The ‘Black Friday Weekend’ is often the busiest period in the retail calendar. Previous years have sent many shoppers into bargain fuelled delirium with long queues, overnight camping, and even fights over the last discounted television. However, with the current cost of living rising, most retailers were anticipating a slower sales period than in previous years… but current figures may be proving otherwise.
Black Friday Findings
With many retailers continuing their ‘Black Friday’ sales beyond the weekend the total success of this may become clearer in the coming weeks however, here’s what we’ve seen so far.
Shopify’s latest statistics show a record-setting Black Friday weekend. Their Black Friday Cyber Monday recap article describes that $7.5 billion of sales were completed by independent businesses worldwide over the weekend. A new record for the ecommerce platform.
The article further states that 52 million consumers worldwide purchased from brands powered by Shopify. A 12% increase from the previous year. Could this significant increase suggest consumers are now choosing to purchase more from small/independent businesses or were these retailers perhaps offering the best value for money? We suspect a combination of the two.
It isn’t just Shopify showing Black Friday Success. Salesforce has provided data and insights from the shopping behaviour of 1.5 billion Cyber Week consumers, which again shows somewhat surprising results. The results show that global online sales reached an all-time high of $281 billion. An increase of 2% from the previous year.
Although, according to Salesforce these numbers have been significantly boosted by the U.S with the EU and UK results affected by the current economic situation. Considering Black Friday is a concept originating in the U.S, it is of no surprise U.S spend is significantly higher.
But what about the highstreets?
According to the Retail Jeweller, UK retail destinations seen an increase in footfall on Black Friday, with numbers up +3.2% week-on-week and +9.3% on the previous year.
Whilst slightly differing results, Retail tech innovation state that shopper visits resulted in a +3.7% increase in traffic across all retail settings on Black Friday, with high streets up +13.9% year-on-year. This coupled with Barclaycard stating their transactions rose 3.2% on last year’s event would signify success for the high street retailer however, UK footfall on Black Friday remains down -21.3% on pre-pandemic levels. Highlighting the uphill battle brick and mortar stores are currently facing.
So, next time you are ready to part with your hard-earned cash, why not shop local.
What Besyncly Found
With our platform automating the transfer of data such as orders, stock, customers and more between many ecommerce and retailers’ systems we thought we’d investigate the data.
Here’s what we found:
Black Friday alone seen the average customer transaction total increase by 36%, compared to the previous Friday. Highlighting that our customers were clearly seeing an increase in demand during Black Friday.
Not only this, but the Black Friday Weekend saw the average customer transaction number increase by 15% in comparison to the previous year. Suggesting that not only were our customers outperforming their previous Black Friday Weekend but there is a significant hike in consumers ready to spend.
Despite numbers suggesting our customers may have encountered a frantic weekend, their ability to automate data such as orders between their ecommerce channels and accounting/ERP software using Besyncly enabled them to effectively manage demand without increasing workload. Showcasing the importance of system integration.
Businesses without integrated platforms rely on laborious methods such as manual copy/paste or sending documents via email to update each of their business systems. This becomes increasingly difficult and time-consuming when orders increase during periods of high demand. Staff are then stuck manually transferring an influx of orders into their accounting and ERP systems, slowing down the fulfilment process which in-turn impacts customer service.
If this sounds like you, implementing a platform integration tool should be a top priority.
An integrated suite makes it easier to bring your people, systems, and data together in one place. Improving business performance and customer service.
In Summary
Whilst any discount period is bound to increase sales, given the current economic climate for both Businesses and Consumers it could be said that the Black Friday weekend was a success. With what looks to be a global increase in sales compared with the previous year it will give many ecommerce and retail businesses hope that numbers will return to pre pandemic levels. And as for consumers, although becoming savvier with spending, perhaps the bargains were just too good to miss out on!
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