With another Black Friday and Cyber Monday wrapped up, and the busiest time of the year for retailers in full swing, Croud have crunched the numbers to uncover the key trends that emerged this year.
Plus they look at some digital marketing formats that performed particularly well, to help inform your strategy for the remainder of the peak trading period.
Key trends
Across Croud’s global retail clients, all key metrics were up over the four-day weekend – including a 41% uplift in sessions and a 141% increase in revenue.
Average order value, on the other hand, only increased by 0.5% on average, implying that more shoppers are getting on board with Black Friday and Cyber Weekend promotions.
Those retailers offering more significant discounts over the period unsurprisingly saw a sharper uplift in both website sessions and sales.
However, these same retailers also experienced a larger drop in average order value, meaning brands need to think carefully about the discounts they offer.
Another key trend seen over the period was the fact that Black Friday conversations are starting much earlier, whilst ‘Cyber Monday’ promotions often now continue for the full week. Across Croud’s retail clients, however, they continued to see a spike in online sales on Black Friday itself.
Top-performing digital formats
Tapping into ever earlier conversations about Black Friday discounts, they saw many retailers employ ‘early access’ messaging, particularly for their re-marketing and current customer segments across paid social.
Similarly, countdown ads were the top-performing creative on paid search for many retailers, driving a 50+% branded click-through-rate, and building anticipation for Black Friday sales.
Shopping ads were once again star performers across Croud’s retail clients, with Smart Shopping campaigns proving particularly effective.
View the full infographic below.
