventory issues this year and a continued focus on easing customer issues across channels.
With less frustration, retailers are also losing less sales! Across Quantum Metric retailers, we’ve seen a 10% decline YoY in abandoned carts.
What to watch for the rest of the week.
What this all says is that customers are planning their purchases, picking brands they feel loyal to and trust to provide a good experience, and then still buying—big time. Where retailers should continue to pay attention this week:
- Traffic levels – As retail sales extend so does consumer buying and I would expect we see shopping spikes through the rest of the week. This could indicate when or how we might see drops going into December.
- Average cart values after big sale days – Will consumers make smaller purchases as we move farther into the holiday season? This could change when and how retailers market to shoppers.
- Customer frustration – Where does it show up across Cyber 5? We’ll have a breakdown of what customer happiness was by the hour and what it meant for sales.
Stay tuned for our breakdown of Cyber Monday and a complete look at Cyber 5 trends. While you wait, learn more about how Quantum Metric is helping some of the biggest global retailers sleigh the holiday season with a 20-minute demo: quantummetric.com/quantum-metric-online-retail-demo-replay/
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